Chanukah - Away for Shabbos

OU Kosher

QUESTION: My family is going away for Shabbos, and we will be returning home very late on Motzei Shabbos. Where should we light Chanukah candles?

ANSWER: This issue involves two considerations:

  • Maximizing pirsumei nissa (publicizing of the Chanukah miracle) by lighting at a time when the light will be seen by the outside world and not just one’s family inside the home.
  • Lighting the Menorah in one’s home.

Rav Shmuel Wosner zt”l (Mi’Beis Levi 5757) writes that if one will be returning home at a time when people are still walking around outside, it is best to wait and light at home by the window. He adds that on Motzei Shabbos, 10:30 PM is not considered late (though this would depend on the neighborhood in which you live).

If you anticipate returning home at a time that the streets will be generally quiet, it is better to light candles in the home where you spent Shabbos. Although you are not planning on sleeping over, since you stayed in the house for the duration of Shabbos, this house can still be considered your home, and you can light candles there. Rav Wosner zt”l adds that although when you arrive at your actual home, your family will be up and perhaps pirsumei nissa can be accomplished with your family, pirsumei nissa to the outside is ideal and takes precedence in this situation. 

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.