Siman 672

It was taught in a Baraita (21b): Its mitzvah is from the time the sun sets until the foot ceases from the marketplace. And this is a half hour after the sunset (the Rif and the Rosh). And the Rambam in chapter four, law 5, wrote: One may not light Chanukah lamps before the sun sets, but rather with its setting; one may not delay and one may not precede. If one forgot or acted intentionally and did not light with the setting of the sun – he may continue to light until the foot ceases from the marketplace. And how long is this time? Approximately a half hour or more. If this time passed – he does not light. And he must put oil in the lamp so that it will continue burning until the foot ceases from the marketplace. Thus far his words.

It is clear from his wording that if one lights after sunset—he does not need to provide oil for a half hour, but only until the foot ceases from the marketplace. And so it is clear from the wording of our teacher, the Beit Yosef, in section 2, who wrote: If one forgot or intentionally omitted, and did not light with the setting of the sun—he may continue to light until the foot ceases from the marketplace, which is approximately a half hour, for then the people are passing to and fro, and there is pirsumei nisa. Therefore, one must provide in it oil of this measure. Thus far his words, and this is according to the words of the Rambam (and so wrote the Magen Avraham, subsection 2).

And this is all according to the opinion of the Rambam, that after the time when feet cease from the marketplace—one does not light. But the Tur ruled that if one did not light—its time is all night, and not like the Rambam etc. Thus far his words. And if so, one must always provide this measure. Therefore, the Tur wrote the measure at the beginning of this siman, see there, to indicate that there is always this measure. And according to this, even nowadays when we light inside the house—this measure is also required. And it is possible that in this even the Rambam agrees, for specifically for them, since the recognition was for the people of the public domain, and after the time when feet cease from the marketplace—there is no recognition for them, if so why should he provide oil for afterward? But nowadays when the recognition is for the members of the household—it is certainly necessary to have recognition for the duration of a half hour. And such is the simple custom, and one should not change it. (And it requires further study why they did not speak of this in the Shulchan Aruch, and perhaps because this was a simple matter to them.)

And know: that even regarding the primary time, the Rambam disagreed with the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch. For the Rambam wrote: "with its setting," and that is: at the beginning of the sunset. But the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch wrote: "at the end of the sunset," and that is: at the emergence of the stars, as I wrote in siman 562. And this matter depends on the dispute regarding the primary time of the setting of the sun: whether it is the beginning of the sunset or the end of the sunset. As is explained above in siman 261, that the Rambam holds that it is the beginning of the sunset, and the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch follow the system of Rabbeinu Tam that it is the end of the sunset, as I wrote there. And the world conducts itself like the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch, and they recite the blessing over the "Chanukah candle" after the Arvit prayer. But there are those who conduct themselves like the Rambam, and recite the blessing after Mincha at the time of the beginning of bein hashemashot. And even though nowadays the lighting is in the house, nevertheless, whatever is possible to do according to the enactment of the sages, we do. Furthermore: that even nowadays, when one lights near the window, there is recognition for the people of the public domain. And in Masechet Soferim chapter twenty, it implies like the Rambam, as it says: the mitzvah of their lighting is from when the sun sets. And if they lit during the day – they do not benefit from it, and they do not recite a blessing over it, for so they said: one does not recite a blessing over the candle until they benefit from its light. Thus far his words. And after the beginning of the sunset – do they not benefit from the candle? But this is not an absolute proof, of course.

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 1 that there is one who says that if one is preoccupied—he may advance the lighting from plag hamincha and onwards, provided that he places in it oil until the foot ceases from the marketplace. Thus far his words. And there is a proof for this matter: for behold, on Erev Shabbat one lights the Chanukah candle before the sunset. And in truth, one must be careful on Erev Shabbat to place much oil, more than the measure of every day at the very least in one candle, so that it will burn until the foot ceases from the marketplace. However, in truth, there is no proof from Shabbat, because it is impossible in any other manner. For if not so, according to the Rambam, that after the foot ceases from the marketplace one does not light, as I have written—one would not light the Chanukah candle on Motzaei Shabbat. Rather, in a place where it is not possible it is different, and here too on Erev Shabbat it is so.

The Tur wrote in the name of the Tosafot that for us, one does not need to be precise regarding the time that our sages, of blessed memory, gave, for that was only for them who would kindle outside, and after the foot ceases there are no passersby. However, for us who kindle inside the house, and the recognition is only for the members of the household—one should not be particular about the time, but only to kindle while the members of the household are awake and not sleeping, for if so, even for them there is no recognition. And the Tur wrote, this is his wording: And it appears that even for us one must be precise regarding the measure. For even though we kindle inside, since we kindle at the entrance of the house and it is open—there is recognition for passersby. Thus far his words. And this was in the time of the Tur, but now that we kindle entirely in the inner rooms—one does not need to be precise regarding the time, but rather he should kindle while the members of the household are awake (Bach). And this is what our teacher, the Rema, wrote: Some say that in this time, when we kindle inside—one does not need to be careful to kindle before the foot ceases from the marketplace. Nevertheless, it is good to be careful even in this time. Thus far his words, in order to act according to the enactment of the sages. And most of Israel are careful even now to kindle at the time established by the sages. And there is one who says that even to study—it is forbidden when the time arrives. And if he has not yet prayed Maariv—he should kindle first, and afterward pray Maariv (Magen Avraham, subsection 5). And this is for those who always kindle after Maariv. But there are those who ab initio kindle before Maariv, after the beginning of sunset, according to the words of the Rambam that we brought.

And it has already been explained that even in the time of the Gemara, according to the opinion of the Tur, if one did not kindle at its proper time—he may kindle all night. And all the more so now, everyone agrees to this. And there is one who wishes to say that after midnight he should kindle without a blessing (ibid. subsection 6 in the name of the Rashal), but it does not seem correct to say so, for as long as the members of the household are awake—he should kindle with a blessing. However, when they are sleeping—he should kindle without a blessing (ibid.), for there is no recognition for any person. And we require that there be recognition for others, besides the one who kindles. Nevertheless, if there is even one man, or one woman, or a male child or female child with some degree of understanding—he shall bless, for there is recognition for them. And even if they already kindled for themselves—nevertheless, ultimately there is recognition for them. However, ab initio he should kindle at the beginning of the night, when the members of his household are gathered together, and before eating (ibid.), for then the recognition is great and there is pirsumei nisa.

However, if the night passed and he did not kindle—its mitzvah is lost. And he should not kindle during the day, for what benefit is a lamp at noon? And even if he wishes to kindle in a dark room—it is of no avail, for there is no kindling during the day, and there is no compensation for this. However, on the other nights—he kindles in his usual manner like other people, even though he missed one night. And this is not like the one who wishes to say that he has lost all the nights, comparing it to the counting of the Omer (see Beit Yosef), for this is not a valid comparison. For in the counting, the count is the essence, and since he missed the count—they are no longer "complete." But regarding the Chanukah lamp—one lamp is sufficient according to the law, and the number is not a prerequisite. And how could he lose the other nights because of this?

If one placed a large amount of oil in the lamp, more than the required measure – he may extinguish it after it has burned for half an hour. It is also permitted afterward to make use of its light, for it was not set aside for its mitzvah except for the required measure. There is one who says that to extinguish it is permitted, but to make use of its light is forbidden (ibid. subsection 4 in the name of the Maharshal), for regarding usage there is no distinction between before the time and after the time. And there are those who wrote that the custom is also not to extinguish (ibid. in the name of the Bach). Certainly, if such is the custom – one should not change it, but among us, the custom is to extinguish. One should make pleasant wicks, but not long ones. Regarding wax candles – one should make them long, for this is beauty for the mitzvah. Also, the candelabrum is a mitzvah that it be pleasant and elegant.