HaNeiros Halalu

By Rabbi Joshua Flug

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I. Introduction- This shiur outline will discuss the recitation of HaNeiros Halalu. We will
discuss its origins, its role in the candle lighting and the text itself.
a. The source for HaNeiros Halalu is a beraisa in Maseches Soferim. The Beraisa states
that one recites HaNeiros Halalu after the first beracha, but before the second
beracha. The Beraisa also provides the text of HaNeiros Halalu. {}
b. Rabbeinu Asher (c. 1250-1327) quotes the Beraisa and notes that Maharam
MiRutenberg (1215-1293) was accustomed to reciting HaNeiros Halalu. Rabbeinu
Asher's text is slightly different from the text in Maseches Soferim. {}
c. Maharil (c. 1365-1427) also records the practice of reciting HaNeiros Halalu. His
text has significant variations from the text of Maseches Soferim (most notable is the
omission of (‫)וכל שמונת ימי חנוכה‬. He also notes that there are thirty six words to
represent the thirty six candles (when one does not include the shamash). {}
d. R. Shlomo Luria (Maharshal 1510-1574) provides his version of the text and writes
that HaNeiros Halalu must be thirty six words, no more and no less. However, one
does not include the words "HaNeiros Halalu" which appear twice in the prayer. {}
i. R. Eliyah Shapira (1660-1712) discusses the nusach in many siddurim that has
many more than thirty six words. He notes that the version presented by R.
Ya'akov ben Asher (1269-1343) in Kitzur Piskei HaRosh {} has forty four
words which correspond to the candles when one includes the shamashim {}.
ii. R. Avraham Zilberger notes that the text that appears in Ashkenzai siddurim
has forty five words (when excludes the two sets of "HaNeiros Halalu"). In
order to get to forty four, one can remove the word ‫ הם‬from ‫קודש הם‬. {}
II. When does one recite HaNeiros Halalu?
a. The Beraisa states that one should recite it between the first two berachos. {}
b. Maharil states that one recites HaNeiros Halalu after the recitation of all three
berachos. {} He doesn't address whether one the ensuing nights, it should be recited
after all of the candles are lit or after the first one.
i. Maharshal writes that one should recite it after lighting the first candle. {}
This is also codified by R. David HaLevi Segal (Taz c.1586-1667). {}
ii. R. Yosef Teomim (P'ri Megadim 1727-1793) writes that one should recite it
after lighting all of the candles because one should not interrupt between
recitation of the beracha and lighting all of the candles. {}
c. R. Yosef D. Soloveitchik (1903-1993) explains that the Beraisa is of the opinion that
HaNeiros Halalu is not simply a prayer that we recite with candle lighting. Rather,
according to the Beraisa, one cannot fulfill pirsumei nisa without some sort of
recitation declaring that the lighting is being performed to publicize the miracles.
Therefore, one must recite it immediately after lighting the candles. The Beraisa is
also of the opinion that the beracha of ‫ שעשה נסים‬is a ‫ ברכת שבח והודאה‬and therefore it
 is recited after the hadlakah. Maharil is of the opinion that ‫ שעשה נסים‬is a ‫ברכת המצוה‬
and must be recited before the beracha. Therefore, one cannot possibly recite
HaNeiros Halalu until after the recitation of all of the berachos. The minhag of R.
Moshe Soloveitchik was to try to fulfill both opinions. While one cannot do that on
the first night, on all other nights, one can follow this by reciting HaNeiros Halalu
and ‫ שעשה נסים‬after lighting the first light and the berachos recited afterwards will still
be considered ‫ עובר לעשייתן‬for the rest of the lights. {}
III. The text of HaNeiros Halalu
a. ‫על ידי כהניך הקדושים‬
i. R. Moshe Ibn Machir (16th century) writes that we find a number of places
where we give credit to the kohanim for their role in the miracles of
Chanukah. We find it in the kerias haTorah of the eighth day, when we read
about the hadlakas haneiros of Parsha Be'ha'alosecha. We similarly reference
Matisyahu Kohen Gadol. This is all to give praise to the children of Aharon. {
}
ii. R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1809) asks why we give credit to the
kohanim when we are supposed to be praising G-d for His role? He answers
that the kohanim represent chesed. Usually defeat of the enemy must come
from gevurah and when gevurah is used, the consequences for the Jewish
people could be devastating. Therefore, we mention the kohanim as a sign of
praise to G-d for defeating the enemy out of love and chesed and not out of
gevurah. {}
iii. R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994, the seventh Lubavitcher
Rebbe) notes that Rambam (1138-1204) puts a stress on the kohanim as part
of the miracle. He explains that the idea is to highlight the mesirus nefesh
displayed at the time of the miracle. Normally, a person is only required to
give his life for the three cardinal sins. It is only when someone is in a public
position that they have to display a greater level of mesirus nefesh. We
mention the kohanim to show that the mesirus nefesh was on par with what is
expected of leaders. It was this mesirus nefesh that led to the great miracles.
{}
b. ‫וכל שמונת ימי חנוכה הנרות הללו קודש הם‬
i. R. Shlomo HaKohen of Vilna (c. 1827-1905) asks a number of questions
regarding this section (click here to access entire piece in Binyan Shlomo)
1. Why does it say ‫ הנרות הללו קודש‬when the Gemara {} states explicitly
that the candles are not ‫?קודש‬
2. Why does it say ‫ 'וכל שמונת ימי חנוכה הנרו הללו וכו‬as if to say that they
are only sanctified during the eight days of Chanukah? In reality,
many Rishonim are of the opinion that the oil is prohibited after
Chanukah is over? {}
 3. Rabbeinu Asher's version of HaNeiros Halalu is ‫וכל מצות שמונת ימי‬
‫חנוכה‬. Why does he add the word ‫?מצות‬
4. Many siddurim have the version ‫קודש הם‬. The original doesn't have
the word ‫הם‬. Why are there two versions?
5. The words ‫ לראותם בלבד‬seem extraneous. The whole purpose of the
candles is to see them?
6. Why does it conclude ‫ ?כדי להודות ולהלל לשמך הגדול‬Wasn't this already
mentioned at the beginning?
7. Why is there a stress on ‫ לשמך הגדול‬when we normally say ‫?לשמך‬
ii. Binyan Shlomo's answer
1. There is another passage in the Gemara that seems to indicate that the
candles are holy. The Gemara states that one is not allowed to benefit
from the candles. {} Whereas the Gemara that states that the candles
are not holy agrees that one cannot count coins in front of the candles,
that is because of bizui mitzvah and not something inherent about the
lights.
2. R. Zerachiah HaLevi (1125-1186) suggests that there is a dispute
among the Amoraim and Rav holds that there is kedusha in the
candles. Rav Asi holds that there is no kedusha. {}
3. If one assumes that there is actual kedusha in the candles, one would
conclude the following:
a. It is prohibited to benefit from the oil.
b. The oil that was not burnt is prohibited even after Chanukah.
c. If one adds extra oil and it is not consumed, that oil is
prohibited.
4. Yet, most Rishonim don't seem to subscribe to all aspects of kedusha
in the candles. Binyan Shlomo notes that there are two types of
prohibited use from the oil: {}
a. Using the oil for something else, which is prohibited because
we want our lights to model the menorah. Just as the oil in the
menorah was prohibited, so too the oil we use is prohibited.
i. Some Rishonim assume that it is prohibited even after
Chanukah.
ii. Some Rishonim assume that even the extra oil is
prohibited.
 b. Benefitting from the light. It was not prohibited to benefit
from the light of the menorah, however, one may not benefit
from the Chanukah lights because it detracts from pirsumei
nisa and certain activities are considered bizui mitzvah.
5. Based on these ideas, Binyan Shlomo answers his questions:
a. The candles do not have inherent kedusha, but we treat them
like the menorah and we try to convey the same kedusha.
b. Even though the oil is prohibited after Chanukah, it is still
different than the prohibition during the eight days of
Chanukah. During the eight days of Chanukah it is similar to
the sukkah or the schach which are tashmishei mitzvah and one
cannot use them for anything else. After Chanukah, it is only
prohibited because the oil from the menorah was prohibited
after use. ‫ וכל שמונת ימי חנוכה‬implies this distinction.
c. Rabbeinu Asher adds the ‫ מצות‬to imply that only the oil that
was designated for the mitzvah is prohibited and not the extra
oil. At the same time it also implies that whatever was used for
the mitzvah is prohibited after Chanukah.
d. The question of whether the word ‫ הם‬belongs depends on
whether the extra oil is prohibited. If one uses the word ‫ הם‬it
implies that it is permissible. Without ‫ הם‬it implies that all oil
is prohibited. {}
e. The words ‫ אלא לראותם בלבד‬convey the idea that one cannot
benefit from the light, which is not a function of the kedusha.
f. We say ‫ כדי להודות‬because the candles serve as pirsumei nisa
g. We say ‫ לשמך הגדול‬which refers to the ‫ שם המפורש‬which was
only recited in the mikdash because we want to commemorate
the sanctity of the menorah. {}
c. ‫כדי להודות ולהלל‬
i. As we noted earlier, according to R. Soloveitchik, the whole purpose of
HaNeiros Halalu is for pirsumei nisa. Without the recitation of HaNeiros
Halalu it would not be (as) recognizable that the lights are for the purpose of
publicizing the miracle. {}
1. This idea is also expressed by Binyan Shlomo.
ii. R. Chaim Friedlander (1923-1986) writes that ‫ כדי להודות להלל‬refers back to
‫'אלא לראותם בלבד כדי וכו‬. Looking at the lights should cause us to praise G-d
for the miracles of Chanukah. {}
iii. R. Friedlander then explains the progression of ‫ נפלאותיך‬,‫ ישועתך‬,‫נסיך‬.
1. ‫נסיך‬-The open miracles, such as the ‫ נס השמן‬which leads to recognizing
the hidden miracles.
2. ‫ישועתך‬- The salvation that comes in the form of a hidden miracle.
3. ‫נפלאותיך‬-The miracles that we don't even know took place. When we
realize that G-d had a hand in our salvation on Chanukah, we realize
that there must be other times that an enemy tried to destroy us, but
their plans never came to fruition and we never found out about it.
 ‫‪ .6‬אליה רבה תרעו‪:‬ח‬ ‫‪ .1‬מסכת סופרים כ‪:‬ו‬

‫‪ .7‬עוזר ישראל‪-‬חנוכה עמ' קמח‬

‫‪ .8‬ט"ז או"ח תרעו‪:‬ה‬

‫‪ .2‬רא"ש שבת ב‪:‬ח‬

‫‪ .9‬פרי מגדים מ"ז או"ח תרעו‪:‬ה‬

‫‪ .3‬מהרי"ל הל' חנוכה‬

‫‪ .4‬שו"ת מהרש"ל ס' פה‬

‫‪ .5‬קיצור פסקי הרא"ש שבת ב‪:‬ח‬

‫הללו( כדי להזכיר התשועה ע"י מי היתה והוא שבח‬ ‫‪ .10‬נפש הרב עמ' רכד‪-‬רכה‬
‫לזרעו של אהרן‪ .‬וכן תקנו בענין על הנסים שמזכירין‬
‫בתפלה בימי מתתיהו בן יוחנן כ"ג‪.‬‬
‫‪ .13‬קדושת לוי חנוכה קדושה חמישית‬

‫‪ .14‬שערי המועדים חנוכה עמ' נ‬

‫‪ .11‬שו"ת מנחת אלעזר ב‪:‬כט‬

‫‪ .12‬סדר היום‪ -‬סדר חנוכה‬

‫וביום הח' מתחילין מביום הח' עד סוף הסדר ומצרפין‬
‫עמו פ' בהעלתך את הנרות שאותה הדלקה היתה ע"י‬
‫אהרן ובניו שלכך נבחר וגם באלו ימי חנוכה אירע נס‬
‫זה של הנרות ע"י בניו של אהרן והוא שבח לאהרן וכל‬
‫שבט לוי ‪ ...‬וכן תקנו לומר אחר הדקלת הנרות )הנרות‬
‫‪ .19‬בנין שלמה ח"ב או"ח ס' סב‬ ‫‪ .15‬שבת כב‪.‬‬

‫‪ .16‬רא"ש שבת ב‪:‬ט‬

‫‪ .20‬בנין שלמה ח"ב או"ח ס' סב‬

‫‪ .17‬שבת כא‪:‬‬

‫‪ .21‬בנין שלמה ח"ב או"ח ס' סב‬

‫‪ .18‬בעל המאור שבת ט‪.‬‬

‫‪ .22‬שפתי חיים מועדים ב' עמ' כו‬