Question:
1. Can one cook/eat while candles are burning?
2. If the candles supposed to burn 30 minutes but burn faster is that ok? (not sure why)
3. I made a mistake and used candle to relight another one and shamash when they went out–i know this was not right and feel so terrible. Do i do anything?
Answer:
- It is permitted to eat and cook while the candles are burning. Women however have a minhag not to melacha, however cooking, especially for a Chanukah party etc. is permitted.
- The candles should burn for at least half an hour, and if you are lighting earlier then when the stars come out (tzeis hakochavim), they should burn until half an hour after tzeis hakochavim. We should be careful to have candles that will last that long, towards the end of Chanukah when there are more candles, and the extra heat melts them quicker, they should be long enough to last at least half an hour etc. as stated above.
- In general if the candles were long enough to last for the prescribed amount of time, and they somehow blew out, al though it is preffered to relight them, it is not an obligation to do so, because the main mitzva is the actual lighting them. If you want to relight them, and you mistakenly did it with the actual Chanukah candles, you feel bad that you made this mistake, but there isn’t anything specific to do other then the regular teshuva. Don’t get bogged down with guilt over this, remember for next time, and move on.
- Best wishes
Sources:
1. Tur O:CH 670, Magen Avrohom 670-1, M:B 670-4,
2. O:CH 672-1, 2.
3. Rema O:CH 673-2, M:B 673-27
