Q & A - WITH RABBI RISKIN

Question: I’ve been invited out to friends on one of the nights of Chanukah. Where should I light my candles – at my house or at his?

Answer:

There is a difference between lighting Shabbat candles and lighting Chanukah candles.

Regarding Chanukah, it says in the Talmud (B.T. Shabbat 21) “Ner Ish U’veito,” indicating that people should light the candles in their own homes. In the case of Chanukah, the house is the ‘successor’ to the “beit mikdash,” and we therefore must commemorate the miracle next to or within our own house. There is an important message in this: if we seek to prevent the assimilation that caused the Hasmonean wars, we must develop a Torah atmosphere in our familial homes. The menorah symbolizes “ki ner mitzvah v’torah or” (“For the mitzvah is a candle and the Torah is light”), and therefore one should light the Chanukah candles in one’s own home and only then go out.

With regard to the Shabbat candles, the principle of the mitzvah is “oneg Shabbat” (the joy of Shabbat) - that is, to eat the Shabbat meal to the light of the candles. Therefore, the candles should be lit in the place where one is eating, and if one is eating in a different home one should light there. That said, if a woman feels that it is important to light the candles specifically in her own home, she may do so – but then she should read by the light of the candles and speak with family members when Shabbat begins so that they do will benefit from the “oneg Shabbat” emanating from the candles.