DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Halacha is In Honor Of
 to the teachers who work to transmit our Torah tradition to the next generation

Dedicated By
Elke Shayna and Daniel Jacov Bilar

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
      
(File size: 884 KB)
Chanukah – Lighting When Staying Overnight With Parents, or During Overnight Travel

It is very common for young married couples to visit the parents or in-laws during Hanukah, and to stay there overnight or for several days. In such a case, the couple should not light Hanukah candles, and they instead rely on the lighting of the parents. Their obligation is fulfilled through the parents’ lighting, and thus they do not have to light, and they most certainly should not recite Berachot over lighting.

However, if a couple spends Shabbat with parents, and they plan on returning home after Shabbat, then on Mosa’eh Shabbat they should light Hanukah candles when they return home. Even though they are still in the parents’ home when the parents light Hanukah candles right at the conclusion of Shabbat, they do not fulfill their obligation with that lighting, since they plan on returning home that night. They must therefore light Hanukah candles – with the Berachot – when they arrive home.

An interesting Halachic question arose many years ago in Europe, when it was common for people to travel long distances by train. If a person rode during Hanukah on overnight trip, and would not reach his destination until the next day, would he be required to light Hanukah candles on the train? The Halachic authorities ruled that indeed, for such a person, his seat or cabin in the train is considered his "home" with respect to the obligation of Hanukah candles. There is no source indicating that the Misva applies only to a stationary home; even in a "home" that moves, one is obligated to light Hanukah candles. Thus, when a person purchases a ticket for the train, effectively "renting" his seat or cabin, and the train travels through the night, his seat or cabin is considered his home for that night and he must light Hanukah candles on the train. (Of course, this assumes that this is possible and legally acceptable.) Interestingly enough, it is told that in Czechoslovakia, where apparently many Jews traveled by train, when an overnight train passed by during Hanukah, it appeared like a beam of light, as all the Jews on board lit Hanukah candles by their windows.

Of course, this Halacha is not so applicable nowadays, when people do not commonly take overnight train rides, but it is nevertheless interesting to note that in principle, the obligation of Hanukah candles applies even during travel. (See Yalkut Yosef – Hanukah, p. 169.)

Summary: If a couple spends the night in their parents’ home, they do not light Hanukah candles. If they spend Shabbat with parents and plan on returning on Mosa’eh Shabbat, then on Mosa’eh Shabbat they light Hanukah candles when they return home. Somebody who takes an overnight train ride during Hanukah would, theoretically, be required to light Hanukah candles on the train, if this was possible and legally acceptable.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
The Beracha Over Cooked Fruits and Vegetables
If People Recited the First Three Words of Birkat Ha’mazon Without a Zimun, and Then Realized Their Mistake
May One Use a Microphone for a Zimun?
The Beracha on Coffee
What Beracha Does One Recite on “Mebushal” Wine?
Does One Recite a Beracha on Unhealthy Foods?
The Beracha Over Chocolate
The Beracha Over Green Tomatoes; the Beracha Over Seeds
The Beracha on Crushed Fruits or Grains – Cornflakes, Apple Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Amardeen, Peanut Butter, Falafel Balls, Popcorn, Humus and Tehina
Which Beracha Does One Recite When Drinking Straight From a Fruit?
Birkat Ha’ore’ah – The Guest’s Blessing for His Host
Zimun When One Member of the Group Finished Eating Before the Others
Insights on “Reseh Ve’hahalisenu”
The Rule of “Tadir” in Birkat Ha’mazon and the Amida
Answering to a Zimun if One Did Not Eat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found