Q&A for How to Light a Chanukah Menorah

You can have it ready as early as you wish. Lighting it, though, starts on the first night.

No, you use different candles each night, always letting them burn down.

I've heard of people doing this, though it is not common. It makes a certain sense though, as one can consider it the same as the oil slowly being used up. If you're concerned about whether or not it's proper, better ask a rabbi.

You need 44 candles: 2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9, 1 candle for each night plus the shamash.

In Judaism, there is a principle that the right is superior to the left unless indicated otherwise in a certain situation.

You should select candles that will burn for at least a half hour. Light all your candles, from left to right, after the last prayer is said. This should take less than a minute in total...plenty of time to light the last candle before the first burns down.

You need two candles the first night, three the second night, four the third night and so on.

The colors are not really important. As a matter of fact, you could use all candles of the same color, or just 2 colors.

After the eighth night, the holiday is over! Congratulation on celebrating eight nights for Judaism! Let the candles burn until they go out on their own.

You cannot fulfill the ritual of candle lighting on an electric chanukiah, so therefore the usual practices don't apply.

Of course! Whether you're Jewish or not, lighting a menorah can be just a fun way of celebrating all of the holidays.

It is preferable not to extinguish the candles at all, but to light candles that will burn for at least 30 minutes and then go out by themselves.

Take down your chanukiah after the eighth day of Chanukah is over.

It would mean the right as you face it. You can also think of it as the farthest from your left hand when you're lighting it.

As long it is not Shabbat, yes. Chanukah is not considered a major holiday.

You would turn on the on switch. Usually a menorah will have separate switches for each candle to represent the days.

No. The Shamash is permitted to be put out after lighting the Menorah, so you can therefore reuse the same candle for all 8 nights.

You can remove the burned out candle whenever necessary, or whenever you have the time.

You should wait until you get home or nighttime has come. Candles lit during the day are not going to fulfill the obligation.

Ideally, you should let it burn for a half an hour, or until it burns out on its own. It is best to let the candles burn out all the way.

The first candle to the left of the shamash, the center candle, should be lit on the fifth night. The first four days are represented by the four candles to the right of the shames, which is the "attendant" candle that occupies the higher center spot and is used to light all the other candles.

You will first light from the right side of the Menorah when facing it.

The more frequent a halachic ("Jewish legal") obligation is, the more it takes precedence. Chanukah candles are lit 8 days a year but memorial candles are lit once a year so Chanukah candles take precedence.

There is no need to display the menorah any longer than the holiday lasts.

Yes, you should light your menorah from left to right, but place your candles in the menorah right to left. It goes back to an old biblical debate, but Jewish people will appreciate that you have paid attention to this ritual lighting the menorah.

Yes. If it is a fire hazard you definitely can. Or if you are leaving the house and don't want the fire unattended you can put them out.

Both the man and the woman have a separate mitzvah to light a menorah. The minimum obligation for each is to light one candle each night. However it is a universally accepted "hiddur mitzvah" (beautification of the mitzvah) that we light an increasing number of candles each night. Consequently, the optimal way to do the mitzvah is for the man and the woman to each have their own menorah. However, if they only have enough for one menorah, each person should independently light at least one candle. Children are not obligated until the age of 13 in any mitzvah, but it is good to teach them how to do it and get them used to doing it. So ideally they should each have their own menorah.

The menorahs we have today are just for Hannukah. However, the menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem on which today's menorahs are based, was lit on a daily basis.

Jews celebrate hanukkah in order to commemorate overcoming the genocidal assimilationist policies of the Assyrian-Greek empire and reaffirm that this was done not simply through greater military ingenuity but with divine assistance. Today it means proudly asserting a Jewish identity in a society in which it is easy to be assimilated into the broader culture.

Yes, it is ok to read the blessing instead of memorizing it. In fact, for biblically ordained blessings (which includes things like grace after meals but doesn't include the lighting of the Chanukah candles), it's actually better to read the blessing even if you have it memorized. This ensures that (1) you won't accidentally make a mistake (2) you will be able to focus better and not do it in a rote way. As long as you understand what you are saying and focusing on that meaning as you are saying it, it doesn't matter whether you do so from memory or by reading.