where do you put your chanukiah?

shabbatiscoming

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 3:41 am

where we live there are a lot of homes that have no windows to the street. so I am sure that those families just light on a table somewhere in the house.

we always lit in the living room and put the chanukiot on the window ledge.

when we lived in an apartment in beit shemesh, we needed to put our chanukiah on a box or it would never have been seen outside.

here we are right on the street level, so we are going to out them by the window.

Marion

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 3:43 am

We light all the little ones inside (where we light Shabbat candles). The big one gets lit inside and moved into a box near the entry to the laundry door. We don't have ledges anywhere near our window (it's over the kitchen sink), and it couldn't be seen from there anyway. However we can't put it right in the opening to the path, because kids play there and it's dangerous.

chanchy123

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 3:50 am

While living in appartment buidlings we always lit in the entrace to the building, where the chanukiya could be seen from the street. We decided to ditch the traditional silver chanukiya - or basically any chanukiya costing over 10 shekel, because of the neighborhoods we lived in. We went with cheap oil chunkiyot or tea lights. Last year, our neighbors all came out to hear us light and sang maoz tsur with us. We felt that we were really doing pirsum henes like it was intended.
This year, we live in an all frum yishuv-community. We will light in a glass box set up at our front door. Never heard of anyone in Israel lighting on a table inside. Everywhere you go you see the candles either set up in windows or mirpasot or outside the buildings. It looks like the streets are ablaze.

Mrs. XYZ

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 3:52 am

The inyon of seeing it from the street is only if you live on the first or second floor. Higher than that I dont think you're allowed to bec. it cant really be seen from the street, so those people light by a door. I never heard of putting it stam on a table.

I think chassidim generally light by the doorway (ooposite the mezuza), either by the outside door or anywhere inside the house.

chanchy123

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 3:56 am

Mrs. XYZ wrote:

That's the halach for everyone not only chassidim. But if you can see the candles better from a window, you should light by a window. My SIL's family have a lovely costum, all six children and father light seperatly in a different window, with my BIL's chanukiya at the entrance to the house. This looks amazing.
There is a machloket regarding higher floors, I know some people light with a bracha at the entrance (usually to the building not to the apparment, unless there is no elevator and many people pass by your appartment), and then light without a bracha in the house, or the children will light inside and the father outside, etc.

shabbatiscoming

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 4:03 am

chanchy123 wrote:

where I live there is a whole block of homes where one is on top of the other and the home on the bottom does not look out to the street at all. it actually looks towards the valley between us and beitar, so nobody can see the chanukiah, so it does not rally matter where they light.

I also know that my husband, growing up, he told me that they lit in the dinning room b/c they have walls around their property anyway and notbody will be able to see in (it was in south africa). so if nobody can see in already, then I dont think that it matters where you light.

Mrs. XYZ

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 4:13 am

Quote:

so if nobody can see in already, then I dont think that it matters where you light.

But even if someone cant light by a window or outside door, they should still light by any doorway inside the house, not stam on a table.

chanchy123

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 4:16 am

I know that in chul many people would light on the dining room table (my grandmother still does in family gathering) the klal is light where the most people can see. If no one can see from outside so people light on the diningoom table so there is pirsuma nisa for bnei habayit members of the household. There is no mitzva to light by the window, on the conrary, if no one can see you anyway you're supposed to light at the entrence as per the original halacha.