At Teaneck’s Congregation Bnai Yeshurun this past Shabbos, Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon described many of the halachic questions he has received from Israeli soldiers vis-à-vis the proper way to light Chanukah candles while serving in the army. One group of boys from a reserve unit in Gaza called him to ask if they could build a large menorah in a bombed out building adjacent to their tanks and then return to light the menorah at nightfall.
Rav Rimon gave what I thought was a very creative answer. The two places where we are allowed to light candles are in our homes and in shul after davening. He suggested that the soldiers daven Mincha in the building so as to establish it as a “shul” and then after dark go back and light the candles there.
Rav Rimon stressed several times, however, that lighting the menorah in a synagogue is simply a custom whereas the real obligation is lighting the menorah in one’s home. For those of you wondering what the outcome was of the soldiers’ menorah, Hamas bombed the building that night!
Candles burning in the window of one’s home have been used for centuries as a message to those passing by. From the arrival of a newborn baby to a signal that visitors were welcome, a home with candles burning was often a sign of celebration and/or hospitality.
For us, the basic obligation of lighting the Chanukah candles is expressed in the following succinct and cryptic few words, “ner ish u’baiso,” meaning one candle for a person and his house. Obviously, a “house” is a necessary component for the fulfillment of candle lighting.
We all know that the Greeks were not trying to kill the Jews but rather to convert them. They directed their efforts to uproot the values found in the Jewish home, which is the conduit for passing on the mesorah from one generation to another. Clearly, the “house” is included in our formulation of the basic obligation of candle lighting.
Chanukah turns the proverbial “house is not a home” on its head!
From our home at V & N to all of you lighting in your homes we wish you a Chag Urim Sameach!
Nechama Polak is the broker of record and owner of V&N Group LLC located at 1401 Palisade Avenue in Teaneck, New Jersey. Send your thoughts and comments to [email protected] or call 201 826 8809.
