Chanukka oh/r Channuka oh/r Chanuka oh/r Hanuka oh/r Hanukka oh/r Hannukka oh/r Chanukkah? Pick your favourite! We are in the middle of the festival, which despite its recency has accumulated a wide range of – not only ways to spell it – but also halachot (laws). The Talmud opens its answer to “What is Chanukka?” with “We do not fast or eulogize on it”. A few pages further into the Tractate, the Talmud discusses more laws pertaining to Chanukka, such as when or where to light. One of my favourite laws of Chanukka is that one only fulfils the mitzvah of Lighting the Chanukka candles with lighting, rather than placing them. It seems somewhat superfluous, but the Sages were very concerned about the correct fulfilment of the commandment. A central idea that led the Sages when establishing those laws was the concept of Publicising the Miracle . In that vein, they also established that any benefitting from the light of the candles is prohibited – the light can only be used for pub