Chanukah Candles, Then Shabbos Candles
8. On Erev Shabbos, the Chanukah candles are lit before the Shabbos candles. The brachos are made as usual even though the candles are lit during the day (שו"ע סי' תרע"ט ורמ"א ). They must be lit after plag [75 minutes before shekiyah] (מ"ב סק"ב ). It is better to light closer to shekiyah rather than closer to plag (ביאור הגר"א ). Thus, the husband should light the Chanukah candles a few minutes before the zman for the Shabbos candles, each place according to its minhag, and then the wife should light the Shabbos candles right afterward (אג"מ או"ח ח"ד סי' ס"ב ). The reason for this is because the husband lights on behalf of his wife; thus, he should lechatchila light the Chanukah candles before she takes in Shabbos (שו"ת בנין שלמה סי' נ"ג ).
9. If it is getting late, the wife can light Shabbos candles before her husband lights Chanukah candles. She is yotzei when he lights even though she already accepted Shabbos. It is best if she lights the Shabbos candles right after her husband lights one Chanukah candle. This way, she fulfills her basic mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles before she lights Shabbos candles. Then, the husband should light the rest of the Chanukah candles (בן איש חי פ' וישב ).
10. Minhag Yerushalayim. The minhag of Yerushalayim is to light Shabbos candles 40 minutes before shekiyah (ספר א"י להגימ"ט עמ' כ"ו, שו"ת משנת יוסף ח"ד סי' ל"ג ). Some poskim say this also applies on Erev Shabbos Chanukah. The Chanukah candles are lit beforehand, but after plag (מועדים וזמנים ח"ב סי' קנ"ב בשם וותיקי ירושלים, היכל הוראה ח"ב הוראה ק' ). Others say on this Shabbos, the Chanukah candles are lit 25 minutes before shekiyah, immediately followed by the Shabbos candles (לוח א"י להגרימ"ט, מועדים וזמנים שם ). There is no need for hataras nedorim since when one originally undertook the 40-minute chumra, it was not for Shabbos Chanukah.
Davening Minchah Before Lighting
11. On Erev Shabbos, one should lechatchila daven Minchah before lighting (מ"ב סי' תרע"ט סק"ב בשם הפמ"ג סי' תרע"א א"א סק"י ); otherwise, it looks somewhat inconsistent (שעה"צ סק"ז ). One can daven at minchah gedolah. Chasidim who prefer to daven after minchah ketanah and in Shabbos clothes should schedule Minchah in the beis medrash earlier than usual and go home afterward to light Chanukah candles.
12. A word of advice. It is also advisable to daven Minchah earlier from a practical standpoint. Many people plan to light first and then daven Minchah with a minyan but due to their extensive preparations for this lofty Shabbos Chanukah, they get delayed and end up davening Minchah alone or in the ezras nashim of the shul while the minyan is up to Lechah Dodi or later. The wise person anticipates potential outcomes and plans accordingly. Especially when one is going away for Shabbos, experience shows he will end up davening Minchah alone if he gets delayed or leaves at the last minute and did not daven in advance.
13. Still, many people daven Minchah after lighting Chanukah candles. They have poskim to rely on, as stated in the Siddur HaShelah (א"ר ). This is certainly true when one lights his Chanukah candles very close to shekiyah; in such a case, there is no inconsistency involving Minchah, lighting, and accepting Shabbos since he is lighting when Chazal said to light and has no option to light later (שעה”צ שם ).
Candles Must Burn Until Half an Hour after Tzeis
14. On Erev Shabbos, one must make sure to put enough oil in his menorah for the candles to burn until at least half an hour after tzeis hakochavim (מ"ב סי' תרע"ט סק"ב ).
15. Children who light wax candles must also make sure they will burn until half an hour after tzeis. In general, the standard, colorful wax Chanukah candles only burn for half an hour from when they are lit. Thus, one must use longer candles on Erev Shabbos so his brachah is not levatalah. At least one candle [the first one to be lit (כף החיים סק"ו )] should be long enough to burn for the requisite amount of time (מ"ב שם, הגר"ש וואזנר, קובץ מבית לוי ח"י עמ' כ' ).
