Chanukah

When setting up the menora, one is faced with several choices: Where, preferably, should the first candle be set up on the first night, the second on the second night, etc., and which candle should be lit first?

It is proper to beautify the mitzva by using a beautiful menora (ĥanukiya, candelabrum), each according to his means.In order to prevent people from violating the prohibition of benefiting from the Ĥanuka candles, the custom developed to light an additional candle to serve as a shamash.

One may not benefit from the light of the Ĥanuka candles, whether for mundane purposes, like counting money, or sacred purposes, like studying Torah.

The mitzva is fulfilled by the act of lighting the candles, not by having them lit. However, if one lights the candles in a place where they cannot burn for half an hour he has not fulfilled his obligation.

The Sages prescribed that we recite two berakhot before lighting the Ĥanuka candles, so that we focus on the two aspects of the mitzva. Immediately following the berakhot, one begins lighting the candles, without talking between completing the berakhot and beginning to light.

One should try to gather the entire family for candle lighting, so that everyone can hear the berakhot, answer “amen,” and witness the lighting.

Jewish women have preserved a special custom to refrain from working while the Ĥanuka candles are burning. Some women do not work the entire holiday, especially on the first and eighth days

There are two levels of mitzva observance: fulfillment of the basic obligation and mehadrin, going beyond the basics to beautify the mitzva.

According to Sephardic tradition, the main way of beautifying the mitzva is to light the number of candles that corresponds to the current day of Ĥanuka.

According to Ashkenazic custom, each member of a household must light his own candles in order to fulfill the custom of mehadrin min ha-mehadrin.