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ONCE again your columnist Rabbi Chaim Kanterovitz, whom I admire greatly
for his attempts to bring knowledge to the religiously challenged
such as myself, has left me with a troubled mind.
The question which was posed was: Is it correct that Chanucah candles must be in a straight line and of equal height? I can see the logic of the equal height which is, I presume, that they should all burn out together. But in a straight line? And, if I am not mistaken, he adds that this applies even if they are in a zigzag formation! In my earlier years, I had quite a religious upbringing and attended a cheder quite regularly until our teacher suffered a nervous breakdown after asking who the Philistines were. One of the class answered that they ran the hardware shop in the main street. You can imagine the hoots of laughter from the other boys in the class! It was a piece of crass stupidity. We all knew that the Philistines had retired from their shop months ago. Despite a fairly decent Jewish upbringing, I had never heard of the straight line rule before Rabbi Kanterovitz mentioned it in his column, and I am perturbed because I have on many Chanucahs used a curved menorah. Mind you, I thought there was something dicey about the one I brought at a car boot sale from a gentleman in a turban. Perhaps this would be a good time to pose a question that has puzzled me for years - is it correct in a large family of boys to give each one his own menorah? My reason for asking is that, as a doctor, at one time I had such a patient. He had a family of eight boys and two girls, and each boy had his own set of candles. I was called out to see one of them who was complaining of severe pain. When he opened the door I saw that he had two long tables, one on each side of the hall. I felt as if I was walking down the flight path of an aeroplane! I had gone into the house pale after a stressful afternoon, but came out with a glorious tan. However, forewarned is forearmed. I never entered that house again on Chanucah without dark glasses, tan lotion and fire insurance. Dr M I Dinerstein,
E-MAIL: letters@jewishtelegraph.com
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