Siman 278

The sages taught in the Mishnah (29b): One who extinguishes a lamp because he is afraid of gentiles, such as the Persians who would not allow light on their festival day except in their house of worship (Rashi), or because of bandits, so that they should not see him and come upon him (ibid.), or because of an evil spirit, melancholia that comes upon him, and when he does not see the light it is easier for him (ibid.), and there is a type of illness where when one sees the light he flees and separates from human nature (the Rambam in the Commentary on the Mishnah), and there are people who imagine fantasies during their sleep if the lamp is burning, in a manner that they will come to an evil spirit and lose their mind (Perishah), or if he extinguishes it for a sick person to sleep—he is exempt, see there, and all exemptions of Shabbat are "exempt but forbidden." And the Gemara established that it is obvious that in a place of danger, it is permitted ab initio, and the Mishnah is dealing with where there is no danger, and the reason he is exempt according to the Torah is because it is a labor not needed for its own sake. And this is according to the Tur and most of the poskim, for we hold like Rabbi Shimon, that a labor not needed for its own sake—one is exempt. However, according to the Rambam who ruled like Rabbi Yehuda, that a labor not needed for its own sake—one is liable, here too he is liable, and we have already written of their dispute in siman 242, see there. And the Rambam will interpret the Mishnah according to the first establishment in the Gemara, that it deals with a place of danger, and in truth it is permitted ab initio. And as for that which was taught with the language "exempt"—it is because of the latter clause of the Mishnah, see there.

The Tur, who ruled according to Rabbi Shimon, wrote indeed with this wording: "One who extinguishes a lamp because he is afraid... where there is no danger—he is exempt but it is forbidden, and if there is danger—it is permitted ab initio. And if he extinguished it because he is sparing the lamp or the oil or the wick—he is exempt, and if he extinguished it in order to singe the wick—he is liable" Thus far his words, for this is 'needed for the body of the act of extinguishing,' so that the wick will be easy for the flame to take hold of, and therefore he must extinguish it and afterwards light it, and it is like extinguishing to make charcoal, which is called 'needed for its own sake.' Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote only: "It is permitted to extinguish the lamp so that a patient who is in danger may sleep" Thus far his words. And he did not write more, as he did not wish to enter into this dispute, because in any event there is a rabbinic prohibition even according to Rabbi Shimon, and in all the laws of Shabbat our teachers, the authors of the Shulchan Aruch, did not enter into distinguishing except between that which is forbidden and that which is permitted, as I wrote in siman 242, see there. (And see the Taz who wrote that it is permitted to study before a wax candle, because there is no Torah prohibition in this when he trims the candle, for it is a melakhah she'einah tzerichah legufah, and we have already explained this in siman 275, section 7, that it is possible to say that there is also a prohibition of 'kindling' in this, see there. And what the Magen Avraham wrote regarding the words of the Kesef Mishneh chapter 1, on the difference between melakhah she'einah tzerichah legufah and a psik reisha, we have already explained in siman 242. And regarding what they questioned on the Tur, that he ruled in Choshen Mishpat siman 424 that one who wounds his fellow is exempt from payment because of 'kim leh bederava mineih,' and yet it is a melakhah she'einah tzerichah legufah—the matter is simple, for the Tur holds that just as one is liable for 'destructive' acts in wounding and kindling, so too he is liable for 'not needed for its own sake,' unlike the words of the Tosafot (75a) s.v. 'tefei', see there, and it will be explained in another place with the help of Heaven.)