HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein brought up an interesting shaila in his shiur on Monday that an IDF soldier asked him regarding Chanukah.
“Someone came from the army and asked a shaila,” Rav Zilberstein began. “He’s stationed in Gaza and he doesn’t have oil to light Chanuka candles. He asked if he could take oil from the tank and light in some house or room he’s sleeping in in Gaza. I told him that he can since he’s taking a small amount of oil that’s worth only a few prutos and the IDF is happy for him to light Chanukah candles.”
However, after addressing the shaila of whether the soldier can use oil from the IDF tank, Rav Zilberstein then surprised his listeners by paskening that IDF soldiers cannot light Chanukah candles in Gaza. “The truth is it that seems that someone who’s in Gaza, at a time when terrorists could crawl [out of tunnels] on them at any moment, is exempt from Ner Chaukah. It’s not considered a home even if he sleeps there. I told him that I think that he doesn’t fulfill his obligation [by lighting in Gaza]. Only his wife or a sh’liach at home can light for him. He can’t light there.”
“He’s in a situation of war,” HaRav Zilberstein explained. “He doesn’t have the yishuv ha’da’as to light there as he’s on edge there and frightened – every moment there is sakanos nefashos. The terrorists crawl there underground, they’re evil animals. In my humble opinion, it’s a difficult shaila if you can light in a room in Gaza. Ner Chanuka is lit in order to thank and praise Hashem and someone in Gaza is not in a situation of thanking and praising but is in a situation of danger, of asking for rachamim that he and his friends remain alive. If he wants, he can light without a bracha, but lighting with a bracha is not allowed since he’s in a makom sakanah.”
HaRav Zilberstein concluded his words by saying that “we should take advantage of this time since it’s a time of nissim and many nissim can happen. And it’s explained in the Poskim that during Chanukah, it’s permitted to daven for open miracles. Just like our ancestors were zocheh to nissim in those days, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu can perform nissim and wonders for us during these days.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
he says 2 distinct svaros:
-It’s not considered a home even if he sleeps there.
-someone in Gaza is not in a situation of thanking and praising but is in a situation of danger.
Both are big chiddushim. He doesn’t own the building. So how could it be considered his home? And if he does, then how does danger stop it from being his home?
Second svara: The gemara says that beshas hasakan you light on the table. The rishonim say it’s not referring to sakanas nefashos, but they don’t say that is there’s sakanas nefashos you can’t light at all. [but it’s different, because there if they don’t light they’re not in a sakana, so maybe the danger isn’t contradictory to them thanking hashem, if they do opt to light. But here where they’re in constant fear, gratitude isn’t on their agenda.]
Yehi ratzon that Rav Zilbershtein’s words be fulfilled and we should see OPEN MIRACLES this Chanuka!
What about the Holocaust yid that died to light candles did he make a brochah
lighting with a bracha is not allowed since he’s in a makom sakanah.”
Would he have told that to the people who lit chanukah lights — with a bracha — in Auschwitz?!