2020/5781
Electricity for Chanukah Lights
There is a very strong consensus forbidding the use of electricity for Chanukah lights. Posekim over the past centuries have offered a wide variety of reasons why electric lights are not suitable for Chanukah lighting. Rav Faitel Levin’s essay in Techumin (9:317–340) presents a very thorough review of the many approaches.
A Torch
Rav Eliezer Waldenberg (Teshuvot Tzitz Eliezer 1:20:12) questions whether an incandescent bulb may be used for Chanukah since its filament is shaped like an arc rather than a straight wick. Thus, an electric bulb resembles a torch, whereas Chanukah candles must contain one single wick each (see Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 671:4). The Kaf Hachaim (O.C. 673:19) similarly writes that a light bulb constitutes a torch because the entire bulb lights up.
Resembling the Original Menorah
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Me’orei Eish 5:2) and Rav Ovadia Yosef (Teshuvot Yabia Omer, O.C. 3:35, and Teshuvot Yechaveh Da’at 4:38) contend that electric lights, though they meet the Halachic definition of fire, differ significantly from the Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash (Temple), which Chanukah candles should commemorate (Ramban (BeMidbar 8:2) and Ba’al HaMa’or, Shabbat 9a in Rif’s pages, develop the idea that Chanukah candles commemorate the lights that the Kohanim lit in the Temple). They note that electric lights contain a glowing filament but lack an actual flame, a key element of the lights in the Beit HaMikdash (see Rashi, BeMidbar 8:2). Moreover, conventional candles contain both a wick and a fuel source.
Dr. Joel Berman further notes that, from a scientific perspective, candles and electric bulbs generate light in different manners. Regarding candles, a chemical process of oxidation produces light. A filament, on the other hand, produces light through black body radiation, a process that involves no chemical change.
Though wax candles do not precisely correspond to the lights in the Beit HaMikdash (which burned olive oil), they may nonetheless be used on Chanukah because they include the basic structure of a wick and fuel. Incandescent bulbs, by contrast, clearly lack a combustible fuel source to parallel oil. Rav Ovadia even questions whether the filament parallels a wick.
The Fuel Source
Rav Shlomo Zalman further comments that electric lights lack the required amount of fuel to last at least one half-hour (see Shulchan Aruch, O.C. 672:2). They continue to burn only because they receive more power from an outside source (via power lines), whereas a candle’s wick consumes adjacent oil or wax. One might overcome this obstacle by using a flashlight or a battery-operated Menorah.
Publicizing the Miracle
Rama (O.C. 571:7) writes that one should not light Chanukah candles in the same location where one lights ordinary candles during the year, because candles in their regular location do not stand out and therefore fail to publicize the miracle of Chanukah. Based on Rama's position, Rav Yitzchak Shmelkes (Teshuvot Beit Yitzchak, Yoreh Deah 1:120) objects to using electric lights for Chanukah candles. Rav Shmelkes argues that electric lights fail to publicize the miracle because people use them frequently. However, Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yechaveh Da’at 4:38) and Rav Gavriel Zinner (Nitei Gavriel, Hilchot Chanukah 18:23, note 35 in the revised edition) comment that Rav Schmelkes' objection should not apply to electric Menorahs that were clearly built specifically for Chanukah.
Someone Unable to Light Chanukah Candles
Rav Chaim David HaLevi (Aseih Lecha Rav 6:57) writes that one who cannot light Chanukah candles (such as an airplane passenger or hospital patient) should light a flashlight without reciting a Berachah (they may also shine the light in their smartphones for a half an hour). Rav Yosef Shalom Eliashiv (cited in Mitzvat Ner Ish U’Veito 7:12, note 27), though, questions the very idea of lighting Chanukah candles in an airplane, because flights end quickly enough that the airplane cannot be considered a residence. [1]
The Israel Defense Forces’ Siddur (p. 693) similarly advises that soldiers who find themselves in situations where they cannot light proper Chanukah candles should turn on their flashlights outside their doors without reciting a Berachah. If the opportunity to light oil or wax candles presents itself later, Rav HaLevi and Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yechaveh Da’at 4:38) require doing so with the appropriate Berachot.
It is interesting to note, though, that Rav Ovadia Yosef is generally known for his staunch opposition to risking the recitation of a Berachah in vain even when the slightest concerns exist. Nevertheless, he rules that a Berachah should be recited in this case, assuming the view of those Poskim who permitted the use of electric Menorahs has been rejected.
Conclusion
For a myriad of reasons, the overwhelming majority of Halachic authorities object to lighting electric Menorahs as Chanukah candles. Nevertheless, one who lacks any access to proper candles whatsoever, such as an airplane passenger, a hospital patient, or an active soldier, should light an incandescent Menorah—or even a flashlight—without reciting a Berachah. One should consult a competent Rav regarding such situations in order to determine in each case whether it is preferable to light a flashlight in their current location or to have someone else light proper candles on their behalf in their regular home, or both.
[1] See Contemporary Halakhic Problems (3:54–58) for a summary of the various opinions concerning whether an airplane passenger is obligated to light Chanukah candles.