Gazing at the Chanukah Lecht
The Chavas Ya’ir ('ב ב"תרע חיים מקור הגהות) writes, “In my opinion, the essential part of the mitzvah is that the one who lit the lecht should stay near the lecht for a half hour and look at them and be happy with them.” The Yeitav Panim writes, “The minhag in Klal Yisrael is to sit and gaze at the lecht. This draws down the miracles of Chanukah.”
The brachos and the lighting of the Chanukah lecht can be done relatively quickly, but many spend half an hour looking at the Chanukah lecht, praying and praising Hashem. The Yismach Yisrael zt’l said that those who have pure eyes can see Hashem’s name ה“הוי shining on the Chanukah lecht.
It states (Bamidbar 21:8), על אותו ושים שרף לך עשה וחי אותו וראה הנשוך כל והיה נס. This pasuk hints to the brachos of Chanukah. שרף is a hint at the brachah, חנוכה נר להדליק, because שרף means to burn. נס על אותו ושים is the brachah ניסים שעשה לאבותינו. And וחי hints at שהחיינו. Literally, the pasuk means, “Make a snake, place it on a staff, and whoever was bitten will see it and live.” For Chanukah, we can explain that if someone was bitten by the snake, the yetzer hara, the solution is to gaze at the Chanukah lecht, וחי אותו וראה, and he will become like a new person.
