Waxing About Oil

The Shevus Yaakov brings a proof from the Beis Yaakov (26). A woman whose husband died without offspring falls to yibum, to her husband’s brother. Nowadays, chalitzah is virtually always performed in place of yibum. It is a complicated ceremony which entails the widow removing the shoe of the brother-in-law. Once the ceremony is properly performed, the widow is free to remarry. We prefer that the ceremony be performed with the oldest living brother of the deceased. If he is unwilling or unavailable, any brother suffices.

Suppose beis din convened, and the chalitzah ceremony began with a younger brother. All of a sudden, the older brother walks in and wants to take the place of his younger brother. Do we “fire” the younger brother and replace him with the older brother? The Beis Yaakov says we do not. Once the ceremony has begun it is inappropriate to replace the brother who began the mitzvah with a different brother. True, initially there is a mitzvah to do chalitzah with an older brother, but once the chalitzah started we will not make changes. Similarly, the Shevus Yaakov argues, once someone set up his menorah with wax candles, he should not replace them in favor of oil.

The Chacham Tzvi disagrees and brings a proof from our daf (Shevuos 11b). A rare Parah Adumah was discovered and everything was done in preparation for its processing. As things were about to get under way, an unbelievable occurrence happened—a nicer specimen was discovered. The Gemara says we cast away the first animal without reservation and use the second, nicer animal instead. According to Rebbe Shimon, even after the first animal was slaughtered, we will still swap it out for a nicer one. We should perform every mitzvah in the nicest way possible even if it means removing designated candles from the menorah. It is better to light with olive oil than to use the candles that were already placed in the menorah.

The Aruch HaShulchan concludes that we should follow the Chacham Tzvi and swap out the wax candles. However, that is only until he began reciting the blessing over candle lighting. Once he says “Baruch Atah,” even without saying Hashem’s name, he should leave the wax candles in the menorah and use them.

Suppose someone follows the Shevus Yaakov’s opinion not to remove wax candles already placed in the menorah in favor of oil. It is the sixth night of Chanukah, and he set up three wax candles, and then olive oil is delivered. He will not remove the first three wax candles already placed in the menorah. Can he light three wax candles and three oil candles on the same menorah in fulfillment of the mitzvah? The Shaar Efraim says he fulfills his obligation but it is not considered fulfilling the mitzvah in a mehadrin fashion. This is due to the fact that the observer may wrongly conclude that two different people used that menorah. The observer might be confused and will not necessarily realize that the same person lit all six candles. While this may be a concern of mixing wax and oil, the Shevus Yaakov says one may mix different types of oils. He advises in a situation where olive oil is expensive that one light should be lit each night with olive oil and the rest of the lights should be lit with any other oil.

On a final note, Rav Shlomo Zalman, zt’l, said that someone who lights a wax-covered wick that is fueled by oil is still considered to be fulfilling the mitzvah in the choicest way possible. The wax merely aids the lighting and is not the primary source of fuel.