[Avodah] Can One Use Candles and Oil in the Same Menorah at the Same Time?

[Prof. L. Levine]

>From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis


Q. I realize that I am almost out of olive oil and I don’t have time to go shopping. Is it better to light one candle with olive oil, and the remainder with wax, or it is better to use wax for all the candles?

A. The Mishnah Berurah (673:2) writes that all the candles must be made from the same material. If the first candle is oil, the second one must be oil as well. If oil is not available, all candles should be wax. If the candles are dissimilar, it will appear as though half the candles were lit by one person and the others by someone else. The Mitzvah of Mehadrin min Ha’Mehadrin (lighting the amount of candles that correspond to the day) will not have been fulfilled. However, each person in the family can light a different type of candle. One can light all wax, and one can light all oil. The Beir Heitev (673:1) cites a disagreement as to whether one may use olive oil for one candle and other types of oil for the rest. Some view even a change in oil as a perceptible difference that would give the appearance that there are multiple people lighting. However, other poskim do not differentiate between types of oil. They even advocate using olive oil for the first candle and using less expensive oils for the rest if it is too expensive to purchase olive for all the candles.

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