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<p>In Avodah Digest V26#254, RAR asked:<br>
> What does the panel think is preferable:<br>
<br>
1. using a candle as the shammas<br>
<br>
2. switching to the sefardi minhag of using another candle to light both the main lights and the shammas <<br>
and, in the subsequent digest, he wrote:<br>
> ...I was not asking<br>
what the strict halacha is. If the Ashkenazi minhag is to use the<br>
shammas to light the menorah then perhaps there is some importance in sticking with that minhag. <<br>
In older chanukiyos, the shamash was a separate k'li. To me, trying to force an oil shammash to light the neiros when it's no longer separate seems, literally, dachuq. <br>
<br>
I (and my kids) use a candle (handed from person to person) to light the neir(os) and then the shammash. Their chanukiyos use candles, mine (thanks to a gift many years ago from my bayis :)) uses oil. I believe that is RAR's option#2, but I had no idea that this way of doing things was "sefardi." Before I was married, my father a'h' and I used chanukiyos with candles, and each of us used the shammash candle to light the other neir(os). I believe that is akin to RAR's option#1 even though the shammash is using the same fuel as the neir(os). I don't believe that hataras n'darim is required to switch between options :). <br>
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Gut Chodesh & Chanukah and a guten Shabbes from<br>
--Michael Poppers via RIM pager</body></html>