Accordingly, if this time is missed it may no longer be lit Rather, he rules in accordance with the opinion that says the menorah may only be lit during the first half hour of the night. The Rambam concurs with this reading of the Talmud, but does not view the matter as an unresolved doubt. This indeed is the understanding of Tosafos who write that if a person failed to light in the beginning of the evening the menorah should still be lit, albeit without a bracha due to the doubt as to which opinion is to be viewed as authoritative.
According to the opinion that there is no special reason to light the menorah early, then if it was not lit early in the evening it should still be lit later. According to the opinion that the mitzvah demands that the menorah specifically be lit at that time (the first half hour of the evening), then if this time was missed the menorah can no longer be lit. This debate appears to remain unresolved The practical difference between these two opinions would be a case where a person did not light at the start of the night. The other opinion holds that the lighting also was done first thing in the evening, not because it was the only time for the mitzvah but presumably due to the general concept of Zrizim Makdimim l ’ Mitzvos (that it is highly meritorious to perform a mitzvah at the first opportunity and not delay). On Saturday night, when there is no alternative, all agree that the lighting must be done after dark.] One opinion in the Talmud states that it specifically must be lit at the beginning of the evening as at this time there is significant pedestrian traffic outdoors that can see the light of the menorah in the doorway or window. The common practice recorded in the Shulchan Aruch (OC 672:1) is to light when it is fully dark.
The ramifications of this debate are most significant for our question.
I am not throwing away my menorah full#
Whether night for this purpose is defined as sunset or full dark is a debate, with the Rambam (Laws of Chanukah 4:5) saying that night begins with the setting of the sun, and most other authorities ruling that it begins with actual dark. If there had been different practices which might have shed light on the need to light at nightfall this fact would have been mentioned in the course of that discussion. It is clear from the Talmud that the common practice was to light the menorah at the beginning of the night.[2. Additionally, many of our social engagements, particularly family celebrations of Chanukah, often introduce these same questions as to when and where to light the menorah. Today in our mobile society, with long commutes and long work days, arranging to come home before night for a full week is far from a simple matter, so finding that optimal time, or in some cases the minimally permissible time, for lighting the menorah is frequently a socio-economic necessity. In simpler societies work was closer to home and workdays typically ended at nightfall, enabling a timely menorah lighting. Some of these changes have related to persecutions, others to weather and climate and others to lifestyle. Possibly more than any other mitzvah, the lighting of the Chanukah menorah has undergone noticeable changes in how it is observed.
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