A 9-branched candelabrum lit by Jews during the holiday of Chanukah. (Distinct from the 7-branched gold candelabrum that was lit in the Jewish Temple.)
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Can one throw out a Menorah?
Is it an issue to discard a menorah that has been used for the mitzvah of Neros Chanuka?
What if the menorah is made from something not usually used for a menorah? For example,bottles, cans, ...
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When lighting Chanukah candles on both entrances to courtyard, can I use only one candle?
In Hilchos Channukah OC Siman 671 Sif 8 we learn the halacha that if someone has 2 entrances to their courtyard they must light Chanukah candles by both of them. This is so that passers-by won't see ...
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Are chanukah menorahs lit from the left or the right?
There are different authorities that state the chanukah menora should be lit from the left or the right. Which is correct?
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Relighting Chanukah lights that extinguish
In light of this answer (no pun intended) which directs you to never pass your hand over a light without lighting it, what happens when the lights extinguish before you've lit fully.
There are ...
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Why are there eight days of Chanukah if there were only seven miracles?
There is a famous question asked by the Beis Yosef (R' Yosef Karo): Why do we celebrate eight days of Chanukah if the miracle lasted only seven? The jug of oil contained enough to be lit for one day, ...
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Is there an imperative to have a fancy menorah?
Is it considered a meritorious practice to have a fancy/expensive/large menorah? Normally the imperative to beautify mitzvos is related to the mitzvah item itself (e.g. talis, tefillin, esrog), so ...
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What is the appropriate use of the shamash on an oil menora?
It seems that with wax candle menoras, the shamash is generally lit first and used to light the other candles, but with an oil menora this is not possible. So should you light the shamash before the ...
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Making Bracha on Channukah Candles in Jail
Someone who is in jail and is able to light Channukah candles, can/should he make a bracha?
I don't know if being in Jail is considered to be like having a home that someone would have a chiyuv to ...
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Does the Kohen Gadol place his seal on oil used for the Menorah?
The Gemara in Shabbat 21b says:
...For when the Greeks entered the Temple, they defiled all the oils
therein, and when the Hasmonean dynasty prevailed against and defeated
them, they made ...
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2answers
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Sell the shirt off his back for Menorah, but not for anything else?
Halacha brings that one who has no money for Chanukah Lights must sell the shirt off his back to acquire them why is this the case versus almost all other Mitzvos which require up to a fifth of his ...
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Source for not referring to Chanuka lights as a “menora”
Following up on this question about the use of the words "menora" or "chanukiya" to refer to Chanuka lights:
I find it interesting that the use of "chanukiya" apparently originated in 1897 through a ...
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Why don't we light the full menorah all 8 days?
If the reason we light candles on Chanukah is as a commemoration for the fact that the lights of the menorah burned for 8 days on fuel that was only sufficient for 1, why don't we light our menorahs ...
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Does the order of lights in a menorah face the house or the street?
I have always been taught that lights in a chanukiah should be inserted from right to left. So on the first four nights, only lights to the right of the shamash are lit (assuming a shamash in the ...
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Rambam in Mitzvah of Ner Channukah: why “Shemen and Neros”?
The Rambam writes in Hilchos Channukah Perek 4 Halacha 12:
אפילו אין לו מה יאכל אלא מן הצדקה שואל או מוכר כסותו ולוקח שמן ונרות ומדליק
What is the reason the Rambam wrote to take "Shemen and ...
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Fill m'nora in order?
I know that (at least when lighting at a window), one lights the Chanuka m'nora from left to right: the new lamp first and rightward from there. I've seen people careful to fill them with oil (or ...
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1answer
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How is the menora lit in the synagogue?
The menora in the synagogue is normally situated on the south side of the synagogue (O Ch 671 (7)).
On which side of the menora is it lit:
The person lighting faces south and the first candle is as ...
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1answer
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“Prepare your Menora before Shabbat!”
In this recent "Halocho a Day" blog post, Danny Schoemann leads off with
This week, Shabbat is also Erev Chanuka; prepare your Menora before Shabbat!
This sounds like a nice idea for reducing ...
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2answers
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How to measure Menorah height
A menorah should preferably be within 10 tefachim from the ground (though higher than 3 tefachim). Are these ten tefachim measured to the base of the menorah, or to its top, or to the actual level of ...
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Chanukiyot inside or out?
Shabbat 22a says that the halacha is that we should place the chanukiyah outside, within a hand-breadth of the door, to the left. In Israel I've seen people do this, placing the chanukiyah in a glass ...
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Final Nun vs. Final Mem in “Madlikin”
In the Hanerot Halalu that we recite when lighting the Hanukkah candles, it says "anachnu madlikin." Why madlikin and not madlikim? Why is a final nun used and not a final mem? I have searched ...
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What can a Menorah be made of?
Are there any halachic limitations on materials that can be used (l'chatchila) to make a Menorah?
For example, can one fulfil the mitzva on a Menorah of ice? How about one of cans, potatoes, or ...
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Where's the eighth miracle? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Beis Yosef Question
Inspired by this question.
If the sealed jug of oil that they found had enough to light the Menorah for one day, then there were only seven ...
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1answer
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How do you get oil residue off of a menora?
When you light olive oil in a metal menora, some of the oil invariably finds its way into the cracks between parts of the menora. How do you remove this residue?
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When did the practice of lighting flames for Chanuka begin?
It seems clear from the G'mara that the institution of Chanuka as a holiday began the year immediately following the seminal story - with praising of God and commemorating miracles, but there is no ...
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What's the best way to make wick-and-oil work for Chanukah?
I've tried lots of fancy fluffy cotton wicks that just burn out. Some people have those little metal holder-thingies to keep the wick in place; some use bobby pins as holder thingies. If your oil ...
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1answer
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Cleaning chanukia in a bathroom?
The easiest way I have found to get candle wax off a metal chanukia is with a stream of hot water. The wax melts and runs off with the water.
One kettle of hot water is not enough to clean it all, ...
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Is there a minimum size for Chanuka flames?
Do the flames atop the chanukiya need to be a certain size to be valid? At the extreme, are tiny (but sustained) balls of blue flame sufficient?
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She'asah nissim — why only past tense?
When we light the chanukiyah we say "she'asah nissim...b'yamim hahem bizman hazeh", with a past-tense "asah". While the miracles worked in the past (b'yamim hahem) are in the past (tautology alert!), ...
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Glass boxes and Hadlaka Oseh Mitzvah [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Fish Tank Menorahs
I think this is a familiar question, but since I don't have an answer, I'll ask it here. Since the halacha is that Hadlaka Oseh Mitzva (the conditions ...
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How straight do the chanukah lights have to be?
The Mechaber says (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 671:4) that the Chanukah lights may not look like a bonfire. The Remah therefore says that the Chanukah lights must be in a straight line, to make sure it ...
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Third blessing on the first night of Channukah
If someone didn't light Channukah lights on the first night, does he/she then say the third blessing (Sh'hecheyunu) on the next night?
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What to look for in Chanuka flames
In determining the preferableness of fuel and wick types, the שולחן ערוך and רמ"א refer to light "hanging on wicks nicely" and the possibility of candle light being "clean" and "clear". What physical ...
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Chanukiah location
What it the ideal place to put a chanukiah for lighting? Is it better to put it in the window, outside or inside? Does it depend on where you live?
