In light of the fire in Boro park that left a child fighting for her life, and another fire which destroyed a home in Flatbush, Hagon Rav Yechezkel Roth Shlita (Karlsburg Rov) issued the following Psak Halacha regarding Chanukah Licht.
If someone is going to leave his home after lighting his Menorah, he should do so after thirty minutes from candle lighting and must extinguish the menorah after that. Do not leave a Menorah unattended for a minute.
THE FOLLOWING SAFETY TIPS WERE POSTED BY YWN BEFORE CHANUKAH
As Chanukah approaches, here are some important safety tips to ensure you have a happy and safe Chanukah:When lighting the Menorah:
• Never leave Chanukah candles unattended and never go to sleep while Chanukah candles are burning
• Place the menorah on a sturdy heat resistant surface away from anything that can catch fire including walls, curtains, cabinets, wooden and plastic tables, tablecloths, etc
• Light candles out of children’s reach and where they cannot be knocked over!
• Keep surfaces and surrounding areas clear from burned matches, wick trimmings, oil residue, and other debris
• Never light “school project” menorahs made from flammable materials (wood, plastic, paper, etc.)
When cooking Latkes:
• Keep small children away from hot oil and cooking areas
• Keep pot handles turned inward and away from the edge of the stove
• Use extra caution when carrying hot food around children
• Designate ovens, stoves and heat containing appliances as NO GO ZONES for children
• Keep hands, hair and sleeves away from open flame
• Never put water on a grease fire, use a fire extinguisher and call the Fire Dept. emergency number
• Treat burns immediately by cooling with cool water (not cold) and call your local emergency response number
Always remember:
• Supervise children at all times, especially around lit candles, flames, and hot appliances
• Have working smoke detectors
• Have/ and practice a family fire emergency escape plan with a designated family meeting area outside of house
• Proper fire safety planning and prevention can help keep you and your family safe
(Brought to you by Maccabee Aish, Inc. / Jewishfireprevention.org)
Ah Freilichen Chanukah!
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6 Responses
With all due respect to Rav Yechezkel Roth Shlita and his “Psak”, this advice is not new. It was mandated years ago by our previous generations’ Gedolim. When Chanukah parties started to become popular in the 1970’s, our poskim ZT”L said the exact same thing, “Wait thirty minutes, which is the חיוב of burning time, and put them out”!
A much needed psak. As much as people have said it in the past, people need a review. For kiddie menorahs, put corn candies instead of candles. they’re even more excited about that (unfortunately) if they are mature enough to accept a substitute menorah,of course that’s better.
to #1
whats brave about it?!?!?!
#3 – Candy Corn – that is such a novel idea!! My son last year in nursery made an interesting menorah – an orange juice carton sideways, covered with colored paper, with nine slits cut in it. Each ‘candles’ is a popsicle stick with the end painted red with some glitter on it.
I agree with eli lev, especially since the mitzvah of ner chanukka is completed after 30 minutes. Tonight (Friday), if you need to leave before the flames go out, make other arrangements before and light where you eat or be mishtateif with someone else. Ask a Rav for alternatives.
BS”D
What I did was to construct what looked like a parody of the court enforced winter wonderland scenes around some Chabad menorahs by pouring mountains of baking soda that surrounded my free standing prefilled vials (which sat on aluminum foil). This way if a light tipped or the vial broke, the flame would be extinguished by the baking soda. BH all went well in any case but my vials this year were cheap Chinese made schlock* and I did not want to take any chances.
* in keeping with my desire to see YWN maintain the highest standards I am using the G-rated Yiddish word for merchandise of this sort and not the more accurate PG-17 term.
Seriously, do NOT use prefilled oil vials which are made in China, even if they have a nice set of mehadrin hechsherim on them as mine did. Mine were not uniformly filled, tipped easily, and one was even broken and empty :(.
If you don’t want to fill them every day, get quality vials, perhaps from a medical supply house or medical lab, and fill each one and stick a premade wick in it before Chanukah. My local Judaica supplier did just that and sold them in sets but unfortunately I had my schlock before they started to sell theirs.