SHABBAS CHANUKAH
LAWS & CUSTOMS
Lighting Chanukah candles on erev Shabbas & on motzei Shabbas
entails halachas that don't apply on weekday nights.
PREPARATIONS
- You need enough oil OR long enough candles to burn for at least 1 hour & 45 minutes
- The candles must be placed in the menorah before it is lit
- If you neglected to put in enough oil & realized his error only after lighting the menorah,
you may not add more oil - Instead, you mustextinguish the flame, add oil & then re-kindle the wick
- The blessings, however, are not repeated
If you don't have enough oil for all the wicks to burn for 1 hour & 45 minutes
make sure that at least one light has enough oil to burn that long.
- An example would be:
- If Shabbas falls on the sixth night of Chanukah & there is only enough oil for 5 lights to burn for the required length of time instead of the six that are required, most poskim maintain that only one should be lit, while a minority opinion holds that five should be lit
Since it is customary in many homes that children under bar mitzvah also light Chanukah candles so this custom should be observed on erev Shabbas as well.
- Preferably, the child's menorah should also have enough oil OR long enough candles to burn
1 hour & 45. - If, however, it is difficult or impractical to do so, many poskim permit a child to light with the blessings even though his lights will not last for the full length of time
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The menorah should be placed in a spot where opening or closing a door
or window will not fan or extinguish the flame.
A guest who is eating & sleeping over lights at the home of his host even
if his own home is in the same city.
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THE TIME OF LIGHTING ON EREV SHABBAS
- All preparations for Shabbas should be completed before Chanukah candles are lit so that all members of the household, including women & children, are present at the lighting
- There are 2 points to remember about lighting Chanukah candles on Friday afternoon
1. Chanukah candles are always lit before Shabbas candles
2. Chanukah candles are lit as close as possible to Shabbas - It's preferable (L'chatchilah), Chanukah candles are lit immediately before lighting Shabbas candles but Under extenuating circumstances (B'diavad) they may be lit at any time after plag ha-Minchah
- Depending on the locale, plag ha-Minchah on erev Shabbas Chanukah is generally a few minutes less or few minutes more than an hour before sunset
- In most homes, where the husband lights Chanukah candles & the wife lights Shabbas candles, the correct procedure is to light Chanukah candles five minutes or so before lighting Shabbas candles
- So as soon as Chanukah candles have been lit, the wife lights the Shabbas candles
- If many people are lighting & time is running short, a wife doesn't need to wait for everyone to finish lighting Chanukah candles
1. She should light her Shabbos candles immediately
2. If sunset is fast approaching, the wife should light Shabbas candles regardless of whether or not the Chanukah candles have been lit by her husband
3. If she sees that her husband will not light his menorah on time, she should light the
Chanukah menorah herself, followed by Shabbas candles - In a home where the man lights both the Chanukah & the Shabbos candles
1. The same procedure is followed
2. If, by mistake, he lit Shabbas candles before Chanukah candles, he should light his
Chanukah candles anyway as long as he did not have in mind to accept the Shabbas - In a home where the woman lights both Chanukah & Shabbas candles
1. She must light the Chanukah candles first If, by mistake, she lit Shabbas candles first,
she may no longer light Chanukah candles.
2. Instead, she must ask another person, man or woman, who hasn't accepted the Shabbas
light for her
3. The other person must recite the blessing of lehadlik ner shel Chanukah, but she can recite the blessing of she'asah nissim & she'hec'hey'anu if it is the first night
4. After lighting the Shabbas candles but before the onset of Shabbas, the Chanukah candles blew out, one must re-kindle them
5. One who has already accepted the Shabbas should ask another person who has not yet accepted the Shabbas to do so
ON SHABBAS
The menorah may not be moved with one's hands for any reason,
neither while the lights are burning nor after they are extinguished.
- When necessary, the menorah may be moved with one's foot, body or elbow after the lights have burned out
- If the place where the menorah is standing is needed for another purpose, a non-Jew may be asked to move the menorah after the lights have burned out
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If Al ha-nissim is mistakenly omitted,
the Shemoneh Esrei or Birkas ha-Mazon is not repeated.
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In the opinion of some poskim,
women are obligated to recite Hallel on Chanukah.
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Children should be discouraged from playing dreidel games on Shabbas,
even when playing with candy, etc.
A dreidel, however, is not muktzeh.
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Oil may be pressed out of latkes on Shabbas,
either by hand or with a utensil.
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Chanukah gifts may not be given or received
unless they are needed for Shabbas use.
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ON MOTZI SHABBAS
Candlelighting must take place as close as possible to the end of Shabbas.
- Indeed, some have the custom of lighting Chanukah candles even before havdalah, while others light them immediately after havdalah
- All agree that any further delay in lighting Chanukah candles is prohibited
- Therefore, one should hurry home from shul & immediately recite havdalah or light Chanukah candles
A Shabbas guest who lives nearby & must go home immediately
after Shabbos is over, should light in his home.
- If, however, he does not leave immediately after Shabbas, he should light at the home of his host
- Preferably, he should also eat melaveh malkah there
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Candle Lighting For A Regular Shabbas
Chanukah Candle Brachas | Chanukah Safety For Menorahs & Cooking
Latkes & Sufganiots Recipes
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