Morning Lightings in Shul

Q. Some congregations have a minhag to light Chanukah candles every morning in shul without a bracha. What is the reason for this minhag, and why is a bracha not recited?

A. There are two reasons why we light Chanukah candles every evening in shul. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 671:7) writes that candles are lit in shul for pirsumei nisa (to publicize the miracle). The Kol Bo and other Rishonim (see Piskei Teshuvos 571:11 and footnote 43) state that the menorah is lit in shul as a remembrance of the Menorah that was lit in the Bais Hamikdash. A shul is a Mikdash Mi’at (a miniature version of the Bais Hamikdash), and lighting in shul commemorates the Menorah of the Bais Hamikdash. For this reason, we specifically light the menorah on the south side of the shul, since the Menorah in the Bais Hamikdash was situated to the south (Shulchan Aruch OC 671:7). Rabbi Genack suggested that the custom, which is followed by many shuls, to also light in the morning, is understandable according to the Kol Bo, as the Rambam (Hil. Temidim 3:10,12) writes that in addition to the evening lighting in the Bais Hamikdash, there was also a mitzvah to set up the Menorah every morning and light it. Therefore, it is appropriate to light the menorah in shul every morning of Chanukah as a remembrance of the morning lighting in the Bais Hamikdash.

Why is no bracha recited in the morning in shul? Rabbi Genack offered an explanation based on a comment he heard from Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l. Rav Soloveitchik explained that although the candles in the Bais Hamikdash were lit in the evening and morning, these two mitzvos were fundamentally different. In the evening, the mitzvah was to light the Menorah, while in the morning the mitzvah was to prepare the Menorah (hatavas haneiros). In the morning, the lighting was not a mitzvah per se. Rather it was one element of preparation. (The manner in which lighting the menorah contributes to preparation is a matter of separate discussion). For that reason, the Rambam writes that if the candles were still lit from the night before, there was no need to extinguish them and relight them in the morning. Based on this, Rabbi Genack explained that we recite a bracha when we light the menorah in shul in the evening because it commemorates the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah in the Bais Hamikdash, but in the morning there was no mitzvah per se to light the Menorah, and therefore no bracha is recited. It should also follow that if a minyan were to daven Shacharis in a room that is not a shul (not a Mikdash Mi’at), there would be no reason to light candles. (Adapted from Gan Shoshanim vol. 3, pp. 32-35)

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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.