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    CHANUKAH QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

    Can a person who is
    invited on Chanukah
    to a wedding eat at
    the wedding before
    they light candles in
    their house?
    The right thing to do is light candles
    at the proper time in your house and
    then go to the wedding. If the wedding
    starts before one is allowed to light
    candles, which is plag hamincha,

    you cannot light the candles. If you
    light before plag hamincha and then
    you’re home at the right time, then
    you can light them at the right time
    even though you already lit them
    before. However, you should not
    say a bracha again. What happens
    if you are invited to a wedding or
    a party and you have to leave your
    home before the plag, but you’re
    only going to get back late at night?
    This is the most common question
    I get. For example: People are going
    from Brooklyn to Lakewood. If they
    leave after the proper time to light
    the Chanukah candles, they’ll arrive
    too late to the chasuna. If they light
    before they leave for the wedding,
    then they will be lighting too early.
    You can’t light the candles early. If
    they have a choice, I tell them to light
    the candles only when they get back.

    There are two conditions to be met in
    order to do this right: #1- Appoint
    someone to remind them that they
    have to light the candles. #2- When
    they come back from their party they
    should be careful to not just light the
    candles by themselves, rather they
    should have another person in the
    room with them.

    Can one use olive oil that does
    not have a hechsher to light their
    Chanukah candles, since one does
    not eat it?
    The Chanukah oil should preferably
    be kosher. Another thing I would
    add is that all extra virgin olive oil is
    kosher, even if it doesn’t have a kosher
    certification. So if you just buy extra
    virgin olive oil to light your candles,
    you don’t have a problem.

    Do bakeries need to be mafrish
    challah when they make donuts
    and at what point do they do that?
    When do you mafrish? When it’s a
    liquid or a solid?
    One does not need to mafrish with
    doughnuts because they are not
    baked; they’re boiled. Anything that
    is boiled, even if it’s bread, doesn’t
    need anything taken off.