A seemingly basic question in the laws of Chanukah is where are you supposed to put the Menorah?
Well, it’s clear that in the olden days, and even some people today would place the Menorah on the outside of the home, either by the door or by the opening of the courtyard. There’s a Machloket between Maran and The Rama as to exactly where you are supposed to put the Menorah when it’s outside. (Orach Hayim, siman 671:5.)
The question today is about the fact that the majority are lighting inside. When lighting inside, is there a preference to put the Menorah by the window or by the door? Now what is the concept of the door? The Gemara does mention that there was a concept to put the Menorah on the left side of the door post across from the Mezuza. The reason was in order that when you entered you would then be surrounded by Mitzvot. You have the Mezuza on one side and you have the Menorah on the other side. So the question is whether it would be better to put it by the door on the inside, or to put it by the window?
Rabbi Feinstein has an interesting Teshuva (answer) on this (Orach Hayim, Helek 4, Teshuba 125.) And he bases it on what the Magen Avraham actually says, that this concept of putting by the door next to the Mezuza was really said when you were putting it outside. The main thing for Ner Chanukah is ‘Pirsum Hanes’, which is the publicizing of the miracle so that people should see it. That’s the main item. So when putting the Menorah outside for people to see, the question in that regard is whether to put the Menorah on the left or right of the door post.
But once you put the Menorah inside, it would be best to put it by the window. Pirsum Hanes, the publicizing of the miracle, would override putting it by the door. Because if you are going to put it by the door, then only the people in the home would see it, and those outside would not see it. So the more Pirsum Hanes you are able to have, the better.
Therefore the Halacha, if one is lighting inside, it would be more proper to put it by a window that is facing the public, than to put it by the door across from the Mezuza. It’s another story if you were to place the Menorah outside. Pirsum Hanes is from the laws of Chanukah. The putting it by the Mezuza is a technicality only after you have Pirsum Hanes. And therefore the Rabbi himself writes in the Teshuvah that he himself had a window and he put it in front of the window in order that the public would see it. And that would be Halacha Lema’ase. If you have a window in front of the house where the public domain could see, that would be better than putting it by the door opposite the Mezuza.
