Good morning, everybody. As we all know, tonight is Shabbat Hanukkah. There are different laws involved for Shabbat Hanukkah. Number one, the Nerot Hanukkah (Hanukkah candles) have to last until a half hour after nightfall. This means that a person cannot use the regular small Hanukkah candles to light the menorah (Hanukkah lamp). Either you have to use Shabbat candles or oil, because if you make a cheshbon (calculation), we're going to light before candle lighting. We're going to light from 3.50. From 3.59, we're going to light; that's the earliest to light the menorah: 3.59. Candle lighting is 4.10. So, from 3.59—figure 4 o'clock—until a half hour after sundown. Sundown today is at 4.28, and a half hour later is approximately 5.26. So you need enough oil to burn from 3.59 to 5.26, at least, in order to fulfill the obligation. That's number one.
Number two, of course, we light the menorah before we light Nerot Shabbat (Shabbat candles), because when the woman lights Nerot Shabbat, we're afraid that we are Mekabel Shabbat. However, Maran tells us that accepting Shabbat does not go according to the candle lighting. The candle lighting in your home goes according to your Kavanah, your intent. Therefore, if a mistake happens and a woman lit the Shabbat candles, but the man didn't light Hanukkah yet, he is still allowed to light the Hanukkah candles because he did not accept Shabbat. Hacham Ovadia brings down an interesting case where a man and wife are both running a little bit late. The wife wants to light her candles, and he wants to light the Hanukkah candles, so he should light one candle. Make the Beracha (blessing), light one candle, then let his wife make the Beracha and light the Nerot Shabbat, and then go back and light the rest of the Hanukkah candles.
Also, tonight, everybody should pray Mincha before they light the menorah. Many Poskim (halachic decisors) believe that it is not correct to light candles and then go pray Mincha. It looks like it's a tartei de-satrei, like you're contradicting yourself. Right? Candle lighting is supposed to be at night, and you didn't even pray Mincha yet. So it's best to pray Mincha. There are minyanim (prayer quorums) early all over the neighborhood, in every shul (synagogue), in order to pray Mincha and then light the menorah. Of course, if you didn't do that, then light the menorah and run to shul and catch a minyan for Mincha. Shabbat Shalom. Have a good day.