Chanukah - Scented Candles

QUESTION: Can I use scented Chanukah candles?

ANSWER: Shulchan Aruch (OC 673:1) writes that one may not use the light of the Chanukah candles. Does this also apply to benefitting from the scent? Rav Shmuel Wosner, zt”l (Kol HaTorah) writes that this is acceptable. He explains that since the main purpose of candles is light and not scent, the scent is not included in the prohibition. This can be compared to an esrog on Sukkos which was designated for its mitzvah. Though this esrog may not be eaten on Sukkos, it may be smelled on Sukkos. It is only muktzeh (set aside for the mitzvah) with regard to its primary use. However, one may not smell the hadasim on Sukkos, since the primary purpose of hadasim is for their aroma. Rav Zylberstein (Chashukei Chemed - Rosh Hashana 18b) at first entertains the possibility that the scented Chanukah candles should be forbidden, since one of the reasons that we do not allow deriving benefit from the candles is so as not to give the impression that they were lit for another purpose. If one lights scented candles, perhaps it will appear as though one lit them for the scent and not for the mitzvah. He concludes that if one lights scented candles in a Menorah with a shamash, it will be clear that they were not lit for the smell. Furthermore, if the shamash is also a scented candle then there would be no issue at all, since the scent would come from the shamash as well.

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