Responsa for Shabbat 44:2
מתיב רב ששת (ויקרא כד, ג) מחוץ לפרוכת העדות יערוך וכי לאורה הוא צריך והלא כל ארבעים שנה שהלכו בני ישראל במדבר לא הלכו אלא לאורו אלא עדות היא לבאי עולם שהשכינה שורה בישראל מאי עדות אמר רב זו נר מערבי שנותן בה שמן כמדת חברותיה וממנה היה מדליק ובה היה מסיים והא הכא כיון דקביעי נרות לא סגיא דלא משקיל ואדלוקי קשיא בין למ"ד משום בזויי מצוה ובין למ"ד משום אכחושי מצוה
even to redeem therewith other second tithe. Now, it is well if you say that Rab and Samuel differ [over direct lighting] from lamp to lamp, yet with a chip Samuel admits that it is forbidden: then this is not a refutation.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the gold denarii are not actually sanctified when they are weighed, though that is their purpose. Thus they are similar to the chip which may not be lit at the Hanukkah lamp because it is secular itself. ');"><sup>3</sup></span> But if you [on Samuel's view] say that it is permitted even with a chip, then this is a refutation? — Rabbah answered: It is a preventive measure, lest he does not find his weights exact and leaves<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'withdraws'. ');"><sup>4</sup></span>
Teshuvot Maharam
A. The money may be used for buying waxen candles. The purpose for which the money was given may be changed by the members of the synagogue (though it can not be so changed by the donor) for the following reasons: a) Preparing an object for sacred use does not sanctify the object until it is actually used for such purpose; b) candles and oil used in a synagogue are not intrinsically sacred; nor are they even considered tashmishe kedushah (objects used for a sacred function) since they are not indispensable to the function of the synagogue.
SOURCES: L. 269; P. 299–300.