Eating a Meal
16. Once the time to light Chanukah candles arrives, one may not eat a meal before he lights. If one began a meal, he must stop until he fulfills the mitzvah (מ"ב סי' תרע"ב סק"י ). He should not eat in the half hour before the zman either (שעה"צ סקי"ד ).
17. The issur is to eat more than a kebeitzah [Chazon Ish – 100 grams; Rav Chaim Na’eh – 57 grams] of bread (שו"ע סי' רל"ב ס"ג ) or pas haba’ah b’kisnin (מסגרת השלחן על קצוש"ע סי' ס"ט סק"ב ). One may not drink alcoholic beverages either. One may eat fruit or drink non-alcoholic beverages in any quantity. One may also eat a cooked food item made from one of the five grains if he does not eat it as a meal (מ"ב סי' רל"ב ס"ג ).
18. Women. The minhag is that women also stop eating before their husbands light Chanukah candles (שו"ת בצל החכמה ח"ד סי' נ"ח, הגרשז"א, הליכות שלמה חנוכה פט"ז ס"ג ). In a case of some sort of need, a woman may rely on the poskim who hold that since she does not light herself, there is no issur for her to eat (הג' נחלת צבי יו"ד סי' רס"ב ס"א, הגר"ש וואזנר, הגריש"א ).
19. Yeshiva bochur in another city. A yeshiva bochur who went to his parents’ house in another city in the afternoon to be with them for their lighting and mesibah but plans to light in yeshiva after returning there at night may not eat a meal with his family. Although he will light in a different city, he has not yet fulfilled his mitzvah (הגר”ש וואזנר, קובץ מבית לוי ח"י עמ' כ"ב ).
