Reimagining and Reestablishing Classic Hanukkah Traditions

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: נֵר חֲנוּכָּה מִצְוָה לְהַנִּיחָהּ עַל פֶּתַח בֵּיתוֹ מִבַּחוּץ. אִם הָיָה דָּר בַּעֲלִיָּיה — מַנִּיחָהּ בַּחַלּוֹן הַסְּמוּכָה לִרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים. וּבִשְׁעַת הַסַּכָּנָה — מַנִּיחָהּ עַל שֻׁלְחָנוֹ וְדַיּוֹ.

Shabbat 21b:8

The Sages taught in a baraita: It is a mitzva to place the Hanukkah lamp at the entrance to one’s house on the outside, so that all can see it. If he lived upstairs, he places it at the window adjacent to the public domain. And in a time of danger, when the gentiles issued decrees to prohibit kindling lights, he places it on the table and that is sufficient to fulfill his obligation.

Aleppo (Syria) - an extra shamash each night - either to honor G-d or their non-Jewish neighbors who welcomed them when they were refugees from Spain.

שבת כ״ב א:ב׳

אָמַר רַבָּה: נֵר חֲנוּכָּה מִצְוָה לְהַנִּיחָהּ בְּטֶפַח הַסָּמוּךְ לַפֶּתַח. וְהֵיכָא מַנַּח לֵיהּ? רַב אַחָא בְּרֵיהּ דְּרָבָא אָמַר: מִיָּמִין רַב שְׁמוּאֵל מִדִּפְתִּי אָמַר: מִשְּׂמֹאל. וְהִילְכְתָא מִשְּׂמֹאל, כְּדֵי שֶׁתְּהֵא נֵר חֲנוּכָּה מִשְּׂמֹאל וּמְזוּזָה מִיָּמִין.

Shabbat 22a:2

Rabba said: It is a mitzva to place the Hanukkah lamp within the handbreadth adjacent to the entrance. The Gemara asks: And where, on which side, does he place it? There is a difference of opinion: Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said: On the right side of the entrance. Rav Shmuel from Difti said: On the left. And the halakha is to place it on the left so that the Hanukkah lamp will be on the left and the mezuza on the right. One who enters the house will be surrounded by mitzvot (ge’onim).

Northern Africa - Hanging the chanukiah near the mezuzah - (North African menorahs have a ring on top and a flat metal back, and this is done to protect the house.

Tunisia - The chanukiyah is hung on the doorpost opposite the mezuzah until Purim to remind us of the rededication of the lights.

Afghanistan - oil plates - when Persian Jews fled to Afghanistan in 1839, they weren’t sure how their neighbors would feel about public displays of Jewishness, so they put together eight plates of oil. If somebody who wasn’t friendly visited, the plates could be placed around the house.

משנה תורה, הלכות נזקי ממון י״ד:י״ג

(יג) גָּמָל שֶׁהוּא טָעוּן פִּשְׁתָּן וְעוֹבֵר בִּרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים וְנִכְנַס פִּשְׁתָּנוֹ לְתוֹךְ הַחֲנוּת וְדָלְקָה בְּנֵרוֹ שֶׁל חֶנְוָנִי וְהִדְלִיק אֶת כָּל הַבִּירָה בַּעַל הַגָּמָל חַיָּב מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִרְבָּה בְּמַשּׂאוֹי בֵּין שֶׁעָמְדָה הַבְּהֵמָה בֵּין שֶׁלֹּא עָמְדָה. הִנִּיחַ הַחֶנְוָנִי נֵרוֹ מִבַּחוּץ הַחֶנְוָנִי חַיָּב אַף בִּדְמֵי פִּשְׁתָּן מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִנִּיחַ נֵרוֹ מִבַּחוּץ. וַאֲפִלּוּ נֵר חֲנֻכָּה הָיָה לוֹ לֵישֵׁב וְלִשְׁמֹר:

Mishneh Torah, Damages to Property 14:13

If a camel was carrying flax and passed through the public thoroughfare and his flax extended into a store and caught fire from the candle of the storeowner and subsequently burned the building, the owner of the camel is responsible for the damage.... If the storeowner left the candle outside, the storeowner is responsible. Even if it was a Chanukah light - he should sit and guard it.

Jerusalem - Hanukkiyah cut-outs in buildings - before the glass box was developed, buildings had a special spot on the outside for a Hanukkah menorah.

בבא קמא ס״ב ב:ג׳

גמ׳ אמר רבינא משמיה דרבא ש"מ מדרבי יהודה נר חנוכה מצוה להניחה בתוך עשרה דאי סלקא דעתך למעלה מעשרה אמאי אמר ר' יהודה נר חנוכה פטור לימא ליה הוה ליה לאנוחה למעלה מגמל ורוכבו אלא לאו ש"מ מצוה להניחה בתוך עשרה

Bava Kamma 62b:3

GEMARA:Ravina said in the name of Rava: Conclude from Rabbi Yehuda’s statement that the mitzva is to place the Hanukkah lamp within a height of ten handbreadths from the ground as, if it enters your mind to say that the mitzva can also be fulfilled by placing it above ten handbreadths, why did Rabbi Yehuda say that in the case of a Hanukkah lamp placed outside, the storekeeper is exempt? Let the owner of the camel say to the storekeeper: You should have placed the lamp above the height of a camel and its rider so that the flax would not catch fire. Rather, must one not conclude from here that Rabbi Yehuda’s opinion is that the mitzva is to place it within ten handbreadths of the ground and not higher?

Israel - outdoor Hanukkiyah aquariums - per the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), the Hanukkiyah should be outside for all to see, and the glass box keeps the wind from blowing out the lights.

שבת כ״א ב:ג׳-ד׳

מִצְוָתָהּ מִשֶּׁתִּשְׁקַע הַחַמָּה עַד שֶׁתִּכְלֶה רֶגֶל מִן הַשּׁוּק... עַד שֶׁתִּכְלֶה רֶגֶל מִן הַשּׁוּק. וְעַד כַּמָּה? אָמַר רַבָּה בַּר בַּר חָנָה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: עַד דְּכָלְיָא רִיגְלָא דְתַרְמוֹדָאֵי.

Shabbat 21b:3-4

The mitzva of kindling the Hanukkah lights is from sunset until traffic in the marketplace ceases... 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.

Egypt - lighting during the day too - because a light in the day was more unusual than a light at night, they would light candles in the synagogue in the morning without a blessing to remind people how many candles to light at night in their homes.

שבת כ״ג ב:ג׳

נֵר חֲנוּכָּה עֲדִיף, מִשּׁוּם פַּרְסוֹמֵי נִיסָּא.

Shabbat 23b:3

The Chanukkah lamp takes precedence over other commandments due to publicity of the miracle.

Holocaust - butter candles - when resources were scarce in the ghettos and concentration camps, Jews would make candles/oil out of fat or butter, with wicks from threads and a hanukkiyah from an old potato

Romania and Austria - using potatoes to make the hanukkiyah. Each potato is carved out to hold oil and a wick, and you add a potato each night. This dates to a time of economic hardship.

שבת כ״ג ב:ב׳

אָמַר רָבָא: מִילֵּא קְעָרָה שֶׁמֶן וְהִקִּיפָהּ פְּתִילוֹת. כָּפָה עָלֶיהָ כְּלִי עוֹלָה לְכַמָּה בְּנֵי אָדָם. לֹא כָּפָה עָלֶיהָ כְּלִי עֲשָׂאָהּ כְּמִין מְדוּרָה, וַאֲפִילּוּ לְאֶחָד נָמֵי אֵינָהּ עוֹלָה.

Shabbat 23b:2

If the Channukiah appears like a type of bonfire, it is not considered to have fulfilled anybody's obligation of lighting a Chanukkah light.

Alsace (France) - Double-decker chanukiot - to allow multiple people to light at the same time.

שבת כ״ג א:ג׳

אָמַר רַב שֵׁשֶׁת: אַכְסְנַאי חַיָּיב בְּנֵר חֲנוּכָּה. אָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא: מֵרֵישׁ כִּי הֲוֵינָא בֵּי רַב, מִשְׁתַּתַּפְנָא בִּפְרִיטֵי בַּהֲדֵי אוּשְׁפִּיזָא. בָּתַר דִּנְסֵיבִי אִיתְּתָא, אָמֵינָא: הַשְׁתָּא וַדַּאי לָא צְרִיכְנָא, דְּקָא מַדְלְקִי עֲלַי בְּגוֹ בֵּיתַאי.

Shabbat 23a:3

Rabbi Zeira said: At first, when I was in the house of my teacher, I would participate in the costs of his Channukah lights. After I married my wife, I said: Now I certainly need not do so because they light on my behalf in my house.

Eastern Europe - the synagogue caretaker makes Chanukah candles out of the drippings from the Yom Kippur memorial candles

אורח חיים תער״א:ז׳

ומדליקין ומברכין [בבית הכנסת] משום פרסומי ניסא

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 671:7

We kindle and recite the benedictions in the synagogue for the sake of publicising the miracle.

Syria: Rather than using a shamash candle, the shamash (caretaker of the synagogue) would give each family a decorated candle to light the others, and then he would be paid.