The light of Chanukah follows us out the door
There is a fascinating halacha about lighting Chanukah candles. When the menorah is placed at the entrance of the home, as was originally done, it is positioned on the side opposite the mezuzah. The Gemara (Shabbos 22a) explains that in this way a person is “surrounded by mitzvos,” walking through a doorway framed by kedusha on both sides.
But here is what is puzzling about this halacha. The mezuzah is always placed on the right side when entering a home, so positioning the menorah opposite it means that the Chanukah candles are on the left as one walks in. Chazal consistently associate the right side with strength and primacy (Yoma 15b), while the left is associated with restraint and limitation (Zohar I:17a). Why, then, would a mitzvah that celebrates light, victory, and spiritual triumph be placed specifically on the less dominant side?
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach offers a beautiful answer. The confusion, he explains, comes from assuming that a doorway only functions in one direction, as a point of entry. In reality, a doorway works both ways. We do not only enter our homes. We also leave them.
When entering the house, the mezuzah is on the right and the menorah appears to be on the left. But when leaving the house, the picture reverses completely. Now the Chanukah candles are on the right, and the mezuzah is on the left.
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The menorah was never meant to be understood as a “left-side” mitzvah at all. It is positioned so that as a person steps out into the world, the light stands on the right, accompanying that moment of transition from the protected space of home into the wider world.
This distinction reflects the different roles these two mitzvos play. The mezuzah represents the kedusha of the home itself. The Rambam writes that the mezuzah is meant to awaken a person from routine and habit, reminding them of Hashem’s oneness and their love for Him, and guiding them back toward awareness and proper conduct (Hilchos Mezuzah 6:13).
The Chanukah candles, by contrast, are about pirsumei nisa, publicizing the miracle. The Gemara rules that they are lit facing outward, “ad shetichleh regel min hashuk,” until foot traffic ceases from the marketplace (Shabbos 21b). These lights are not meant to remain contained within the home. They are meant to be seen. They are meant to illuminate the outside world.
This tension between home and world is one of the great challenges of Jewish life. Psychologists have long observed how people often develop separate identities for different contexts. There is a “home self” and a “public self.” For some, religion becomes something private, practiced sincerely at home but muted in the public sphere. For others, religious behavior is shaped by social pressure, displayed outwardly but not carried back into the privacy of one’s inner life.
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There was a well-known case of a university ethics professor who was caught engaging in unethical conduct. When confronted about the gap between what he taught and how he lived, his response was startling. “If I were a geometry professor,” he said, “would I be expected to be a triangle? I teach geometry. I teach about triangles. I am an ethics professor. I teach ethics. That has nothing to do with me personally.”
Judaism fundamentally rejects that mindset. When we enter the home, the mezuzah reminds us that this space is built on Torah. When we leave, the Chanukah candles remind us that what we build inside must accompany us outside. Kedusha does not stop at the door. We are meant to be the same person in private and in public.
This Chanukah, as we light the menorah, we can ask ourselves honest and uncomfortable questions. Does the honesty we practice with our families govern our business dealings? Does the kindness we show at our Shabbos table extend to the stranger we meet on the street? And just as importantly, does the integrity we display in public penetrate our private moments as well?
Do I bring the same presence and sincerity to saying Shema alone at night as I do when I am standing before the amud in shul?
Judaism demands consistency. When we enter the home, the mezuzah is dominant, grounding us in kedusha. When we step outside, the Chanukah candles become dominant, calling on us to carry that kedusha into the marketplace.
May we merit to live truly surrounded by mitzvos, our light steady and sincere, both inside our homes and out in the world.
Wishing everyone a freilichen Chanukah.
Rabbi Benny Berlin is spiritual leader of BACH Jewish Center in Long Beach (bachlongbeach.com). Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
