Chanukah- December 21-28, 2011

What does Chanukah commemorate?
During the period of the Second Temple, the Greek Empire took control of the Land of Israel and issued harsh decrees against the Jewish people. They forbade the study of Torah and the observance of mitzvos; plundered their possessions and violated their daughters; and entered the holy Temple damaging and desecrating it. When Hashem had mercy on His people, He saved them through the family of the Chashmonaim Cohanim. They miraculously defeated the Greek army, purified and rededicated the Temple, and reinstated the Jewish monarchy which continued for over two hundred years until the destruction of the Temple.

Why do we light a menorah?
When the Chanshmonaim entered the Temple and searched for pure undefiled oil to light the menorah, they found only one small bottle bearing the seal of the Cohen Gadol. Although this contained enough oil to burn for only one day, a miracle occurred and the oil sufficed for eight days until new pure oil was produced. The Sages therefore instituted the festival of Chanukah to rejoice and praise Hashem for eight days. Each evening a menorah is lit by the doors and windows of Jewish homes to show and publicize the miracle.

How is Chanukah commemorated during davening?
The entire hallel is recited every day and the additional praise al haNissim is inserted in Shemoneh Esrei and bensching. The Torah is read every day in shul and tachanun and lamnatzeach are omitted.

Is the shape of the menorah important?
It is preferable that the lights stand in a straight line and all at the same height. Therefore, one should not buy a modern design menorah whose branches are in a staggered position or of differing heights.

Who is obligated to light?
According to the basic law it is sufficient to light one menorah per household, irrespective of the number of family members. However, the custom is to beautify the mitzvah by each male member of the family lighting a separate menorah.

Are women required to light?
A woman living on her own is required to light a menorah. Although this is a time-bound mitzvah, women are obligated since they were included in the decrees and instrumental in the miraculous defeat of the enemy when Yehudis cut off the head of the evil Greek general Holiphernes.

If the father is lighting, can his daughters light their own menorah?
This is permitted, although the standard custom is not to do so. One reason is that originally everyone lit the menorah next to the doorway of the house in the street, and it was considered immodest for women to stand there among the crowds of men. Therefore, they would stand in the house near the doorway and watch the men light. Although today many people light indoors, the custom remains. Even where daughters do have a custom to light their own menorah, the wife should not light since she is considered one unit with her husband.

Should children light?
The custom is to educated boys to light their own menorah from the age of six or seven. In families where daughters also light, girls of six or seven may light their own menorah, although they have no obligation to do so. Children should be given oil or candles that will stay alight for the required length of time

Where should the menorah be placed (outside of Israel)?
One should choose the window that enables the maximum number of people to see the menorah, since publicizing the miracle is an important part of the mitzvah. For example, it is better to light by a bedroom or kitchen window that can be seen by many people than by a dining-room window that can be seen by fewer people.

When is the correct time to light?
At nightfall. I.e. when three medium sized stars are visible in the sky. This is right after the Mincha/Maariv minyan finishes in shul.

What is the latest time for lighting?
One may light until the halachic dawn.

For how long must the lights burn?

• If one lights at nightfall or later they must be able to burn for at least half-an-hour
• If one lights before nightfall, (e.g. erev Shabbos), they must be able to burn until half-an-hour after nightfall.

How many lights are kindled each night?
According to the basic requirement, it is sufficient to kindle one light each night. However, the universally accepted custom is to beautify the mitzvah by kindling one light on the first night and adding an additional light each night, until eight lights are kindled on the eighth night.

Which end of the menorah should be used on the first night?
One should begin at the right end of the menorah as one faces it.

What is the procedure on the subsequent nights?
Each night, an additional light is placed next to those of the previous night, gradually filling up the menorah towards the left. When lighting the menorah, the main custom is to kindle the newest light first, i.e. the left-most one and proceed to light from left to right.

Should one light the shamash before or after the main lights?
There are two customs.

• The main Ashkenazic custom is to light the shamash at the start before the brachos are recited. After reciting the brachos, the shamash is used for kindling the Chanukah lights and is then placed into the menorah.
• The main Sephardic custom is to use a different candle for lighting both the Chanukah lights and the shamash. According to this method, the shamash is placed on the menorah beforehand but only lit after the main lights. The candle use for lighting the menorah is then extinguished.

Which brachos are recited when kindling the menorah?
On the first night of Chanukah, three brachos are recited:

• אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו להדליק נר של חנוכה
• שעשה ניסים
• שהחיינו

On the following night only the first two brachos are recited.

When should one begin to kindle the lights?
The lights should be kindled only after all the brachos have been recited.

Why is it forbidden to benefit from the lights?
There are three reasons:

• To make it clear that they are mitzvah lights kindled solely for the purpose of publicizing the miracle.
• Since the miracle occurred with the menorah of the Temple, the lights are treated with the same holiness as the lights of the Temple menorah.
• So that a person does not become accustomed to degrade mitzvos.

What type of benefit is forbidden?
All personal benefit is forbidden. For example:

• Reading by their light.
• Eating a meal by their light.
• Lighting a candle from their flames.
• widespread custom is also not to learn Torah by the light of the menorah.

May one benefit from the lights after half-an-hour?
It is preferable not to use the lights at any time, since an onlooker may not realize that they have already been burning for half-an-hour.

If oil remains in the menorah after the eighth night may it be used for other purposes?
Since this oil was set aside for the mitzvah of Chanukah, it may not be used for anything else. It is even forbidden to use such oil for another mitzvah e.g. Shabbos lights.

What should be done with such oil?
It should be burned. The same applies to the used wicks after the eighth night.

Can this oil be saved for next Chanukah?
No, we are afraid that during the year it may accidentally be used for something else.

What about the leftover oil in the bottle?
This oil has not been designated for the mitzvah and may be used for any purpose.

When should the menorah be lit on erev Shabbos?
It should be lit before kindling the Shabbos lights.

Until when must the lights burn?
The lights must be capable of burning until half-an-hour after nightfall. Therefore, one must be especially careful on erev Shabbos to use sufficient oil or long candles that can burn until this time. If the menorah can only contain a small amount of oil or small candles, an alternative should be used on erev Shabbos.

Is the menorah lit on motzei Shabbos before or after havdallah?
The main custom is the recite havdallah before lighting the menorah. In shul, the reverse order is done. I.e. first we light the menorah, then we recite havdallah.