Lighting The Menorah Right To Left

How to light the menorah.

Lighting the menorah right to left.

Then hold it in your right hand unless you are left handed. Light right to left but left to right there are eight candles to light. The shammash candle is always the first one lit and is used to light the others starting with the left most one. On the third night load the first then the second then the third.

Fill the unlit oil or place the unlit candles in the chanukiyah as you face it from right to left. On the following night add a second light to the left of the first one and then add one light each night of chanukah moving from right to left. Candles should be lit from left to right each night. On the first night set one candle to the far right of the menorah.

So on the first day of hanukkah you place one candle at the far right of the line of eight. Light the shamash candle. Then put the shamash back in its spot leaving it lit. Every day after that you add.

Think of it as lighting the candle representing the newest night first. The other candles are then lit on each night from left to right as you face the menorah. You are however correct that once the shamash is lit you should then light the other candles on the menorah from right to left. On the first night you place a candle on the far right of the menorah.

On the first night of hanukkah place a candle in the holder on the far right and light it with the shamash. The other candles should not be lit directly with the match. The candles are placed in the menorah from right to left just as hebrew is written from right to left but are lit from left to right. The correct way to set the candles in a hanukkiah is from right to left.

While the many halachic authorities debate the order of lighting the menorah no one says that it has to face a specific way when seen. On the second night load the first candle and then the second immediately to the left of it. The shamash candle goes in the center of the menorah in the raised candle holder. The candles are placed in the menorah from right to left as you face the menorah.

The talmud shabbat 24a only stresses that when lighting you should start from the left and move right. When you light the candles the shamash is the first candle to be lit. Light the shamash and while holding this candle say the blessings see below. Once they are lit the order of the candles and their specific spot in the menorah is not important.

On the first night of hanukkah load a single candle into the candle holder that is furthest to the right when facing the menorah.