DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 426 KB)
Hanukah – Should Hanukah Candles be Lit at a Minyan in an Office?

Hanukah candles are lit each night at home and also in the synagogue. Although the Gemara makes no mention of the candle lighting in the synagogue, this is a time-honored custom that is documented already in the time of the Rishonim. The question was posed to Hacham Ovadia Yosef as to whether this practice applies only in the synagogue, or anywhere ten men assemble for prayer. For example, many observant Jews host Minha and Arbit services in their offices. Should candles be lit at such a Minyan?

Hacham Ovadia answered that indeed, anytime ten men assemble for an evening Minyan the candles should be lit with the Berachot. Moreover, if ten men assemble for some other event, such as a family Hanukah celebration, candles should be lit, and if the people had not yet lit the candles at home, the Berachot should be recited. This ruling is written in Yalkut Yosef (p. 96).

Summary: Anytime ten men assemble for an evening Minyan during Hanukah, even if this does not occur in a synagogue, the candles should be lit, with a Beracha.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Is It Permissible To Place Food Items Such As A Beverage Bottle Beneath The Table At A Meal
Is It Proper To Refer To Rabbis As Colleagues
Facing the Direction of Israel While Praying the Amidah
Is It Permissible For A Nursing Mother To Resume Nursing Her Baby After A Few Days Interruption
It It Permissible To Release A Person From A Debt On Shabbat Or Is It Considered A Prohibited Shabbat Transaction
Invoking the Merit of Rabbi Meir Ba'al Ha'ness During Times of Crisis
Is It Permissible to Have Elective Surgery
The Importance of Immediately Fulfilling One's Pledges
Earning Atonement Through Eating- A Seuda (Meal) Is Tantamount To A Mizbeach
Uttering a Name of God in a Restroom, Bathhouse or Mikveh
The Difference Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; Crying on Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashana- "Simanim" on Rosh Hashanah, Sleeping and Eating The Ritual Foods
Is It Beneath A Rabbi's Dignity To Conduct Certain Tasks?
Beracha L'Vatala (Waste) and Preserving One's Dignity- Must a Wife Inform Her Husband of a Past Pregnancy to Avoid an Unnecessary Pidyon Ha'ben?
The Benefit Of Many Visiting The Sick In A Hospital; Cleaning a Patient's Room
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found