If You Were Stuck on a Desert Island With Only One Chanukah Sefer – Which Would it Be?

by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

There is a famous question that seforim-owners are often asked: Other than a Tanach with Rashi, a Siddur, a Mishna Brurah, and a Shas, if you were stuck on a desert island with one series of Seforim which one would it be?

Sukkas Chaim, by Rabbi Simcha Bunim Londinsky shlita, is probably one of the most interesting and eclectic works of halacha in contemporary times and is a good candidate for an answer.  And just in time for Chanukah, the newly annotated two volume edition on Chanukah is now available.  Since most people would be more interested in Volume II, we will begin with that volume.

The second volume has some three parts to it:

1. an analysis of virtually every shailah that a person can have on Chanukah. Not short answers, but meaty enough to deal with sugya.
2. The second part of Volume II has hundreds of shailos that were posed to the leading gedolim of Klal Yisroel.

Four from Rav Vozner zt”l:

• Your wife and kids aren’t there and the time has come to light.. What do you do? (Rav Nissim Karelitz zt”l also agreed)
• You came home late, all are asleep. Can you make a bracha without waking them?
• What’s better – lighting at plag mincha earlier or having a shliach light on time?
• Same as above but with a third option of lighting very very late when you get home?

From Rav Nissim Karelitz zt”l

• If a child is becoming Bar Mitzvah on Chanukah, should he light at the correct zman or should he wait until Tzais HaKochavim?
• If a person is lighting in Eretz Yisroel and he didn’t prep his Chanukah Menorah in time, and by the time he would do so – the Zman would have passed – what should he do?
• Its Chatzos, and he didn’t Daven Maariv yet. Should he light Chanukah licht first or should he first daven Maariv?

From Rav Sraya Davlitsky zt”l

• Liquid other oil or hydrogenated olive oil?
• Real silver menorah or a gold plated one?

Forty answers to questions posed to Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l

Thirty nine answers to questions posed to Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl shlita, formerly a RaM in Mir (and now at Netiv Meir and Yeshivat HaKosel) and the Chevrusa of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l

A number of answers from Rav Meir Tzvi Bergmann shlita

A number of answers presented from Rav Dovid Soloveitchik zt”l

A number of answers from Rav Shlesinger of the Eida HaChareidis

3. And finally a number of answers from Rav Londinski himself – a formidable Posaik and Moreh Horaah in his own right.
4. Now getting to Volume I, Rav Londinski provides an analysis of the Gemorahs themselves that deal with Chanukah, and an analysis of the pertinent rishonim and acharonim. The end result of learning both volumes is that the reader gets a full grasp of the underlying aspects of Chanukah.

The reviewer can be reached at [email protected]