Shabbat in the arctic

Question

If I were to travel to Barrow, Alaska in the summer, when there is no sunset, when should I light the Shabbat candles?

(This is not a hypothetical question; I work remotely for an Alaskan corporation so it is possible that I end up having to go there some day)

What are the customs of other extreme-latitude communities?

If it's not hypothetical, then CYLOR rather than relying practically on answers you receive here. — msh210, Jun 15 '11 at 15:38
Seems to me that this is a duplicate of http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/7182. Any reason not to close it as such? — msh210, Jun 15 '11 at 15:41
@msh210: I'm not orthodox, so I'd rather learn about what other communities do and decide accordingly. I don't think this is an exact duplicate of that question either, although Andrew's comments on Monica's answer are helpful. I'd still like to see reasons for doing one thing or the other. — מרדכי בן דניאל, Jun 15 '11 at 15:59
The star-K has an excellent summary of halachic issues and opinions on what to do in this situation, and includes the p'sak of R' Moshe Heinemann, although traditionally, a personal rav should be consulted for all practical halachic questions. — jake, Jun 15 '11 at 16:08
@MordechaiBenDaniel, Such reasons should be posted as answers to the other question, though, keeping all the information on this topic in one place. It really does seem to be a duplicate. Why is it that you "don't think this is an exact duplicate"? — msh210, Jun 15 '11 at 16:09
@msh210: I think the question is different because it's more specific (i.e. you could answer with "here, in the Alaskan community X, we do this and that regarding shabbat") — מרדכי בן דניאל, Jun 15 '11 at 16:15
I don't think this is an exact duplicate, since this question is more specific than the other. A valid answer to this could be "look at this Shabbat-specific answer to the other." — Isaac Moses, Jun 15 '11 at 16:16
@Mordechai Agreed. Local knowledge of Alaska, including simply who up there is good to talk to, could provide a useful answer to this specific question. — Isaac Moses, Jun 15 '11 at 16:17
@jake: thanks, that's the kind of resource I was looking for. Would you like to convert it to an answer? — מרדכי בן דניאל, Jun 15 '11 at 16:18
@IsaacMoses, note that the other question has a shabbat tag. MordechaiBenDaniel, note that the other question asks "How is this handled", seemingly asking for, inter alia, actual practice. But very well, I won't close it. If I had a vote, I'd vote to close it, though. — msh210, Jun 15 '11 at 16:19
@msh210 Yes, the tag's there, but Shabbat candle-lighting isn't mentioned in the question. — Isaac Moses, Jun 15 '11 at 16:20
I think this is definitely a special case of the other question, in which case I recommend altering the title to read "Shabbat in Barrow". — WAF, Jun 15 '11 at 21:43
@WAF: Actually, Barrow is just an example, as I could have to travel to other Alaskan cities too (corporate HQ is in Barrow, but there's presence in all the state) — מרדכי בן דניאל, Jun 15 '11 at 21:56

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 15 '11 at 18:17

See the fuller question for far more. But for a quick answer on Barrow specifically, here's the Star-K:

WINTER:

For example, in Barrow located at the northern tip of Alaska, on December 1 the sun does not rise. However, at 1:15 p.m. there is the most sunlight of the day 30 (theoretical chatzos hayom [=noon]). Therefore, one may daven Shachris and perform daytime mitzvos between 10:40 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.31 (during these pre-dawn light conditions) and daven Mincha at 1:45 p.m. (1/2 hour after chatzos during the post sunset conditions). Shabbos ends at 4:23 p.m. when the stars come out.

I don't see them addressing when Shabbos starts, specifically. Possibly best to avoid working as early as 1:16PM on Friday, I'd assume. In which case it would be best not to light shabbos candles; by the time it's sufficiently "Friday afternoon" to light shabbos candles, it may already be sunset and prohibited to do so.) So probably light candles, without saying a bracha, before 1:16PM. I don't think their article addressed this one ... anyone?

SUMMER:

This one's a bit easier. When there's no good sunset, we treat sunset as 6PM standard time. Hence, on standard time, the ideal time for lighting candles is 5:42PM, before 6:00PM standard time (likely 6:42PM--7:00PM with daylight saving), but if you wanted you could light candles as early as 4:45PM standard time.

But ...

bring along an almanac from home; if you came from somewhere where sunset in the winter is before 6PM (would have to be South of the equator if this happens in the summer, I think), then start shabbos at that earlier sunset time of your hometown.

Shabbat in the arctic

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