Shabbat 21b — the Talmud in English

Rav Hisda holds:

Rav Hisda:

if it went out

a Hanukkah lamp,

one is not required to attend to it

to light it a second time, and therefore it is permitted to light on weekdays with these oils, and if it goes out, we are not concerned.

And it is permitted to use its light

the light of a Hanukkah lamp, and therefore on Shabbat it is forbidden to light with them.

Rav Zeira said in the name of Rav Mattana, and some say:

Rav Zeira said in the name of Rav: The wicks and oils

about which the Sages said that one may not light with them on Shabbat—

one may light with them on Hanukkah, whether on a weekday or on Shabbat.

Rav Yirmeya said: What is Rav’s reason

who says that one may light with them?

He holds

that a Hanukkah lamp that

went out, one is not required to attend to it

to repair it. And therefore, although these types of oils do not draw properly after the wick, and the lamp may go out, we are not concerned.

And from this—that Rav holds that even on Shabbat it is permitted to light with them, and we do not fear “lest he incline it”—it is proven that he holds:

and it is forbidden to use its light

of a Hanukkah lamp.

The Sages said before Abaye, in the name of Rabbi Yirmeya,

that Rav holds that if it went out one is not required to attend to it, and it is forbidden to use its light.

And he did not accept it

Abaye did not rely on this ruling.

When Ravin came, the Sages said this ruling before Abaye

this halakha

in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, and

then

he accepted it.

He said: If only I had merited it,

if only I had merited it—

I would have mastered this teaching from the outset,

I would have learned it earlier.

And we raise an objection:

But he had learned it,

when they said it to him in the name of Rabbi Yirmeya?

And we answer:

It makes a difference for the version learned in one’s youth,

for had he learned it in his youth, it would have been preferable.

And we raise an objection:

And if it went out

a Hanukkah lamp, are you saying

one is not required to attend to it?

And we juxtapose an objection:

The time of

its mitzva

the Hanukkah lamp is

from

the time

when the sun sets, until

when

the foot

of a person

has departed from the marketplace [In the early authorities there are several opinions as to what time is meant by sunset].

Is it not that if it went out

during this period,

he returns and lights it,

and learn from this that if it went out one is required to attend to it?

And we reject this:

No,

it is not speaking with regard to the duration of the burning, but with regard to the time of its lighting:

for if he did not light

at the time when the sun sets,

he lights

until the time when the foot has departed from the marketplace.

Alternatively,

I can say to you:

it is for its measure

that he teaches it—that one must place in it oil according to the measure of time from sunset until the foot has departed from the marketplace; however, if it goes out during the period, one is not required to attend to it.

We learned in a beraita: The mitzva of the Hanukkah lamp is from the time when the sun sets

until the foot has departed from the marketplace.

And we inquire concerning it:

And how much

is the measure of time until the foot has departed from the marketplace?

Rabba bar bar Hana said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Until the foot of the Tarmodaeans has ceased,

a nation whose occupation is gathering wood, and they remain in the marketplace until a late hour, perhaps buyers who need wood will happen upon them.

The Sages taught:

This is

the mitzva

of lighting a

Hanukkah lamp:

a.

One lamp, and through its lighting

they fulfill the obligation

a man and his household,

all the members of the household.

b.

And those who beautify

the mitzvot light

one lamp

each night,

for each and every one,

of the members of the household.

c.

And those who beautify beyond the beautification

each member of the household lights, and lights lamps corresponding to the number of days.

And what is the mitzva of lighting according to those who beautify beyond the beautification?

The House of Shammai says: On the first day

of Hanukkah,

he lights eight

lamps;

from here onward,

each day,

he decreases and goes

in the number of lamps. [On the second day he lights seven, and so on].

And the House of Hillel says: On the first day

of Hanukkah,

he lights one; from here onward, he increases and goes, [And on the second day he lights two lamps, and so on].

Ulla said,

concerning the reason for the disagreement between the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel:

two amoraim in the West disagreed about it,

and who are they?

Rabbi Yosei bar Avin and Rabbi Yosei bar Zavida.

One

of them

said: The reason of the House of Shammai

for lighting eight lamps on the first day is that this is

corresponding to the entering days,

the days that are destined to come.

And the reason of the House of Hillel

for lighting one lamp on the first day is

corresponding to the departing days,

and the day on which he stands is counted together with the days that have passed.

And one

of them

said: The reason of the House of Shammai is corresponding to the bulls of the festival,

for on the first day of the festival of Sukkot thirteen bulls were offered, and each day of the intermediate days of the festival the number of bulls decreased, until on the seventh day seven bulls were offered. So too, in the lighting of the Hanukkah lamp, he decreases and goes, and on the last day he lights one lamp.

And the reason of the House of Hillel

for increasing and going is because

one rises in holiness and does not descend [and we derive this principle from a verse in tractate Menahot 99a].

Rabba bar bar Hana said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: There were two elders in Sidon; one acted

lit

according to

the words of

the House of Shammai, and one acted according to the words of the House of Hillel.

This one

who acted according to the words of the House of Shammai

gave a reason for his words

that this is

corresponding to the bulls of the festival.

And this one

who acted according to the words of the House of Hillel

gave a reason for his words

because

one rises in holiness and does not descend.

The Sages taught: A Hanukkah lamp—

it is a mitzva to place it at the entrance of one’s house, on the outside.

Rashi’s method is that one places it at the entrance of the house that opens onto the courtyard, while Tosafot’s method [in the discussion beginning “It is a mitzva”] is that one places it at the entrance of the courtyard; and according to their words the Shulchan Arukh ruled, section 671, paragraph 5.

If he lived in an upper chamber

and had no possibility of placing it at the entrance of his courtyard—

he places it

inside,

at the window adjacent to the public domain.

And in a time of danger,

when the Persians decreed that they should not light a lamp except in their house of idolatry—

he places it on his table, and that suffices

for this, and he fulfills the obligation of the mitzva.

Rava said:

One who lights a Hanukkah lamp in his house

must

also light

another lamp in order to use its light.

Rashi wrote that he lights it in order to make a distinction in the matter. [And in the Biur Halakha, section 671, paragraph 5, he explained Rashi’s intention: even if he does not wish to use its light, he must make another lamp so that he will have the ability to use its light, and through this it will be recognizable that the first lamp is for the mitzva.]

And if there is a bonfire

of fire—

he does not need

to light an additional lamp.

And if

this man

is an important person,

who does not ordinarily use the light of a bonfire,

even though there is a bonfire

in his house,

he must

light

another lamp

so that it will be recognizable that one of them is for the mitzva.

What is Hanukkah?

For what miracle did they establish the days of Hanukkah?

For the Sages taught: On the twenty-fifth of

the month of

Kislev, the days of Hanukkah—

they are eight [they are eight days],

during which it is not permitted to eulogize

over the dead [

and during which it is not permitted to fast ]. [The Gaon did not read these words.]

The Gaon of Vilna did not have these words in his text.]

And the miracle that occurred was:

When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary

the Temple,

they defiled all the oils that

were

in the Sanctuary.

And when the kingdom of the Hasmonean house prevailed and defeated them, they searched and found only one flask of oil that had been placed

in concealment, and it was sealed

with the seal of the High Priest,

and it was evident that they had not touched this flask of oil.

And

in that flask,

there was not

a sufficient quantity of oil

except to light

the menorah

for one day. And a miracle occurred in it

and they lit from it for eight days,

until they crushed olives and produced pure oil. [Maimonides, Laws of Hanukkah, chapter 3].

The following year,

they established them and made them

these days

festival days—

with

the recitation of

Hallel, and

saying “For the miracles” in the blessing of

thanksgiving [Modim].

We learned there

in tractate Bava Kamma:

A spark

a spark

that emerges from beneath the hammer,

the mallet with which the smiths strike.

And it emerged

the spark

and caused damage—

he is liable.

A camel that

is

laden with flax, and it passes through the public domain, and its flax entered into a shop, and it caught fire from the shopkeeper’s lamp

that was inside the shop,

and set the building on fire

the house—

the owner of the camel is liable

for payment of the damage, since he should not have loaded so much flax that it would enter the shop.

But if

the shopkeeper placed his lamp outside

and it ignited the flax that was upon the camel—

the shopkeeper is liable

for the damage.

Rabbi Judah says: In the case of a Hanukkah lamp,

the law is that if the shopkeeper placed it outside,

he is exempt,

since he had permission to place it outside in order to publicize the mitzva.

Ravina said:

From this—that in the case of a Hanukkah lamp he is exempt—

that is to say:

It is a mitzva to place a Hanukkah lamp within ten

handbreadths.

And this is how he brings the proof:

If it should enter your mind

that its mitzva is that one place it

above ten

handbreadths,

let him say to him

the owner of the camel—the injured party—to the shopkeeper:

You should have placed

the lamp

above

the height of

the camel and its rider.

And we reject this:

Perhaps

indeed, according to the essential law, he may place it above ten handbreadths, but the Sages were concerned:

if it is too burdensome for him

and it becomes difficult for him to light,

he will come to refrain from the mitzva.