When to Light the Hanukiah Before and After Shabbat

When to Light the Hanukiah Before and After Shabbat Day: Friday Date: November 30, 2018 Parshat: Vayeshev Yalkut Yosef: O"H: 679/680 Sponsored by Skilled Moving and Storage. Professional and honest movers serving Los Angeles. www.SkilledMoving.com 323-746-3279 On Erev Shabbat the hanukkiah should ideally be lit before the Shabbat candles. If the Shabbat candles were lit first, Sepharadim may still light the hanukkiah as long Shabbat hasn't yet started. Ashkenazi women, who consider Shabbat to start at the time the candles are lit, may not subsequently light the hanukkiah. However, anyone in the Ashkenazi household who didn't light Shabbat candles may still light the hanukkiah. The Hanukkah candles on Erev Shabbat must remain lit until a half hour after tzet hakochavim just like on the other nights. One must make sure to put enough oil when lighting the hanukkiah to last that long so the berachot will not have been said in vain. If one can easily find a minyan it is best to pray Minha early and light the candles after. If there is no early minyan, it is better to light before Minha and pray Minha with a minyan. After Shabbat, when one is saying havadala at home, he should first say havadala and then light the menorah. Daily Sephardic Halacha is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

When to Light the Hanukkah Candles

When to Light the Hanukkah Candles Day: Thursday Date: November 29, 2018 Parshat: Vayeshev Yalkut Yosef: O"H: 671 Sponsored by Skilled Moving and Storage. Professional and honest movers serving Los Angeles. www.SkilledMoving.com 323-746-3279 The ideal time to light the hanukkiah is at tzet hakochavim. The candles need to be big enough or contain enough oil to stay lit for the next half hour. If one did not light at that time he may still light all the way until amud hashahar at the end of that night. A person who lit less than a half hour before amud hashahar still says a beracha on the lighting, even though the candles will have been lit for less than a half hour before amud hashahar. Beginning from a half hour before the candle lighting time it is forbidden to start a meal. In this case a meal refers to eating more than about two ounces of bread, cake, or cookies. Less than this amount of bread and cake, or any amount of other foods, may be eaten within that half hour. A person who is waiting for someone else to light on his behalf may eat if he needs to. One may also not start working or learning Torah before lighting the candles. However, with regards to learning Torah the prohibition starts from the time of candle lighting, not from a half hour before. Daily Sephardic Halacha is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Where to put the Hanukkiah

Where to put the Hanukkiah Day: Wednesday Date: November 28, 2018 Parshat: Vayeshev Yalkut Yosef: O"H: 671 Sponsored by Skilled Moving and Storage. Professional and honest movers serving Los Angeles. www.SkilledMoving.com 323-746-3279 Ideally the flames of the Hanukkah candles should be within three and ten tefachim (about 5 and 32 inches) from the floor. The candles themselves may be lower than three tefachim. One who put the flames higher than ten tefachim has nevertheless fulfilled his obligation as long as they are less than twenty amot (32 feet) from the ground. If the flames of the candles are higher than 20 amot from the ground they must be extinguished and relit at an acceptable height with no beracha. The hanukkiah should be placed on the left side of the front doorway opposite the mezuzah so that when people pass through the doorway they are surrounded by mitzvot on either side. Daily Sephardic Halacha is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

One Who Lit Too Few or Too Many Candles

One Who Lit Too Few or Too Many Candles Day: Tuesday Date: November 27, 2018 Parshat: Vayeshev Yalkut Yosef: O"H: 671 Sponsored by Skilled Moving and Storage. Professional and honest movers serving Los Angeles. www.SkilledMoving.com 323-746-3279 In order to fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the menorah it is only necessary to light one candle per night. More commonly done and a much more desirable way of fulfilling the mitzvah is to start the first night with one candle and add an additional candle every night. If one accidentally lit an extra candle on any of the nights of Hanukkah, he does not need to relight when he realizes his mistake. In fact, if he does light again and says another beracha it is considered to be a beracha levatala. If one lit fewer candles than necessary and then later realized his error, he may light the missing ones, but without a beracha. It is permissible to use a round menorah as long as the flame from each candle is an inch or so away from the flame of the next candle. Daily Sephardic Halacha is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

The Miracle of Hanukkah

The Miracle of Hanukkah Day: Monday Date: November 26, 2018 Parshat: Vayeshev Yalkut Yosef: O"H: 670 Sponsored by Skilled Moving and Storage. Professional and honest movers serving Los Angeles. www.SkilledMoving.com 323-746-3279 During the time of the second Bet Hamikdash the Greeks enacted harsh and evil decrees against us Jews. Putting it very mildly, among other atrocities, they put us through a lot of suffering, did not allow us to study Torah, and they defiled the Bet Hamikdash. Ultimately Hashem had mercy on us and through a series of miraculous wars the Hashmonai family overcame the Greeks on the twenty fifth day of Kislev. When the Jews went back to the Bet Hamikdash to clean up the defilement that had occurred there they only found enough pure oil for the Menorah to stay lit for one day. Hashem in his kindness performed a miracle and the small amount of oil actually lasted for eight days until they were able to produce new oil. To commemorate these momentous events we celebrate Hanukkah. Daily Sephardic Halacha is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Visit us online at sephardichalacha.org