Shemash candle
Question
When lightning the chanukillah candles. Do we light first the shemasch. Even though it is an oil candle? Or do we light the shemash at the end.
Answer
Shalom!
Thank you for your question.
Whether one uses cups of oil or wax candles for the Chanuka menorah, the actual lights should always be lit with a shamash wax candle.
As it is not really possible to have an oil shamash, as it is not possible to tilt a cup of burning oil to lights the candles/oil cups of a menorah, a wax candle shamash is used even when lighting a menorah consisting of cups of oil. When using an oil-cup menorah, some people prepare a symbolic “shamash” oil cup and light it, also with the wax candle, after lighting the other candles . According to this approach, the entire menorah will appear the same, namely, every light being fueled by oil, including the symbolic shamash.
Some people keep the wax candle they used to light the oil cups and use it as the one and only shamash. According to this approach, the wax candle is placed on the menorah in the “shamash spot” after lighting the menorah even though the rest of the lights on the menora are from oil.
In all instances, the shamash is to be placed at a recognizable distance or distinct position from the rest of the candles. In most families, the shamash is placed at a higher point than the rest of the candles.
It is best not to use a match when lighting the menorah, but rather, a shamash candle is always to be used. Every menora should have its own shamash.
The shamash candle is the first candle to be lit and it should be lit before one begins reciting the blessings. It may be extinguished if need be after 30 minutes past nightfall even if one did not perform a stipulation to do so prior to lighting the candles.