פירוש על ברכות 8:5

נר ומזון – He who ate on Shabbat after [reciting] the Minha/Afternoon Service, and it became dark and he had not yet completed his meal and he doesn’t have more than a cup’s worth of wine, the School of Shammai states: [One recites the blessings for] the Candle, the Meal, the spices and the Havdalah prayer, since everyone [holds] that Havdalah [is recited] at the end, so that when one “leaves” a day, we do it as late [as possible] in order that it (the Sabbath) would not seem to him like a burden. They (the Schools of Hillel and Shammai) did not disagree other than on the Candle and on the Spices, for the School of Shammai holds [that we recite the blessings in the following order]: Candle, the Meal, and afterwards the Spices. And the School of Hillel says [that we recite the blessings in the following order]: The Candle, and the Spices, since both the Candle and Spices are mutually blessings that we can do and they do not appear as a burden, such as the Candle and Spices [which are recited] prior to ברכת המזון

Introduction In this mishnah Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel debate the order of the various blessings recited as part of the Havdalah, the set of blessings that separates Shabbat or a holiday from the day that follows. The specific situation under discussion is a case where people were eating a meal on Saturday night at nightfall and they wanted to combine Birkat Hamazon and Havdalah and say them both over the same cup of wine.

בית שמאין אומרים שברא מאור האש – Who created, which implies in the past, and not “who creates,” which implies in the future.

Bet Shammai says: [the proper order is] candle, [Birkat Ha]Mazon, spices, and Havdalah. But Bet Hillel says: candle, spices, [Birkat Ha]Mazon, and Havdalah. Bet Shammai holds that the candle’s blessing comes first because as soon as the candle is lit they immediately benefit from the candle’s light. They then do Birkat Hamazon because they has already finished eating. Finally they bless over the spices and Havdalah. Bet Hillel holds that since the candle and spices are both short blessings, they go together. In other words, he moves the blessing over the spices up to join it with the blessing over the candle. He then recites Birkat Hamazon and Havdalah.

מאור האש – and not the “lights of fire” since one “light” is found in a fire.

Bet Shammai says [the blessing over the candle concludes with the words], “Who created the light of the fire.” But Bet Hillel says: “Who creates the lights of the fire.” This debate about the wording of the blessing over the candle is actually a deep theological debate. According to Bet Shammai we bless over the original light that God created in the beginning of the world. We are thanking God for something that happened in the past, for an act that was long ago completed. This is close, perhaps, to an Aristotelian conception of God as the prime mover. God created fire and henceforth, all fire stems from that original fire. In contrast, Bet Hillel says that we thank God for continuously creating fire. God is still acting as a creator in continuing the normal functioning of the world.

ובית הלל אומרים בורא – which also implies in the past

מאורי האש – There are many colors in the flame: red, white and greenish.