זמן הדלקת נרות חנוכה - שיטות הראשונים והפוסקים

Why did the Sages say that one may not insulate hot water for Shabbat in something that adds heat, even while it is still day? It is a decree lest one come to cover it in hot ashes that contain a glowing ember. People may not differentiate between addition of heat by means of hot ashes and other additions of heat. Abaye said to him: Let him insulate it with hot ashes, what is the problem? Rava answered him: It is a decree lest one come to stoke the coals in order to make them burn on Shabbat and thereby violate a Torah prohibition. The Sages taught a baraita which discusses the range of problems that arise with regard to the twilight period. Twilight is a period of uncertainty. It is uncertain whether it consists of both day and night, it is uncertain whether it is completely day, and it is uncertain whether it is completely night. Therefore, the Sages impose the stringencies of both days upon it. If there is a stringency that applies on either of the days, one is obligated to adhere to it during the twilight period. Nevertheless, the definition of twilight is uncertain. And what is twilight? From when the sun sets, as long as the eastern face of the sky is reddened by the light of the sun. If the lower segment of the sky has lost its color, and the upper segment has not yet lost its color, that is the twilight period. If the upper segment has lost its color, and its color equals that of the lower one, it is night; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Neḥemya says: The duration of the twilight period is the time it takes for a person to walk half a mil after the sun sets. Rabbi Yosei says: Twilight does not last for a quantifiable period of time; rather, it is like the blink of an eye: This, night, enters and that, day, leaves, and it is impossible to calculate it due to its brevity. It was taught in the baraita that the Master said: The Sages impose the stringencies of both days upon twilight. The Gemara asks: With regard to what halakha was this stated? Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: With regard to the matter of ritual impurity, as we learned in a mishna: With regard to a zav who saw an emission for two consecutive days during twilight, it is unclear whether it should be considered as if he only saw the emission for a single day, as perhaps twilight of the first day was part of the following day, and twilight of the second day was part of the previous day; or, whether it should be considered as two days, attributing each twilight to either the previous or the following day; or, whether it should be considered three days, as it is possible to view the twilight period as two days. By Torah law, a zav who saw two emissions is ritually impure, and all of the stringencies of a zav apply to him. If he sees a third emission, he is liable to bring an offering as part of his purification ritual. Therefore, this zav, with regard to whom there is uncertainty whether he saw emissions for one day, two days, or three days, has uncertain status with regard to both ritual impurity and to sacrifice. If he saw an emission one day during twilight, he has uncertain status with regard to ritual impurity because it may be considered two days. The Gemara comments on the baraita cited by the Gemara. This baraita is itself difficult, self-contradictory. Initially you said, what is twilight? From when the sun sets, as long as the eastern face of the sky is reddened by the light of the sun. By inference, if the bottom segment lost its color, and the upper one has not lost its color, it is night. And then the baraita taught: If the lower segment of the sky has lost its color, and the upper segment has not yet lost its color, that is the twilight period. There is an apparent internal contradiction in the baraita. Rabba said that Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: In order to resolve the contradiction, unify the two statements and teach it as follows: What is twilight? From when the sun sets, as long as the eastern face of the sky is reddened by the light of the sun. If the lower segment of the sky has lost its color and the upper segment has not yet lost its color, that is also the twilight period. Only if the upper segment lost its color, and it equals that of the lower one, is it night. And Rav Yosef said that Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said otherwise: From when the sun sets, as long as the eastern face of the sky is reddened by the light of the sun, it is day. If the lower segment of the sky has lost its color, and the upper segment has not yet lost its color, that is the twilight period. If the upper segment lost its color and it equals that of the lower one, it is night. And the Gemara remarks: In this dispute over the precise definition of twilight both Rabba and Rav Yosef follow their line of reasoning stated elsewhere. As it was stated: What is the measure of the duration of twilight? Rabba said that Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: The time it takes to walk three parts of a mil. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of three parts of a mil? If you say that it refers to three halves of a mil, let him say a mil and a half. Rather, if you say that it means three-thirds of a mil, let him simply say one mil. Rather, it means three-quarters of a mil. And Rav Yosef said that Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: The duration of twilight is two parts of a mil. Again the Gemara asks: What is the meaning of two parts of a mil? If you say that it means two halves of a mil, let him simply say one mil. Rather, if you say that it means two-quarters of a mil, let him say instead: Half of a mil. Rather, it means two-thirds of a mil. The Gemara explains: What is the practical difference between them? The practical difference between them is half of one-sixth [danka], i.e., one-twelfth of a mil. Their disputes are consistent, as the duration of twilight according to Rav Yosef is shorter than its duration according to Rabba.

The expression until traffic in the marketplace ceases is mentioned here, and the Gemara asks: Until when exactly is this time? Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Until the traffic of the people of Tadmor [tarmoda’ei] ceases. They sold kindling wood and remained in the marketplace later than everyone else. People who discovered at sunset that they had exhausted their wood supply could purchase wood from them.

If one did not light with sunset, either due to forgetfulness or on purpose, s/he should go ahead and light until people stop passing through the marketplace, which is approximately half an hour, because then the people are passing and coming home and thus the miracle is publicized. Therefore one must place enough oil for that time, and if one put more oil in, s/he may extinguish the candle after that time has passed, and may use the light after that time. [Re"ma: There are those who say that in this time, when people light indoors, there is no need to be careful to light before people stop passing through the marketplace (these are his own words, and the words of the Tur, quoting Tosafot), and regardless, it is good to be careful even now.] And this is the ideal case. But it this time has passed and s/he has not lit, go ahead an light all night, and if the entire night has passed and s/he has not lit, there is no making up for it later. [Re"ma: And on other nights, one should light like all other people, even though s/he did not light at first. (He found this written in the name of the Maha"ril and also shared it as his own opinion.)]

The Chanukah candles should not be kindled before sunset. Instead, [they should be kindled] at sunset. One should not light later or earlier.
Should one forget, or even if one purposely did not light at sunset, one may light afterwards until there are no longer any passersby in the marketplace.
How long a duration of time is this? Approximately half an hour or slightly more than that. Should this time pass, one should not kindle the lights.
One should place enough oil in the lamp so that it will continue burning until there are no longer any passersby in the marketplace. If one lit it and it became extinguished, one need not light it a second time. If it remained burning until there are no longer passersby in the marketplace, one may extinguish it or remove it if one desires.

Chanukah candles are not lit before sunset, but rather with the end of sunset, neither later nor before. And there are those who say that if one is busy, it is permissible to light from Plag Hamincha and onward, as long one puts enough oil [so that the lamp will remain lit] until people stop passing through the marketplace. If one did not light with sunset, either due to forgetfulness or on purpose, s/he should go ahead and light until people stop passing through the marketplace, which is approximately half an hour, because then the people are passing and coming home and thus the miracle is publicized. Therefore one must place enough oil for that time, and if one put more oil in, s/he may extinguish the candle after that time has passed, and may use the light after that time. [Re"ma: There are those who say that in this time, when people light indoors, there is no need to be careful to light before people stop passing through the marketplace (these are his own words, and the words of the Tur, quoting Tosafot), and regardless, it is good to be careful even now.] And this is the ideal case. But it this time has passed and s/he has not lit, go ahead an light all night, and if the entire night has passed and s/he has not lit, there is no making up for it later. [Re"ma: And on other nights, one should light like all other people, even though s/he did not light at first. (He found this written in the name of the Maha"ril and also shared it as his own opinion.)]