[Avodah] women lighting candles

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

Regarding MB 675:9, I wrote:
> I find it particularly noteworthy that he invokes the
> concept of "mitzvos aseh shehazman grama" and the
> (Ashkenazi) psak that women  *do* say the brachos on
> such mitzvos. This seems to contradict his own admission
> that women *are* obligated on their own.

R"n Toby Katz responded:
> It seems to me exactly the same as saying kiddush on
> Shabbos. I don't see where your problem is or why you
> think there is a contradiction in the MB. ... A woman can
> either be yotzei with her husband's kiddush on Shabbos or
> she can make her own if she doesn't want to wait until he
> comes home from shul.

I have read RTK's post several times, and have discarded several drafts of my comments.

At one point, this is what I had *wanted* to write:
> But Kiddush isn't a mitzvas aseh shehazman grama, and the
> MB said that Ner Chanukah *IS* like a mitzvas aseh
> shehazman grama. THAT's the contradiction. Comparing Ner
> Chanuka to Kiddush is an error; a better comparison would
> be Ner Chanuka and Lulav.

First I took that draft, and then reversed the logic, and discarded that too. I finally realized that the problem is where the MB says that Ner Chanukah is LIKE OTHER mitzvos aseh shehazman grama (henceforth: MASG).

Both words ("like" and "other") are problematic. The word "like" is ambiguous - is it a MASG or not? And saying "other" seems to say that it *is* in that category. Yet the situation of not having a husband to light makes it very clear that there is no room for leniency: she *does* have to light on her own.

I suppose I should rephrase my question. Instead of framing it as a contradiction, I should ask, "What on earth was the MB thinking? What did he mean when he wrote that Ner Chanukah 'is like other MASG'? It is NOT like MASG in any way!!! It is EXACTLY like Kiddush, which l'halacha all women are totally obligated in, yet l'maaseh some/many/most are yotzay via their husbands."

Akiva Miller

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