Oil Leftover From Menorah

Halacha Moment
Dec 5, 2021
2 min read

Updated: Dec 16, 2024

The Daily Halacha Moment - Leftover Oil 🕯

״כל השונה הלכות בכל יום - מובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא״ (נידה עג ע״א, מגילה כח:)

“Anyone who studies Halachot every day is guaranteed that he is destined for the world-to-come” (Megilla 28b, Niddah 73a)

Question:

What should one do with the leftover oil from Chanukah?

Answer:

One should make a condition before kindling the lights on Chanukah that he is designating the oil only for the required thirty minutes, and he is permitted to make personal use of it afterwards. [1] If one did not make such a stipulation, the remaining unused oil should be burned in a way that would prevent one from deriving benefit, as it was originally designated for a mitzvah.[2] The same applies to used wicks and leftover wax from the candles.[3]

Oil that was poured into the menorah for use but was not consumed may be used for another night of Chanukah. [4]. One may not use the extra oil for a different mitzvah, such as lighting the Shabbat lights. [5]

The leftover oil should not be kept from one year to another, and must be destroyed after Chanukah. This is because one may inadvertently use it during the year. [6]

The above halachot only apply if the oil was placed in the menorah and was lit. However, if one purchased a bottle of oil for the Chanukah lights, the leftover oil remaining in the bottle may be used for whatever purpose he desires. [7]

Adapted From R' Yonatan Nacsons "Laws Of The Holidays"

Sources:

[1]. Chazon Ovadia, Chanukah, p. 164; Yalkut Yosef, Chanukah, p. 513, 14

[2]. Shulchan Aruch 677 §4; Chazon Ovadia, Chanukah, p. 160.

[3]. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 139:20; Ashrei HaIsh, vol. 3, p. 239.

[4]. Mishnah Berurah §17; Torat HaMoadim, Chanukah, p. 126.

[5]. Chazon Ovadia, Chanukah, pages 166–167, in the footnotes; Yalkut Yosef, Chanukah, p. 515. This is unlike Moed LeChol Chai 27:62.

[6]. Magen Avraham §11; Mishnah Berurah §19.

[7]. Magen Avraham_ 573:8; Biur Halachah, “HaTzarich”; Shevet HaLevi 1:188; Chazon Ovadia, Chanukah, p. 167; Yalkut Yosef, Chanukah, p. 513; Torat HaMoadim, Chanukah, p. 129. The same is true for oil that was poured into the menorah but was not used.

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