While no independent tractate is devoted to Chanukah, an extended Talmudic passage, beginning on Shabbat 21a, discusses “The Festival of Lights” at some length… addressing four basic questions:
If the Chanukah lights/candles are extinguished, must they be rekindled?
Are we permitted to use the light of the Chanukah candles – relying on their illumination for temporal matters (e.g., conducting business) or even sacred pursuits (e.g., studying Torah)?
May one Chanukah candle (not the “shamash”) be used to kindle another?
Is the essence of the Mitzvah of Chanukah candle-lighting achieved by kindling the flames or by placing them on display?
As at the Passover Seder, these Four Questions demand responses!
Chanukah candles must be rekindled only if deliberately extinguished.
We may not make use of the Chanukah lights, beyond looking at them and contemplating their significance. Some Sages make exceptions if the candles are used in furtherance of another Mitzvah.
Universal practice is to use the “Shamash” to kindle each candle, not to light one Chanukah candle from another.
The essential Mitzvah (as the blessing indicates) is to kindle the lights… but our purpose in doing so is to place them on display so as to publicize the miracle of Chanukah.
May luminous Holiday joy make this Chanukah different from all other Chanukahs!
Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the editor of “Masorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism.” The latest edition of Masorti was published online in December of 2024. A subscription is $18 per annum.
If the Chanukah lights/candles are extinguished, must they be rekindled?