Chanukah 2025 | Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz

And uh we do have our dedications. First uh anonymously for the refur layina bat galina she is uh second uh dedicated by Veres Schwarz who is with us today in memory of her late husband Dr. Jason Wolf, Yoseph Shimon, Ben Aram, Yitzk Verifka, uh, Ala Malam on his 11th art site. I just want to add a personal uh note that uh, Vera and Jason lived in West Hartford, Connecticut where my parents lived and uh, my wife and I a number of times benefited from their very kind and gracious hospitality. Uh, I remember Dr. Wolf Jason uh very very fondly and uh it's very good to see Vera and uh we we certainly remember and thank you thank you for for everything. Um, finally, as was announced uh for the entire week of Kaneka, all of the shiior in the U center are dedicated to the memory of Jacob Manakim Benose, Elazar Pinas, Benavram Cohen, whose sites are the N revi of Kaneka by Rifki Rosenberg and J Shapiro. Again, we thank you. You're both uh and Zulins. uh you show up to learn and uh you also help us uh financially so you get the sakar of both lom day tora and mazik tora so that's that's a wonderful thing okay um our course of course is about the raam and although normally we are looking at the letters of the raam I thought it's kaneka I'm going to take a little segue and talk about the rambom a little bit on the Indian of kaneka uh and uh this is really focused on A very very interesting question or observation that the Taz makes. The Taz the Tre Zahav Halevi uh was one of the great great commentators on the Shanor from the 16th century in Poland and he does raise a very very interesting problem and to understand the problem a little bit I have to go back to the Gammorra and Masaka Shabas. You know there is no mass about Kaneka. Purim has a whole track date mascill. There is no mass kaneka. Now there's an interesting story. Theam suggests although almost like a personal grudge that who compiled the Mishna was a descendant of David and the Hasmonians were kohanim and they took the malas where they should have given it to David. So they kind of got blacklisted a little bit from the Mishna. Again, I I prefer not to go into personal grudges, so to speak, but there is such a such a thought. But be it as it may, the entire discussion of Kaneka is in Mas Shabas, the second perk. Now you may ask, what is it doing in Mas Shabas? The answer is the second peric of Mak Shabas, part of which we recite Friday night. not leak. What do you light your chabas candles with? So in the manner of the way the Gomorrah often free associates once we talk about lighting shabas candles we talk about lighting kaneka candles and then we get into the story of kaneka. Now the gammorra quotes a bryer uh from a gillastanis that basically says there are three different ways you can fulfill the mitzvah of naneka. There is sounds like restaurants. There is basic, there is mahadrin to do it in a beautiful way and then there's mahadin minadrin the most beautiful of the beautiful. Let's go starting from level the lower level starting low and going up. Level one which is basic is only one candle every single putting aside the shamish but but one candle every night of Khaneka. That would mean if even if I have a 10 people in my family, night one I light one candle, night two one candle and even night eight I just light one candle. I have never met a person. Now people often say I don't want to be m I just want to follow the when it comes to Kaneka there's nobody that says I'm only going to light one candle and yet according to the one candle is sufficient for every night of Kaneka. Now that's level one. Level two which is called mahadrin. You want to do the mitzvah in a more beautiful way. You light a candle for every member of your family. That's still not what we do. That would mean if I have 10 people in my family including myself, the middle level called mahadrin is uh 10 candles night one and even 10 candles night too. In other words, you're not correlating it with days, you're correlating it with members of the household. Then we come to mahadrin minadrin the most beautiful of the beautiful. The most beautiful of the beautiful. You want to demarcate the number of days. And that is a mlo a very famous mlo b shamai and bil where b shamai says you start with eight and you go down. Bilo says you start with one and you go up and we'll we'll talk about the reasons for this makus a little later on but suffice it to say as you undoubtedly all know in a mahlo between bash and basil the always follows basil which is why we go up we start with one and we go up uh but the interesting point is it's mahadrin mahadrin I'm not sure if you all realized how righteous and holy you all are. I mean I I knew it but uh but you should realize it yourself because you don't just do the mitzvah to be you do it mahad minadr the highest of the highest standard. Now this is in the gumar I I will try to explain the significance of this in a moment but I just want to segue into the ram so you'll see the problem. There is a very very interesting mlo among the reishonim. If you're doing highest level do you also incorporate middle level. Now again middle level is candles for every member of the family. Highest level is candles based on number of days. Toss says in Mess Shabas that if you're doing highest level you specifically should not do middle level. Meaning according to if I have 10 members of my family and I want to do the highest of the highest and only light based on the days I should only light one minora and I shouldn't have separate lightings for other members of the family and the reason that is so is if the point of the mahadrin minadrin is to clearly demarcate the days for the passers by if you have 100 manuras in the window people walk by and they may think oh it's 50 days of kaneka whatever it is so if you want to have absolute clarity regarding the days you only have one manora this is what to say so to actually says in a family of 10 you only light one manora if you want to do mahadrin minahadrin which is the universal practice the raam writes in Kaneka that one should light minanim meaning the number of days going up like basil for every one of his ben be which means according to the raam highest level includes middle level middle level said you light for everybody in the family so if you're doing mñana yamim you include the middle level. So according to the Rambam, the Rambam says that everybody well we'll we'll talk about the does the Balabias light for everybody or does everybody light that's another question but there will be a separate lighting for everybody according to toos and mak shabas you only light one manova now the b now when I say toos I mean you understand that toos is not a person toos is actually a school uh toos meaning additional notes. Uh there was a great a series of great yeshivos in France and Germany in the uh 11th and 12th century and they were called the balet hatosvos. The founders of those schools happened to be Rashi's grandchildren. But there were hundreds and hundreds of ballet tovos. And what they did was they wrote notes on all of the messto uh and they often will question Rashi, differ with Rashi, supplement Rashi, offer alternative interpretations. In every standard Gomorrah, there will be the commentary of Rashi on the inner margin and the commentaries of Tossos on the outer margin. But they are baltosos. Now sometimes uh they are mentioned by name Rabeno Tam the re which is raenuitzk that was also um uh other times the toos are anonymous and this is it's important to be aware of this because uh when a tossos is anonymous and we don't know who the author is. Uh if there's a contradiction between toos sometimes that's not really a question because different people author the different toos. But be it as it may, uh the shittita of toos, the bal tomos is that if you're doing the highest, you don't do the middle. According to the Rambam, if you're doing the highest, you also incorporate the middle. Now, let's go now to the was compiled a few hundred years after the Rambam. And the author of the Shanuk is Ravose Cairo. And remember that the Shanuk which literally means the prepared table is really an abridgement of a much larger work that Dvose Kairo wrote on an earlier code which was the tour. And the tour brings many many opinions and Yoseph Kairo wrote a huge commentary giving the background and the sources of all of the different opinions. And then after he that's called the bas yoseph and after he wrote the b yoseph he wrote a summary of the final rulings of the base yose which he called the now when you look in a bookcase and you see 10 or 12 big thick volumes of you don't think summary but keep in mind that the mass of the is because of the commentaries that were written on it. The original is easily in one volume and it was intended to be studied although that's still a very very rapid pace that a person should be able to finish the every month. This is not the kiter this is the big shar every month and Kairo even wrote a calendar uh to be able to be able to do that. Now again what befell Raviov carro is exactly the same thing that befell the Rambam. I mean this is an elusive quest for certainty and closure that God does not allow us to have. Remember the Rambam wrote the Mishna Torah with the stated objection that I'm going to end this discussion and ambiguity. I'm going to give you definitive rules and all you need is aish and my compendium and then you can spend the rest of your life on philosophy and metaphysics and you don't have to be confused by the Rambam wanted to give you final definitive rules. What happened? the Rambam himself, that book became the subject of hundreds if not thousands of commentaries, debates, discussions. Again, I hate to say it this way because it is a little bit um disrespectful. The Rambam's Mishna Torah, as I've said many times, is a magnificent work, but in terms of the author's own objective, it is an abject failure. I hate to say it that way. uh the Rambam is studied, the Rambam is analyzed, the Rambam is read over and over and over again, the Rambam is mined for infinite riches. So of course every yeshiva, every Bmedish, every Besset has the Rambams Mishna Torbra. So in that sense, it is one of the greatest swarm ever written. But in terms of closing the discussion and giving you final ruling, nope, sorry, it can't happen. God does not allow that to happen. The lifeblood of Judaism and to the Torah is debate is discussion. So instead of ending debate, the Rambam generated debate. Now, for some reason, we never give up the quest. A few hundred years later when there already was a massive edifice built on the Rambam Cairo says I'm going to try it again. I went through all the sources and I gave you the Bose which means he actually corrected something the Rambam didn't do right the Rambam did not document his sources of Cairo did and said and then I'm going to give you a simple guide that will simply give you the bottom line. In other words, Reesef Kairo wanted to do a few hundred years later exactly what the Rambam had tried to do and failed. And I have to say Reesef Cairo failed as well. Now when I say failure and again I I apologize to the great great great God and Sadikim to use such a word. I mean obviously the is the definitive code of Jewish law but only when you take into account once again the scores if not hundreds of commentaries and that's why the little book of that was meant to be finished in a month has now expanded to 12 big volumes together with thousands of volumes of respons literature elaborating there is a message here it's hard to know exactly what the message is but the message is you cannot contain infinity. Uh people there's a certain quest in which we want to simplify we want to organize we want to kind of okay we have all of these confusions all of these debates let's just come to a single resolution and it never happens. every attempt there is to kind of give you a bottom line turns into yet another source of discussion and debate. Now to focus a little bit on the Schulen Revose Cairo. Again, the Schulen is an abrbridgement of the bet which is a huge huge huge work and in the bet he came to certain conclusions and the shar is a statement of those conclusions. Rav Yosef Cairo had what you might call a relatively simple um methodology of and he he articulated what was called the two out of three rule of all of the scores of Rishonim Ramban Rashbar so many he identified three that he considered to be the greatest masters of halaka and if they opined on something he which follow majority two out of three and the three that he identified were the riff rait kasi who actually was prior to the Rambam. The second was Rambam and the third was the rush who was Rabenu Asher Beniel who was Ashkanazi who lived in Germany but as a result of crusades and persecutions actually relocated to Spain. So he was an Ashkanazi Gado who lived in Spain at the same time as of Schlomma the Rashba who was and they were friends and the Rashbah gave him a tremendous amount of honor and made him a very leader in the Rash is the father of the Tor by the way Ravakov Balurim is Rabenuashir's son. So the bas's methodology is I will look at the riff the Rambam and the rush and whichever view two out of the three followed I will incorporate as my Pak in the Shhan or and Bose does follow that rule except when he doesn't meaning meaning this is not a rule that he follows all the time but he does say uh If it's a hakic issue that those three did not address or let's assume there are three views meaning you don't have a two out of three there are three different views then as a tiebreaker or whatever I will look at other commentaries like Ramban Rashba or the like but otherwise I will do the two out of three now this is a loaded deck and I'll tell you why it's a loaded deck because two out of three means the Rambam almost always wins because the Rambam based most of his pak on the riff most of the time and the rush who represents the Ashkanazi tradition is always the odd man out so as a result the sharak is always going to beardic not because raisardic that's a separate issue but simply because in [snorts] his two out of three rule the Rambam always follows not always but often follows the riff the rush who represents the Ashkenazi traditions and friends in Germany is odd man out. So in a sense these by definition is going to incorporate what is known as the spartic minim. So because of this a great Ashkanazi God who was really a a younger contemporary of of Ysef Kairo Rav Moshe Iserless who is the Rav of Krakco wrote comments to the supplementing the with the minhagim and the of Ashkanazimosha is known as the Ram abbreviation. uh it's amazing how much he wrote his com his comments on the is a small part of what he wrote he wrote many many both in kabala philosophy and the rama died in his 40s the rama died as a very young man uh the rama died on lotus's sites in fact in one of the hasp paid him for the rama one of the masped him although he ran out he wanted to praise the ram with 33 distinct praises because he was narr that we have we have 32 praises for the Rama for some reason. Uh either we lost the last one or or the Maspid lost count or whatever it is in Krakco to this day. Uh there is the Bates Knesset of the Rama and uh his seat is preserved. It's it's it's uh cordoned off so nobody can sit there but it is the mockum of the Rama and it's interesting that um many many visit Poland for different yard sites and the like and they often daven in the Ramos bases when they daven in the Ramos Besset they dash but in the Ram Bess they say how can we be in the Ramos Besset and not Dav in the Nus of the Rama. So in the Besset of the Ram they dusk. So the Rama. So if you open up a you will see that Kyros are in block letters and every few paragraphs there will be something in Rashi script. That's just the way it's printed. And it says hag. Haga means notation. And it'll be something usually from the rash or the balat toos because that's where the ram gets his stuff from or mariel. Okay. So this is a long digression but the point I'm making is normally raisin like the ram because of the riff and the rama will bring in the cheetah of the baltos. Interestingly enough, in the laws of Kaneka, we have a digression from this pattern. And that is Ravio Caro Paskins that if you want to do Mahadrin Mina Mahadrin, you want to do the best of the best of the best and you want to count according to the days like Basil only one minora should be lit and there should not be separate lightings for members of the family. In other words, Caro is following the view of toos in Shabas the Rama says the Ashkanazim is that every one of the Benat has their own lighting. So you see the problem here. Rama is following the shittita of the Rambam. Ravose Cairo is following the shittita of tomos. This is exactly the opposite of standard methodology. Standard methodology is that Raose Kai will follow Rambam and the Ram will bring in the balos who of course were in France and Germany. So the tazdavid seagle allevi again a uh one of the great commentators on the in 16th century Poland notes that in hilan we actually have an anomaly where karo is following dashkanazi tradition and uh the rama seems to be following the psak of the so bottom line though is that once we have this codification In the Ram this is the way it's become meaning indeed avari right aardi only one manura is lit one manura is lit right so a father has uh 10 children whatever it is only one manura is lit in the house for ashkanazim the min separate manura is lit for everybody now among there are some questions here because what do we mean for everybody Let's take one. There are a few different issues here. Let's take husband and wife. Husband and wife. So if you're very simple, you let one man that that's not not a question. But I'm asking according to Ashkanazim that all of the Bayat should have their own. So what about husband and wife? So the truth of the matter is there are some opinions that actually say that the Ashkanazi halaka should be husband and wife like separate manuras. That is less common. Uh most Ashkanazim do follow the position of each kiguo. A husband and a wife are treated as one hikic person. So there you only have one manra. Okay. What about kids? Uh well again any kid that's bar mitzvah for sure should have their own manora. Uh what about I'll talk about katanim in a moment. What about girls? Girls who are 12 let's say because I I'll get to katanim and katanote in a moment. Should girls uh who are 12 or older who are not who are living at home are living at home should they light their own manora? Logically the answer is yes. uh they're nl and vin bay and girls should light their own manura at least if they're the age of 12 some do have a min that girls do not light uh separately there are chabas candles not khan candles so you know you follow your min I'm not here to u tell you one way or the other but if you have no min established min it indeed would be proper fashion not frashkenazim that girls and boys who are bar mitzvah bas mitzvah should have their own hadla what about kitanim and kanot so this is a little tricky technically a katan or a katana is not obligated in a mitzvah but there is a concept of but here I want to point out that the ram and the ram see the taz is a little inaccurate here the taz makes the point that The Rama is following the shita that there needs to be a separate for all of the misha. That is not quite accurate. The way the Rambam describes it, the Balhabayat should light for every member of his family. The Ram does not say the Balabayat should light for every member of his family. The Rama says every member of the family should light. Now that's very different. Meaning it's not at all clear that the source of the Rama is the Rambam at all. In fact, it's not clear what his source is because we either have Tosfos who who says only one manur is lit or we have the Rambam that says the Balabayat lights for everybody. The Ram who is asserting everybody lights is actually without a source. But I want to suggest that according to the Rambam, if the Balabayas is lighting for every member of his family, then for sure he would light for Katanany and Katanote, every member of the family like the Rama. The issue is that the person know the family member themselves light. You could debate whether a katan should light. Still we say it's proper to do so. And obviously if you're having a young child light uh you know a parent should be right there uh to be sure uh that uh you know safety uh is not compromised or whatever. But it is important to know and I'll tell you something you know if you learn and you have the Rama and the Rama says something after the Rama says something there's a parenthesis and the parenthesis will say the source it'll say rush not the exact source but it'll say rush tovos mahariel in other words there is a parentheses with a source it is very important Important to know that those parenthetical sources are not from the Rama himself. They are from anonymous editors who put it in. And by and large, we're very grateful to these anonymous editors. I mean, they did a great service. But it's important to know therefore that because it is not the Rama providing the source, the sources are occasionally inaccurate. And this is a great example when the Rama says our Minog is every member of the household lights. Parentheses says Rambam. That's what it says in the parenthesis Rambam. In other words, Ramos sources Rambam. But that's not true. That's not true because Rambam says Balabay lights for everybody. Ramos says everybody lights. It in fact is not the Rambam. The editor was misled in thinking that it's the same as the Ramb. So this is again it's it's important. This is a bit of bibliographical information. >> It's not clear. >> Yeah. father lights for everyone on one minora or >> no no no no different different monoras and I don't not not a single monora I mean you're not going to have a a 50 candle monora uh meaning you have a separate monora for everybody and uh the balabayat lights all of these minoras that's what the that's what the Rambam says yeah >> and we follow the rama Yes. >> Except for Okay. Now again um let me just point out that generally follow Rav Yoseph Kairo in the Ashkenazim generally follow the Ram Mosha is both of them are in the same volume. when we take out a volume of you'll have called the author that's of Yseph Caro and Rama there'll be both there uh the thing is that there are of that do follow Rama and uh this is very true for Moroccans many many Moroccan kahilot follow what seems to be the ruling of Ramo and uh this was a matter of great controversy Roaji Ysef who I think u he's uh Iraqi I think that's his origin but he was very very critical of the Moroccans he considered them to be traitors to the spartic qual because why are they following Rama and he even speculated and he got he got in big trouble for this but he he had tough skin so it didn't bother him so much he speculated that well the Jews in Morocco were very ignorant and their only came from the kabadim that came to Morocco and the shim and this is actually a complaint against kabad to some degree although I love kabad generally is kabadim teach ashkanazi kabad hugim no matter who they're talking to and therefore the in moraca were brainwashed uh into following ashkanazic traditions and they shouldn't have done that because follow ravka So you can imagine that some of this sphartic Moroccan rabbanim were very very offended by this and they pointed out that they had been following these minhagam a thousand years already and they say we're not following the Rama. They say we're not doing it because of the Rama. This was our msra before the Rama. I mean you're misinterpreting what's going on. It's not that we're looking in the and we're following the Rama. We were doing this before the Rama. We had an independent ms. And they note that Yoseph Cairo himself says in the introduction to Bosef that any that has already had a contrary min before he wrote the should continue to follow their min. So the Tina was is less tolerant. He's more protective of the than the says if you have a prior custom you can keep it says you're not allowed to keep your prior custom. So so the rule that I said that follow in the in the Moroccan community there may be a bit of an exception uh and and and the like. Um, so that's a live a live controversy. Raj Ysef and the Moroccan Rabanim often had some disagreements. Yeah. Yes. In the back used to marry my parents got married. Nowadays we don't hear a lot. >> Yes. wife's menhagen is one way the raha or opposite and the husband has the other min. >> Yeah, it's a it's a very good question. As a general rule, uh the minhagim are determined by the husbands. Uh and that's whether it's strict or whether it's lenient. A very classic example is kitnos the eating of rice and beans and corn on pesak in which ashkanazim most ashkenazm do not eat on pesak even though it's not uh mostard do eat on pesak. So if an ashkenazic woman marries a spartic man she is allowed to eat rice on pesak and vice versa. If a Sardic woman uh marries an Ashkanazic man, she is not allowed to eat rice and pes. So there's a real cost a real cost there. Uh now there are some exceptions meaning to say when it comes to private things let's assume that a woman is used to dvening a certain nusak. So that's a private thing. So you don't have to change the husband could say you know keep your min. Now Kaneka is an interesting question because Kaneka is somewhat of a public ceremony in the sense that pursuing Nissa either we light outside or we light in a window. So I would say in such a situation uh the woman should follow the min of the of the of the husband uh because it's not the same as the sitter that you dab in or something something like uh like that. Okay. Uh yeah. blinding one the entire uh family if there are non family members present. >> So, so let me let me clarify something about non-family members present. Uh there's a misconception many many people have. It's very very important to clarify this misconception. If I am visiting somebody, I'm not sleeping over. I'm just coming over to uh to visit and have lapis or have suaniot with you. and somebody says, "Oh, let's just light together." You know, you're not yay. You have to light uh in your home or or at least your temporary home. So, as a result, a non-family member uh who's not staying there cannot be at all. But but but let's assume he's staying there. Let's assume he's staying there. So, uh in such a situation uh even even amongst fim, he's allowed to have he or she is allowed to have a separate manora. Okay? uh because he's not he or she because men and women are the same here are not battel are not nullified to the to the balab by the way ravaja takes his position this idea that spartum only liked one mana ravaja took this to a a real extension which I think is very questionable but this is what he said this doesn't only apply if everybody's home meaning if a father is home with his six kids it's Pashot one mana that's for sure that's what the says but what if the kids are in yeshiva what if the kids are not home in such a situation one could argue that even spartim you know you'd light a separate monora he says no he says even different time zones he says kids who are learning in Israel whose parents are lighting a manra for them in flatbush are not allowed to light a separate. It would be a for them to do so. That's a very big to me. That's way beyond the because the is talking about everybody's here, everybody's with the father or the mother by that you know the mother the same thing. Uh so you only like one minora. Uh but to say that this even applies when the kids are not home that's a separate issue. But he applies it even then. So sphartic students are instructed if they follow that they do not light a separate minor in yeshiva if their parents are lighting for them at home. Yeah. >> Um well should be acceptable. You and we could do another video. >> Well, there there there is a concept that um a Jew, you know, our primary identification is Jew, right? We're a Jew, right? That that's it. And one might say, well, that's the only thing that matters. Who cares about anything else? But in truth, in truth, uh a Jew should also identify with what's called an Ada. An adah is a group within Kali Israel. Uh Ashkanaz, of course, Ashkanaz is also different things. There's German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Litfisha, Lithuanian, and Spartum is Tunisian, Morocco, Iraqi, Syrian. They're not all the same. Not all Ashkanazm are the same. Not all Spartum are the same. And there is a a concept that if you belong to a certain adah, uh you're you're kind of bound by those by those customs. Yeah. >> Early Shabbat or even during the week? And you're not you're not coming Shabbat Friday. You're not coming home Friday night. It's going to light candles and what before you leave during the day. >> I'm sorry. You're leaving Friday afternoon? >> Shabbat. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, so you can uh but I think the best thing to do would be light where you're going to be spending Shabbat because that becomes your home for the weekend. In other words, when I said you can't light if you're visiting, I meant if you're visiting someone for a meal and you're planning on going home, you cannot be yay. But if you're going there for the weekend, you're going to spend Shabas there, then that is your home. The interesting question is, can you light their mo Shabbat? That that's an interesting question. Meaning, if I'm going, let's say, to visit my children for Shabas, and I'm going to be there for Shabas. So for sure Friday before Shabas I can light Khaneka candles and I'm yay. That's for sure. But what about if after Shabbat I'm planning on going home and I'm not going to sleep there? Can I light there before I go or do I have to wait till I get home? So that's a some say since you're not going to stay there that night, it is not your home and therefore you have to wait till you get home. Others say since it was your home for Shabbat, it remains your home until you leave. So we actually pasin you can light in the place you spent Shabas Shabas even though you're going to be leaving. Yeah. >> But if you if you want to go and eat our want to go eat by the kids and then come home usually drive my husband. So I was told that we can't we can't light the candles so early and we have to stay there till after n like till after it's dark so that we the kind that should be with the candles and then we can go over to our kids >> well here's the thing um how early can you light candles right how early now candles do have to burn a half an hour into the night that's for sure so no matter how early you light it has to burn a half an hour into the night but how early can you light. Uh the answer is you can light after uh a time that's called plaga. Now plaga is 1 and a4th relative hours. Okay, it gets complicated before sunset. Again the the concept of a relative hour which is called shaos zammanios. It means you don't look at an hour as 60 minutes. If you look at an hour as 1112th of daylight time from sunrise to sunset. So in the summer an hour can be as long as 75 minutes. In the winter an hour can be as short as 45 minutes. You need to get a lu a calendar which computes showman are extremely important in they determine the time of they determine the prohibition of meaning everything is based on relative hours is 1 and a4th relative hours before sunset. So it's you can't just take sunset and go back uh 75 minutes. You got to look at the show sios and theoretically you can light that that that early. Now the requirement that you have to stay around to see the candles burn that that's not that's not actually a fe actually that's not a fe at least if you put the candles in a window meaning if you're lighting it on a table and nobody else is going to see it that might be so but if there will be a pure nissa in the window so passers by can see it then you're not to stay at all I mean it's a good thing to stay but If you know, if it's Shabas and you're gonna have to have a long walk, so you could leave right away. You could light pla. You can then go uh and uh the candles have to be long enough and oil usually will burn long enough that it'll burn a half an hour into the night, but you're not m to be there. You're actually not so I'm a little surprised. I mean, you know, it's a it's a good thing to be there, but I I would not call it an obligation at all. Yeah. [clears throat] start 20 minutes earlier than the time. >> Yeah. >> 18 minutes, etc. by the time that half an hour into the night. >> Well, that that just mean No, it's a very good question. That just means in your candles have to be extra long. In other words, that the fact that you light earlier does not, you know, literally shabas candles does not change the length into the night that the kanuka candles have to burn. >> Oil last longer than last night. >> Yeah. No, no. Oil is not a problem. I mean typical typical I mean depending how much oil you put in but um the average oil candle burns uh 2 and a half to three hours. Uh I know that you know from experience. So I I wouldn't worry about that. Now if you're using the truth is if you're using uh the old if you want to use shabas candles so your yay but if you want to use the old Khan candles you know those old colored Khan candles uh you got a real problem. I mean, they're pretty different colors, but they may not even last a half an hour. So, even if you're lighting it after nightfall, you're you have a problem because, okay, maybe it'll last a half an hour. So, so if it lasts a half an hour and I light it after nightfall, I'm okay, but for Friday, I 100% cannot use those little Kanuka candles because I'm lighting so much before nightfall that I need at least an hour and a half uh to be yay. So you can absolutely not use the little Kaneka candles for uh Friday. Yeah. >> My grandfather was >> because of the Saka >> Saka. Okay. >> This is something that your family and I've known people who left it alone and there was a fire. >> Okay. I mean I mean listen that I was talking about this. Yeah. >> Yeah. No, I understand. Uh yeah. You know, in other words, they recognize that fire is not something that they should leave something burning that long. >> Yeah. >> No. Yeah. No, I appreciate that and I I I was not addressing that, but but you are you are correct. Obviously, safety is a concern. The only thing I would add is that if you're lighting outside in the in those boxes, uh then I I think there'd be no there would be no safety issue really. Uh but you're right, if you're leaving it in the house, uh that's something you're going to have to uh very carefully consider. Yeah. >> Yeah. Well, that's that's the basis. See that's the basis of the minen that's widely practiced in Eric Israel according to the law of the Gmorrah. You should light the kanuka you should light the minora in the entrance of your house the opposite side of the muza. The muzza is to the uh right as you enter and the kanukia is to the left so that your home is surrounded by mitzvos uh and the idea would be uh pursua to publicize it. Now the Gomorrah then says when it became dangerous now not not fire danger Roman danger the Romans didn't like the Romans didn't like Kaneka for a very simple reason uh let's say you light your manora outside and the Roman guy asked you what are you celebrating says oh we're celebrating the overthrow of the foreign domination of Arat Israel by a non-Jewish malut so Kaneka was not a politically correct type of holiday so at some point it was actually dangerous to light the neot outside. So then we permitted lighting inside. Now the big maklo is this. It's not dangerous today. At least in dangerous. So many people say we got to go back to the original practice of opposite the muza on the outside. And that's why many people in throughout light on the outside. But others say that once there was sakana and they changed it from outside to inside that became a permanent change. So there actually are defenders of the prevailing custom even in Israel to light inside and as we know in um in the in other countries most not everybody some people light outside even uh in other countries most do light inside but they try to do it in a public way. Now, of course, it's so interesting that the Gomorrah talked about doing it privately because of sak and sayashem there's no sak. The problem is now maybe we're coming not not in Israel but in perhaps we're coming to Sak I mean you know I should say just a word about the the awful tragedy uh in Australia uh should Israel and bring comfort to the families that suffered the devastating loss including the Kabad Shalik who was murdered as he was serving Ami Israel and then who knows what's going to who's who knows what's going on in New York. I don't mean to equate Australia with Mandami. I'm not accusing him of of anything. Uh but once again, I hate to say it, perhaps uh the Sakana idea of Neotaneka is going to find a revival unfortunately uh in some in some circles. Yeah. Yes. would be consuming pizza and putting it outside your door. You live in an apartment as opposed to putting in your window or putting it outside. >> No, no, no. So, so, so here's the thing. When I say the door, okay, very good. Uh, most post say that does not mean the door of your apartment. That's not a pursuing Issa. It means the door of the building or in a window. Uh, the door of an apartment. Although some you know you you'll find a sheet on everything by Khan because that that's that's uh what makes it very complicated but but you are correct the majority of postkim say putting it outside of your private door even though there's a limited pursua people going up and down the stairs but that's not optimal you either do it the entrance of but the problem is entrance of the building is also a problem because you have like 50 minoras there so it's not muad that you're lighting it right so you have different things you're trying to balance on one hand you want to maximize persua [snorts] uh on the other hand you also want to light it outside opposite the muza and on the third hand three hands you want it to be recognizable that it's your minora so if you think about it all of the possibilities are missing something outside of my door so it's it's my minora and it's opposite muza but I don't have a maximum of pearsome if I do it at the floor you know at the entrance of the building maybe I get a maximum of pear but the manura is not muk to me if I do it in the window I get a maximum of pear but I'm not manga of opposite the muza right so you can't win so a lot of what's going on is it's a question of what is the lesser of the evils meaning if you're not going to get all of these elements in where is it best so some will say window, some will say entrance of building, and some will even say outside your apartment door. Although I say that's that's a minority opinion. Yeah. happen. >> A real opinion that people can take into consideration now or because it's even though the situation and this of course speaks to many other things. The situation has changed. So perhaps the lighting opposite even though it's not here but still says is her more appropriate narrating. >> Well, I I hear what you're saying and that is a shik but but all I would say is the concept of pursuing Nissa is still a very very important aspect of of the huh well the well Kazal enacted that it be done through the NOS not through a banner or a picture. Now I want to mention one thing this is also very relevant on the time according to the law of the Gomorrah. In the time of the Gomorrah, there was no pedestrian traffic a half an hour after dark. There was no electricity yet. So the Gomorrah was very very mocked that you must light your manora within a half an hour of dark and you and if you didn't if you missed that half an hour you don't light Pascin again it's based on a ram that bisman at least in big cities you can light the whole night because people are walking around the whole night and he even said that even if the only people that are around 3:00 in the morning are robbers and drug addicts, they count for pursuing Nissa as well. So Raf Salvatriik says if you were at a wedding, you didn't get home till 300 a.m. in the morning, he pusca candles with a braha. Not during the day, but but but if it's still night, you can do so because he said the idea of persua applies uh the all night. Yeah. >> Yeah. So do follow the Rama except for their is a variation of uh but otherwise they follow the Rama. Yeah. Yeah. During the week, you're going out and it's still light and you're only coming back 10:00 at night. You light when you get home. Is that correct? >> Well, uh again, according to the law of the Gomorrah, you would be in very big trouble. You would not be allowed to light. But but this is where but this is where Raf Salvik said that since in cities like Jerusalem, uh there are still going to be pedestrians, you you light when you get home. It's not so pushet. According to the Gomorrah, if you don't light it within the half an hour, you don't light. But as I say, we don't follow that. But uh moral for example was very moderate. Maral said the same thing. Uh but as I say, Bisman said we are lenient. Yeah. >> Yeah. So that's what I mentioned. There is no it is a beautiful practice and one should try very much to do it. It is not an obligation. Um okay. Fan and uh yeah I'm running late. Yeah >> I go Friday afternoon and I come back Sunday afternoon I have to take my with me and my candles and light with them. >> That's correct. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> After 85 years I heard something. >> If you're Ashkenazi I think you're Ashkanazi right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.