| The Laws of Chanukah
There is a mitzvah to light candles each night of Chanukah. The minhag
for Ashkenazim is that each family member lights their own Menorah,
increasing the candles by one each night. Care should be taken that
one is able to differentiate between the different Menorahs, and one
should be able to easily identify the night of Chanukah, by the amount
of candles lit per Menorah. Sefardim light one Menorah per house.
Married women do not light the Menorah, as they are counted with their husbands.
Although the word candle has been used, and any oil or type of candle
may be used, the best way to do the mitzvah is to use olive oil for
the lights.
An electric Menorah may not be used.
The candles are set up and lit from right to left, adding an
additional candle each night. The newest candle is lit first each
night. The Menorah should be in a straight line.
Ideally, the Menorah should be lit around 15 minutes after
shkiya, and must last until half an hour after tzeis hakochavim—when
the stars come out. The Menorah may be lit anytime at night (until
daybreak), and must last half an hour. If the Menorah is lit past
midnight, a brocha may be said, provided that there is someone else
(besides the one lighting) awake to hear the brocha (if there is no
one awake, the Menorah is still lit, albeit without a brocha).
Once it is thirty minutes after Tzeis Hakochavim, the Menorah may be extinguished.
B'dieved, the Menorah may be lit
from plag hamincha, though this leniency is strongly discouraged.
Women do not work while the Menorah is lit (during the obligatory
time). Kinyan Torah writes that this only applies to melacha not done
on Chol Hamoed, such as sewing, knitting, laundering etc.
The Menorah should be placed near a window, not lower than a foot from
the ground, nor 30 feet above the ground .
The Menorah is lit every night in Shul. The Menorah should be placed
along the Southern wall of the Shul. The one lighting should light
with his back to the Southern wall, facing North. The candles are set
up right to left.
All the brochos are said in Shul, including shechiyanu on the first
night. If the person lighting at Shul will be going to home to an
empty home, he should not say shechiyanu when he lights at home.
Three brochos are recited the first night, and two every night after.
The brochos are recited, and then the Menorah is lit. After the first
candle is lit, haneiros halalu is recited.
The lighting of the Menorah is the mitzvah; therefore, once the
Menorah is lit, it may not be moved.
If the flames went out, the Menorah does not need to be relit (provided
there was sufficient fuel—oil or wax—to last half an hour past night
fall). Nevertheless, it is best to relight –except for Shabbos—without a brocha.
It is forbidden to use the Menorah as light (i.e, to read from it,
play board games, sew etc.). We are also noheig not to learn by the
light of the candles. Therefore, we light an extra candle (shamash),
that in case one does benefit from the light of the Menorah, it will
not be a transgression (as it can be assumed that one benefited from
the light of the shamash). Even if one does not need a shamash, we
still light an extra candle.
On Friday evening, the Chanukah candles are lit before Shabbos
candles. The Chanukah candles must last 30 minutes past tzeis hakochavim on Friday night as well, so more oil/longer candles must be used.
On Motzaoi Shabbos, some have the custom to recite Havdala first
(Havdala is tadir, amongst other reasons), then the Menorah is lit,
while others have the minhag to first light the Menorah (lighting the
Menorah is that days obligation, as opposed to Havdala which is the
previous day's application, and the chovas hayom comes first), and
then say Havdala. Both minhagim are valid, writes the Mishna Berurah.
Practically, most are noheig to say Havdala first.
If the husband will not be home at the time of lighting, his wife can
light for him (in which case the husband should not relight when he
gets home). If the Menorah is lit on the first night when the husband
is not home, and the husband does not light at his location, the
husband does not say the brocha of shehechiyanu when he lights the
next night at home, provided the brocha of shehechiyanu had been
recited the first night.
A guest can join in with the owner of the house, by paying a small fee
and acquiring part of the oil/candle that he lights (unless, of
course, he wants to light his own Menorah).
A person should light the Menorah at their primary residence. This is
defined as where a person sleeps. If a person will be eating at
someone else's house, and will even be there at the time of lighting,
the Menorah should still be lit where the person will be sleeping that
night.
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach writes that if a person was a guest
overnight, and even if he plans on returning home the next evening, if
he will be at the home of host at the time of lighting, he lights at
the home of the host, provided he will be there for half an hour, as
that is the primary time to perform the mitzvah (the obvious example
is a family who visits their parents for Shabbos, and plans on
returning home on Motzaoi Shabbos, would nonetheless light at the home
of their parents after Shabbos ends, provided they remain at the house
for the pre-requisite half hour).
Oil that was leftover in the Menorah may not be
used for anything else, and should be poured down the sink or burnt (there is a minhag to burn
it with the chometz). Oil that was set aside to be used for Chanukah, but was never placed in the Menorah, may be used for any needs.
Leftover oil on Chanukah may be used the next
night of Chanukah (but can not be used for next year's Chanukah
candles, as we fear he may come to use it for other purposes).
Al Hanisim is recited by bentching and Shemonah Esrei on Chanukah. If
forgotten, bentching/Shemonah Esrie is not repeated.
Complete Hallel is recited every day of Chanukah, including Rosh Chodesh.
There is a machlokes if women are obligated to recite Hallel. The
Rambam writes women are not obligated, while Tosafos (Sukkos 38a)
implies they should, although this is not the custom.
Although many Women do try to recite Hallel, however, they are not necessarily obligated to do so, therefore davening Shachris & Mincha would take preference. |
