If a person did not – for whatever reason – light Chanukah candles one night, does he have the opportunity to make up the lighting?
Maran (Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of Shulchan Aruch) writes explicitly (672:2) that one who misses a night of candle lighting during Chanukah does not have the possibility of making up the missed lighting. (Listen to audio for direct citation.) Therefore, one who cannot light on one of the nights of Chanukah does not light extra candles on the following night.
One of the Rishonim (Medieval Halachic authorities), however, the Ravaya, held that one who did not light the Chanukah candles at night should light them during the following day. Although Chanukah candles are to be lit specifically at nighttime, in situations where a person could not light them at night, he may, according to the Ravaya, light them during the following day. There is a book of responsa entitled "Hit'orerut Teshuva" which accepts this position of the Ravaya, and indeed rules that one who missed candle lighting one night of Chanukah should light on the following day with the Berachot.
Chacham Ovadia Yosef, however, disagrees, and maintains that one should not recite the Berachot when lighting candles during the day in such a case. In his opinion, one who missed candle lighting should light candles during the day to satisfy the position of the Ravaya – even though Maran did not follow this view – but should not recite the Berachot.
Thus, if a person missed candle lighting on one of the nights of Chanukah, he should light the candles during the following day, but without reciting the Berachot.
