May An Electric Menorah Be Used To Fulfil One’s Obligation To Light The Chanukkah Menorah?

Please note: A video discussion by Rabbi Segal related this topic can be found at https://utj.org/viewpoints/videos/is-an-electric-menorah-kosher/.

The purpose of lighting the menorah for eight nights is Pirsumei Nisa, publicizing the Chanukkah Miracle. (Tractate Shabbat 23b)

According to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi “All the oils are suitable for the Chanukkah lamp, and olive oil is the highest quality of the oils.” The Mitzvah Min Ha’Muvchar, the most preferable way to fulfil one’s obligation to light the menorah is with olive oil. (Tosafot, Shabbat 23a) “Abayei said: At first the Master (Rabba) used to seek poppy-seed oil, saying, “the light of this lasts longer”; but when he heard this (dictum) of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, he was particular for olive oil, saying, “this yields a clearer light.” (Shabbat 23a)

The Talmud places emphasis on the quality of light being produced rather than on the type of flame that is utilized. Olive oil was the preferred method of lighting in the time of the Talmud due to its clear, bright and sharp light. I would surmise, it was for this reason that Rabbi Moses Isserles (Rema) permitted the use of wax candles because according to him “their light is just as clear as that of oil.” (Shulchan Aruch, OC 673)

The question of the electric menorah is quite consequential because it addresses the way Halachah, Jewish law responds to an evolving world especially with respect to new inventions and innovations. There was no such thing as electricity during the times of the Talmud. Thomas Edison patented the first commercially successful bulb in 1879 but beyond Edison it was the Italian inventor Alessandro Volta who developed the first practical method of generating electricity, the voltaic pile in 1800. Therefore, the question of electricity is a relatively recent one.

New questions arouse new controversies. In fact, wax candles were very controversial during the 16th century. It is well known that Rabbi Yehuda Loew, also known as the “Maharal of Prague” vehemently opposed lighting the menorah with wax candles and even instituted a communal ban against the practice. (Yemei Hallel Ve-hoda’a, pg. 106, note 21) There are rabbinic authorities in every generation who oppose performing ritual functions using modern inventions and technologies.

The Talmud teaches an important principle, Lo roinu eino raaya. Not seeing something in the past is insufficient proof to render it invalid. (Zevachim 103b, and Eduyot 2:2) Therefore, we must analyze the question of the electric menorah on its merits. In that spirit I will address a couple of the objections which are raised most frequently in the sources that delve into the matter.

According to Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes, the principle of pirsumei nisa, (the requirement to publicize the miracle) becomes compromised with the use of the electric Menorah. He argues that electricity is the most common form of light used in our present era. Therefore, the electric menorah is indistinguishable from all other appliances we regularly use. (Beit Yitzchak, YD 120)

I do not find this argument convincing. Firstly, the menorah is placed in a specific place, by the window, or such other place which is visible to the public. The purpose of an electric menorah is also quite apparent to anyone viewing it from outside a house. It was also specifically manufactured and constructed to publicize the Chanukkah miracle. (See Obadiah Yosef, Yechaveh Da’at 4:38) Furthermore, at the time Rabbi Moses Isserles permitted wax candles, the same kinds of candles were used to light one’s home.

Another objection often raised is that electric light bulbs do not contain the requisite fuel needed to burn for approximately 30 minutes. (Shulchan Arukh, OC 672:2) This argument is weak. As soon as one plugs-in an electric Menorah, it contains enough power to last for 30 minutes and beyond. While it is true that one does not fill the electric menorah with oil or any other substance, it does have the inherent ability to remain lit for a long period of time. (See Sternhell, Kochvei Yitzchak, 5-8)

Furthermore, the commandment is fulfilled by simply kindling the lights. Even if one assumes that the electric menorah does not have enough fuel sufficient for 30 minutes it still does enable a person to fulfil the commandment because the bulb does light up. (Shulchan Aruch, OC 673:2)

Rabbi Yosef Messas, (1892-1974) former Sephardic chief rabbi of Haifa, permitted the use of an electric Menorah to fulfil one’s obligation. (Mayim Chayim, OC 279) Other rabbinic authorities permit it in situations where one has no other alternative. The most common situations occur in hospitals, some hotels, and when one is traveling, especially by airplane. (See Helevi, Asey Lecha Rav 6:57)

Safety rather than convenience

There are those who contend that people who use the electric menorah do so simply out of convenience. That is not always the case. In recent years some observant Jews have cited legitimate safety concerns about the use of the conventional menorah. In 2017, in my own neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, Sheepshead Bay, on the sixth night of Chanukkah, three children and their mother were killed, and other family members were badly injured by a fire which started from a menorah.  The fire department believed that the glass cups which held the oil may have cracked under extended heat exposure, spilling oil, and spreading flames. It was a very tragic story. In that vein, some may use an electric menorah because they feel it is safer.

Conclusion:

Although the prevalent custom among observant Jews is to use olive oil or wax candles, there exists ample Halachic basis to use an electric menorah to fulfil one’s obligation to light the Chanukkah menorah.

The standard set by the Talmud was to use a source of light which was clear, bright, and sharp. In Talmudic times, olive oil fit that description. Rabbi Moses Isserles (Rema) brilliantly set an important precedent, permitting the use of wax candles which in his day was analogous to the clear illumination of olive oil.

In today’s era, many electric menorahs give off light which is even brighter, clearer, and sharper than that of olive oil, which is sufficient reason to permit its use to perform the mitzvah of lighting Chanukkah candles.

However, those who opt to use an electric Menorah should not do so as a means of bypassing the rigors of performing the mitzvah properly. For instance, one’s intention should not be to avoid spending money on purchasing cups of oil or to prevent oneself from having to set and clean the menorah each night. Such attempts undermine the sanctity of the mitzvah and weaken Jewish life.

Therefore, one may use the electric menorah under the following conditions:

• Before using or purchasing a particular electric menorah, one must ascertain that its light bulbs shine brightly and clearly and will be readily visible to the average passers-by when placed at the window. One should also purchase new bulbs each year prior to Chanukkah to make certain that the bulbs will not burn out.
• The electric menorah should be utilized as if it is a menorah with oil or candles. The requisite blessings should be recited just prior to flipping on the switch or tightening the bulb (s) into the socket (s). The bulbs should be lit in the traditional ascending order as decreed by the Talmud. One should light one bulb on the first night and add another on each successive night. (Shabbat 21b) They should be lit at its proper time, after sunset on weekdays and before sunset on Friday afternoon due to the onset of Shabbat. Following the lighting, hymns of Haneirot Halalu, Maoz Tzur or both should be chanted while lingering around the menorah for about 30 minutes.
• Finally, on each morning of Chanukkah, except for the eighth day, one should make certain to shut off or untighten the bulbs (s) which were lit the previous evening so that new lights are lit each night.

Following these steps will demonstrate that the electric menorah is not simply another appliance analogous to a table lamp, computer, or television set but rather an object uniquely sacred for the purpose of publicizing a most significant historic miracle which has contributed to sustaining the people of Israel as a Jewish nation.

Rabbi Shlomo Segal
on behalf of the Panel of Halakhic Inquiry
Union for Traditional Judaism