[Avodah] Al petach beito mibachutz

[David Cohen]

R' Mordechai Torczyner wrote:
> Since we say hadlakah oseh mitzvah, the menorah must be able to last
> the proper length of time at the moment I light it, but with the cover raised
> the menorah could not last the requisite time!

For a number of reasons (possibly including the one above), I tend to
agree that what Chazal had in mind was not lighting in glass cases.
The question, though, is what they did have in mind, given that the
only reasons given why one might light inside are "dar ba-`aliyah" and
"sakanah," with no mention of the wind.

Is there anywhere in Eretz Yisrael where the weather is such that one
can be nearly certain that exposed candles will stay lit for half an
hour?  Does anybody on the list (either in EY or elsewhere) light
outside without a glass case and have the candles successfully stay
lit?

The only answer I can think of (though I wouldn't actually act on it)
is that when the amora'im addressed the issue of relighting an
extinguished candle (kavesah, zakuk lah / eino zakuk lah), it was a
fairly regular occurence.  This would mean that either the chumrah
mentioned by RMT is not, in fact, a correct inference from "hadlakah
`oseh mitsvah," or that the standard is somewhat lower than 100%
certainty -- perhaps it would suffice for there to be a 50% chance
that it will stay lit.

--D.C.