I am in the Year avelus for my Father a”h. Can I attend a Chanuka party with food and aunts uncles cousins (some distant), but with no music?
Answer:
There is room to be lenient in this matter.
It is preferable, if possible, that the party should be at home.
Sources:
Iggros Moshe (Yoreh De’ah 3:181) writes that an avel should not attend a Chanukah party. However, other authorites permit attending a family gathering (without music), such as Rav Shlomo Zalman zt”l (Halichos Shlomo Vol. 2, Chap. 17, no. 3), and see also Beis Lechem Yehudah and Gilion Maharsha (Yoreh De’ah 391:2).
Note that a Chanukah party is not necessarily a se’udas mitzvah, and it is preferable that Divrei Torah should be spoken, which render it a se’udas mitzvah (see Orach Chaim 670:2).
