DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 792 KB)
Chanukah- If One Forgot to Light

The Aruch Hashulhan (halachic work by Rabbi Yehiel MichelEpstein,1829-1908, OC 670:8) discusses the case of someone who did not light one night of Chanukah. He rules that he has lost the misva for that day. There is no significance to lighting the next day, because the obligation is only at night. Even if he would artificially create a darkened room, there is no misva.

However, he can and should continue to light on subsequent nights with a beracha. Even if he missed all seven nights, on the last night he would light eight candles with a beracha. This ruling is a rejection of the opinion brought in the Beit Yosef that compares the halacha of Chanukah with Sefirat HaOmer. If one forgot to count a day of the Omer, he does not continue to count with a beracha.
The Aruch Hashulhan explains that the nature of the obligation of lighting on Chanukah is fundamentally different from the obligation of counting the Omer. The emphasis of the Omer is on counting consecutive days. Therefore, if one forgot a day, the entire series is lost. Whereas, on Chanukah, each night stands by itself. In fact, the primary obligation is only to light one candle for each night.

SUMMARY: If a person missed a night of lighting on Chanukah, he does not light the next day, but he does continue to light on subsequent nights with a beracha.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Yom Tob – Using Electrical Appliances; Asking a Gentile to Turn on an Appliance; Riding Elevators
Reciting Birkat Ha’ilanot as Early as Possible in the Month of Nissan
Pesah – Halachot of the Afikoman; Reciting Hallel Before Hasot
Pesah – Mosi Masa
Pesah – Drinking After the Afikoman; The Third and Fourth Cups of Wine
Pesah – Refraining From Roasted Meat on the Night of the Seder
Pesah – What Should One Eat For Marror?
Pesah – The Proper Text for “Min Ha’zebahim U’min Ha’pesahim”
Passover- Halachot of Maggid at the Seder
How to Do Heseba at the Seder
Pesah – Heseba (Leaning) Nowadays
Pesah – Within How Much Time Must One Drink Each of the Four Cups of Wine?
Passover – Eating at the Siyum on Ereb Pesah; Car Repairs During Hol Ha’m’o’ed
Passover – The Spiritual Lights That Come Down at the Seder
Passover – Halachot of Birkat Ha’mazon at the Seder
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found