It’s one of the most frequently asked questions about the observance of Hanukkah: can one fulfill the mitzvah to kindle the Hanukkah lights by means of an electric menorah? It’s frequently answered, too: most Orthodox poskim say “no.” To support this prohibition, the authorities cite a number of separate reasons: 1) the mitzvah calls for an act of “kindling” (hadlakah), and switching on an electric bulb does not meet that definition; 2) the electric bulb resembles a multi-wicked “torch” rather than a single light/lamp (ner); 3) the Hanukkah lamp must resemble the menorah in the Temple, the lights of which consisted of a wick and an exhaustible supply of fuel (oil or wax), whereas an electric light runs off the communal power grid; 4) electric lights fail to meet the requirement of pirsumei nisa, “to publicize the miracle,” because since people use them throughout the year they aren’t recognizable as Hanukkah lights; and on and on.

But what’s funny (and obviously we at this blog have a rather specialized sense of humor) is that these authorities all seem to disagree as to which reason prevails, and they tend to reject the arguments cited by others.[1] Which, of course, makes one wonder just how powerful and persuasive those arguments really are.[2] Could they be the real reason behind the opposition to the electric menorah? Besides, the poskim tend to accept the use of electric lights for the purpose of kindling the lights of Shabbat.[3] So what then makes the ner shel Hanukkah so different? Continue reading The Festival of (Electric) Lights? →