Opuscula Interesting Odds & ends About Hanuka

Hanuka — or Chanukah or any variation thereof, still is חנוכה — is different than most “popular” Jewish holidays in many ways.

It is not from the Torah; akin to Purim, it is “post-Torah.”

The full Hallel is recited after the morning Ahmedah.¹ On Pesach (Passover) the full Hallel is recited only on the first day. Shavuot, however, is similar to Hanuka in that full Hallel is recited all eight days.²

Hanuka also shares another trait with Shavuot. Both holidays are celebrated with dairy meals. My Moroccan Mother-in-Law recalls making a dairy cus-cus.
שלחו ערוך השלם מנקד (של הרה''ג מרדכי אליהו) הנוכה ,,,בת יוחנן כהן גדול (ע"מ 466))

As with everything Jewish, there are variations on a theme.

?מה עוד חדש

None of the above hanukiot are kosher; cute but not kosher for Hanuka

EVERYTHING “HANUKA” IS RABBINICAL.

Everyone knows that the main difference between the menorah in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem — built long before Mohamed was born and therefore preceding Islam and the so-called “Palestinians” — and the Hanukia is the number of wicks.

The Temple in Jerusalem had seven wicks — the shamash in the middle flanked by three on either side.

Was the shamash in the middle and higher or as some insist, in front of the other wicks?

Why “wicks?” Rather than write “candles or wicks in oil,” “wicks” covers both. Candles have wicks. Oil hanukiot also use wicks.

Some homes have a hanukia for each person — it makes a pretty sight and we are allowed only to enjoy the light — in other homes, there is one hanukia for the entire household. In multi-hanukia households, everyone who lights the wicks says the blessings. In a single-hanukia household, whoever lights the wicks says the blessing. The single-hanukia source is the Babylonian Talmud.³

Everyone says amen to the blessings:

להדליק ניר של חנכה

בימים ההם בזמן הזה

שהחינו

The last of the three blessings is “first night only.”

Everyone sings the songs, including:

הנרות הללו אנו מדליקים

מעור צור ישועתי

.

To help assure that everyone enjoys the light of the hanukia, work is prohibited while the wicks burn.

The commandment is to LIGHT the wicks. If the fire goes out, it is not necessary to re-light the wick.

The REASON the wicks are lit is to publicize the miracle of Hanuka.

While the only thing we can do with the light is to enjoy it, in order to publicize it we put the hanukia where it can be seen by passers-by.

On most nights the wicks must burn, at a minimum, 30 minutes. On Shabat, when the wicks are lit before the Shabat candles, the “no work” period is longer. (On the other hand, all work is permitted during Hanuka (except, of course, on Shabat Hanuka).⁴ Shabat is the only night when the wicks are lit before dark (since they must be lit before the Shabat candles).

The problem with the hanukiot in the image above is that the candles are at different levels. The only exception is the shamash. All eight candles must be at the same level.⁵

During prayers and at meals

In the morning prayers, both daily and Shabat, Moroccans add “A psalm, a song of dedication of the House of David, a/k/a the Temple, before “From your heights”

מזמור שיר-חנת הבית לדוד before ארוממך " כי דליתני⁶

In the Hanuka Ahmedah, we add “For the miracles” (על הנסים) and the paragraph beginning “In the days of Matatya” ( בימי מתתיה בן יוחנן) ⁷

In Berekat HaMazon (prayer following a meal with bread), the words we add “Because of the miracles” (על הנסים).⁸ All of the above apply to those who pray at home as well.

Many Moroccans also add “נר-לרגלי ואור לנתיבתי” just before “בריך שמיה” except on Rosh Hodesh when “יהי רצון” precedes “בריך שמיה”.

Hanuka song book

* Adam Sandler: http://tinyurl.com/y8j6ql56
* Songs for Teaching: http://tinyurl.com/y8h6ymod
* Chanukah Songs from Chabad: http://tinyurl.com/y8fllhjm
* Maoz Tzur & Oh Hanukkah: http://tinyurl.com/yafkh6e9
* Hanukkah Song and Music Guide: http://tinyurl.com/y7dkqc3a
* Hanukkah Songs and lyrics: http://tinyurl.com/y8rol623
* Hebrew songs (English lyrics): http://tinyurl.com/3esc7http://tinyurl.com/3esc7

Hanuka elsewhere on this blog

Hanukkah quiz http://tinyurl.com/ybuoggqw
A little bit of water keeps oil cups clean http://tinyurl.com/y9yscayu
Phrasing it out? http://tinyurl.com/yaxt3pow
Two thoughts - Hallel and Atheists http://tinyurl.com/y6wz93nx
Choice: Advertise Hanuka? Or risk a conflagration http://tinyurl.com/yb2hqolm
"Xmas not for Jews" said to be hate crime http://tinyurl.com/y75af53e
I don't understand http://tinyurl.com/y8kg7gqu

Sources

1. R. Israel Meir Lau, יהדות הלכה למעשה Page 241

2. Sedur Abotanu, Page 667

3. Israel Meir Lau, יהדות הלכה למעשה Page 239

4. R. Mordachi Eliyahu קצור שלחן ערוך השלם מנקד Page 466, Para. ג

5. R. Mordachi Eliyahu קצור שלחן ערוך השלם מנקד Page 467, Para. י

6. Sedur Abotanu, Page 134

7. Sedur Abotanu, Page 183

8. R. Israel Meir Lau, יהדות הלכה למעשה Page 238

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Hanuka Odds & Ends

Choice: Advertise Hanukah? Or risk a conflagration

CAVEAT: I am not a rabbi and I don't play one on tv.

The Question: If you live in a high rise building, high enough that people on the sidewalk in front of the building cannot see anything in your window, where do you put the hanukiah?

What's a "hanukiah?" It is Hebrew for the Hanukah menorah.

According to the late leader of extreme haridim in Israel, Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, there is no value in placing a hanukiah in the window since he determined that no one at street level can see the hanukiah or the flames.

The late leader of Shas, Ovadia Yosef, agrees with Elyashiv and rules in one of his books, Yalkut Yosef, that the proper place for the hanukiah is opposite the mezuzah on the front door. This was the traditional position of the Hanukah lights in the days of yore.

There are other opinions that DO say to light in the window to advertise the miracle to the folks across the way who can see the high rise apartment's window.

Since Hanukah, like Purim, is "post-Torah" the only rules for where to place the hanukiah are "d'rabbanan" - by the rabbis.

The whole idea of the hanukiah is to advertise the miracle.

While causing a fire in a high rise building would most assuredly make people aware of Hanukah, I seriously doubt that it the type advertisement the rabbis of old wanted. Besides, in most high rises, a real fire, especially an unattended fire, in a hallway would be discouraged at best and likely illegal in any event.

Rabbis Elyashiv and Yosef not withstanding, it seems safer and more sensible to put the wicks on the window ledge where there is a chance they will be seen without endangering anyone.

It should go without saying that curtains and anything else flammable must be kept far aware from the flames, but in a time when a cautionary label on a sleeping pill must state "May cause drowsiness," maybe the obvious isn't quite so obvious to all.

The minimum height from the floor for a hanukiah is roughly three handbreadths. According to the rabbi of Nahar Shalom in Dania Beach Florida, a hanukiah sitting so low shows that the lights are only for the holiday; the flames are too low to be useful for any function other than to look at and enjoy. The only problem with that is unless the building has floor-to-ceiling windows, no one passing by will see the lights.

Where I live - Hollywood FL - we are expecting continued winds of 20 mph, with gusts to 35-40 mph. Unless I can build a wind-proof hanukiah (maybe 8 lanterns with a hurricane lamp as the shamash), the flames of an across-from-the-mezuzah hanukiah would stay light about 3 seconds - 29 minutes and 57 seconds too little to satisfy the rabbinical requirement.

In any event, the south Florida minhag for mezuzot are to put them inside the door, rather than outside. The reason: thanks to hurricanes, Florida requires that doors open outward - hurricane winds will force doors closed. We don't normally have storm doors or mud rooms protecting the entrance doors. (See Minhag "Florida" elsewhere in this site.)

The bottom line: The hanukiah and the lit wicks have two purposes:

One: To advertise the miracle to the world, to both Jews and non-Jews alike.

Two: To give us some visual pleasure, "us" meaning everyone in the family, including the women who traditionally do no work while the flames remain.

חג חנוכה שמח

Phrasing it out?

CAVEAT: I am not a rabbi and I do not play one on tv.

We are rapidly approaching Hanukah - also Chanukah, but assuredly חנוכה.

My Moroccan sedurs - וזרח השמש and אבותנו - tell me to say

מזמור שיר-חנובת הבית לדוד

before starting ארוממך.

The place where I make minyan uses a Ben Ish Hai sedur. This sedur specifically states NOT to include the Mizmor Shir Hanukat HaBiet for David even during Hanukah.

Like Popeye, "I yam what I yam" - stubborn and curious or perhaps curious and stubborn - so I started pulling down the sundry sedurs on the shelves in the synagogue. There are a variety.

The result: Mixed bag.

IN GENERAL, Mizrachi sedurs; those from Iran, Iraq, Syria, omitted the phrase. Ashkenazi sedurs tend to include the phase every time the song (mizmor) is recited. Because North African Sefardim are peaceful people willing to compromise, the phrase is recited only during Hanukah.

Chabad's תהלת השם includes it with each occurrence. Likewise the Ashkenazi sedurs חיים ושלום, יצחק יאיר, and סדור שמחת יהושע.

On the Mizrachi side, sedurs קול יעקב (Syrian with English translation), עוד יוסף חי , ספרדי השלם, and עת רצון all omit the phrase.

What I don't know is WHY.

Psalm 30 clearly starts off with the phrase מזמור שיר-חנובת הבית לדוד

Psalm 100 includes (מזמור (לתודה.

Rarely are things done sans some reason, even a far-fetched reason.

According to Hakham Yosef Messas, ע''ה, writing in הוד יוסף חי, the reason we add/include מזמור שיר-חנובת הבית לדוד is because adding the opening line enhances awareness of the miracle of Hanukah

כי בימים אלה דוקה חניחו הפסוק להתגדל בו משום פרסומי ניסא, ורהבת הכוונות וספירת התיבות לא תכריע לדלג פרסוקים ותיבות

A "word" about the blessing before lighting the hanukiah (Hanukah menorah).

According to R. Ovadia Yosef, ע''ה, the blessing is:
להדליק נר חנוכה. The North African tradition, according to דברי שלום ואמת is to add the word של in להדליק נר של חנוכה.

A few additional Hanukah traditions from North Africa from the book ילקות שמ''ש:

Hanukiah lighting time: When stars appear; but, if it's impossible to light the wicks as soon as the stars appear, they may be lit until the morning with the blessing. The hanukiah should not be lit before the stars appear; HOWEVER, the wicks MUST be lit before the Shabat candles, but AFTER evening services on Motzi Shabat. (See How long must the flame last?)

Light first or evening prayers? The Hanukiah wicks may be lit before evening prayers.

Blessings first, then kindle the wick: All the relevant blessings are recited before the first wick is lit. On the first night, the blessings are:

   צונן להדליק נר של חנועה
(that commanded us to light the Hanukah wicks))

   שעשה נסים לאבותנו
(Who performed miracles for our fathers)

   שנחיינו
(that brought us to this time)

שנחיינו is said the first night only.

One hanukiah or many? In most Sefardi and Mizrachi homes, only the father lights the hanukiah; all others are included in the ceremony. This includes a son who, although having his own residence "takes his meals" at his father's house. Many Ashkenazim have the tradition that everyone in the family lights their own hanukiah.

Don't mix and match: Either EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) or candles may be used for the Hanukah lights, however, they may not be mixed; either all candles or all oil. I have heard that some authorities are allowing electronic hanukiahs in areas (hospitals, motels, etc.) where flames are forbidden.

How long must the flame last? At least 30 minutes; longer is better. On erev Shabat (Friday night) the candles must last 30 minutes after the stars come out which means the wicks should burn 48 minutes are more - Shabat candles normally are lit at least 18 minutes before kabalat (accepting) Shabat - add 18 to 30 and by my math that's 48 minutes.