Leftover Oil and Wicks After Chanukah

Q. May I use leftover oil and wicks after Chanukah?

A. Oil and wicks that were designated for Chanukah candles (referred to in Halacha as huktza limitzvoso) may not be used for any other purpose than to serve as candles in the menorah. Remaining oil may be used for the next day of Chanukah, but once Chanukah has concluded, leftover oil and wicks must be burned so that people do not accidentally use them for other purposes (Shulchan Aruch 677:4). If it is impractical to burn the oil in a fire, Rav Elyashiv and Rav Chaim Kanievsky hold that one may pour the oil down a drain, but not on the ground where it might be degraded by people stepping on it (Peninei Chanukah p. 148 and Piskei Shmuos, Chanukah p. 135).

At what point are oil and wicks treated as designated (huktza limitzvoso)? Simply intending to use oil and wicks for the menorah does not create a “huktza limitzvoso” status. Only oil and wicks that were actually lit and did not fully burn are considered huktza limitzvoso.

There is a dispute between the Poskim if huktza limitzvoso applies to the extra oil left over after one fulfilled the mitzvah (i.e., once the menorah burned a half hour after nightfall). If the individual specified that only the oil needed for the shiur of the mitzvah should be designated, the remaining oil is certainly not considered huktza limitzvoso. But what if a person did not verbally specify his intention? Rav Yosef Karo (in Bais Yosef and Shulchan Aruch) maintains that there is always a presumption that the individual only designates the requisite shiur for the mitzvah, while the Bach holds that all of the oil that was lit is considered designated, unless a specific condition of limitation was made. (See Magen Avraham 677:10).

The Mishna Berura (672:7 and 677:18) rules that the basic halacha follows the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch, that it is not necessary to burn oil and wicks that remained after the mitzvah was fulfilled. Nonetheless, in deference to the more stringent opinion of the Bach, it is preferable (lichathchila) to make a tnai (verbal specification) before lighting the candles that oil and wicks remaining after the mitzvah is fulfilled, are not designated for the mitzvah, and as such, need not be burned if left over.

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