Q&A: Until Foot Traffic Ceases from the Marketplace
Until Foot Traffic Ceases from the Marketplace
Question
I saw that you wrote here somewhere (I don’t remember exactly where) that nowadays foot traffic in the marketplace dies down much later, and therefore one may, ab initio, light later as well. My question is whether you apply that also to the Talmud’s second answer (according to Rashi’s understanding). That is, when the Talmud says that this expression was stated regarding the required amount of oil, are you essentially requiring an amount of oil that would last about four hours (or maybe even more)? I can think of other practical ramifications too, and I assume there are more. The question is really how far you take your claim.
Answer
This is not something original to me. Quite a few halakhic decisors have already written this.
As for the measure, I was already asked about that. My answer was that I don’t think one needs to use a larger measure of oil. There is no proof, and certainly no necessity, to say that the Sages would have required putting in ten times as much oil had they known our present situation. An amount sufficient for half an hour seemed reasonable to them. Therefore, it is more likely that even today they would say to use an amount for half an hour, so that enough passersby will see the candle, even if it does not last until the very end of the time.