If after a person lights the Hanukah candles he notices that some of them blew out, is he required to light them again?
The Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 673:2) explicitly rules that "Kabeta En Zakuk Lah," which means that if one lit the candles properly, he is not required to light them again if they are extinguished. In other words, if one supplied enough oil to sustain the flames for a half-hour, the wicks met Halachic requirements, and the candles were placed in an area where they could reasonably be assumed to remain burning for at least a half-hour (as opposed to a drafty area, for example), then the Misva is fulfilled even if they are extinguished before a half-hour. One is not required in such a case to rekindle the flames, since he had lit them properly. This applies even on Friday evening, when we light the Hanukah candles before sundown. Even if the candles were extinguished before Shabbat, one is not required to light them again, assuming, as mentioned, that they had been lit properly.
Nevertheless, although one is not required to relight the candles according to the strict Halacha, there is a Misva Min Ha’mubhar (higher standard of Misva observance) to light them again if they blew out within the first half-hour. Technically this is not required, but it is preferable to light the candles again to fulfill the Misva Min Ha’mubhar.
It should be noted that we refer here in this discussion to a case where the candles burned out after one had completed the night’s lighting entirely. For example, on the fifth night of Hanukah, one lit all five candles, and at some point thereafter one or more of the candles burned out. In such a case, as discussed, one is not, strictly speaking, required to relight the candles. However, the Be’ur Halacha (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) writes that if a candle burned out before one completed the lighting, then he must light it again. Thus, returning to our example of the fifth night of Hanukah, if one lit the first two candles, but before he completed the other three those first two candles were extinguished, then he must light them again. One does not fulfill the Hiddur Misva (beautification of the Misva) unless the required number of candles are burning, and thus if one or more candles burned out before all the night’s candles were lit, one is obligated to relight them, even on the level of strict Halacha.
Summary: If a person lit the Hanukah candles properly in a place where they can be expected to burn for at least a half-hour, but they happen to burn out before a half-hour, he should preferably relight them, though strictly speaking this is not required. If one or more candles burn out before one has completed lighting all that night’s candles, then he is obligated to relight them.
