אֵין מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאוּר לֹא מִן הָעֵצִים, וְלֹא מִן הָאֲבָנִים, וְלֹא מִן הֶעָפָר, וְלֹא מִן הַמַּיִם, וְאֵין מְלַבְּנִין אֶת הָרְעָפִים לִצְלוֹת בָּהֶן. וְעוֹד אָמַר רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר, עוֹמֵד אָדָם עַל הַמֻּקְצֶה עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת בַּשְּׁבִיעִית, וְאוֹמֵר, מִכָּאן אֲנִי אוֹכֵל לְמָחָר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, עַד שֶׁיִּרְשֹׁם וְיֹאמַר, מִכָּאן וְעַד כָּאן:
One may not extract fire (on yom tov) [this being "molid" ("creating"), which is similar to working, the fire being created on yom tov], neither from wood (i.e., by rubbing two pieces of wood together), nor from stones, nor from earth [There is a certain type of earth which emits sparks when dug from its source], nor from water. [Water is put into a vessel of white glass and placed in the sun when it is very hot. The glass becomes red hot, flax is brought and touched to the glass, and it burns.] And re'afim [hollowed earthen tiles used for covering roofs] may not be heated [in fire] for roasting (food) in them. [This, only with new tiles, for he "fashions" them by this heating, the fire glazing and hardening them.] R. Eliezer said further [Because he ruled leniently in respect to muktzeh (4:6) and does so again, "further" is stated]: A man stands over the muktzeh (the place where fruit is spread for drying), the fruit requiring hazmanah (prior designation for use on Shabbath) and hazmanah availing it] on Sabbath eve in the sabbatical year, [when the tithe does not obtain and the figs lack only hazmanah. The same applies to what is tithed, on the other (non-shemitah) years, but the tanna speaks of the ordinary instance, muktzeh, ordinarily, not having been tithed. For dried figs and raisins are generally "muktzeh," and they are not tithed until completely processed], and he says: "From here I shall take for tomorrow," [this sufficing, breirah (retroactive designation) obtaining.] The sages say: (This does not avail) until he indicates [by sign] "from here and from here," [breirah not obtaining. The halachah is in accordance with the sages.]
Gray Matter IV
The Mishnah (Beitzah 4:7) teaches the well-known rule that although one may transfer fire on Yom Tov, it is forbidden to create a new fire on Yom Tov. The poskim debate whether this constitutes a biblical or rabbinic prohibition (see Bei’ur Halachah 502:1 s.v. Ein Motzi’in). When incandescent bulbs first were introduced, a few prominent poskim permitted lighting an incandescent bulb on Yom Tov, arguing that lighting an incandescent bulb constitutes a transfer of fire rather than starting a fire (see Encyclopedia Talmudit 18:178). This approach, however, is rejected by the overwhelming majority of authorities primarily because it emerges from a mistaken understanding of how an incandescent bulb works. Those who permitted this lighting thought that the flow of electrons in the filament is what causes the bulb to glow. They believed that when one completes a circuit, the electrons in the filament then have a path in which to flow and thereby cause the filament to glow. According to this understanding, when one turns on a light, he simply is transferring the electrons. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Teshuvot Minchat Shlomo 1:9 n. 5), however, notes that this is an erroneous understanding of how an incandescent bulb operates. The glow does not result from the flow of electrons but rather from the resistance in the wire to the flow of the electrons in the filament. Thus, one clearly creates fire when turning on an incandescent bulb, and as such, doing so is forbidden on Yom Tov. The accepted opinion is that of Rav Shlomo Zalman. Among the many authorities who concurred that turning on an incandescent light is forbidden on Yom Tov are Chazon Ish (ad. loc.), Rav Yaakov Breisch (Teshuvot Chelkat Yaakov 1:51), Rav David Zvi Hoffman (Teshuvot Melamed Leho’il ad. loc.), and Rav Ovadia Yosef (Teshuvot Yabia Omer O.C. 1:19).
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Gray Matter IV
Both Rav David Zvi Hoffman and the Chazon Ish note that it is prohibited to complete circuits due to the sparks that are created in the process. They argue that the sparks generated when completing an electric circuit fall under the rabbinic prohibition to create sparks from wood or stones (Beitzah 4:7).
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