The Rambam (Laws of Hanukkah 4:5) writes that one is to light the candles at sunset, but if one did not manage to light at sunset then one can light until people finish returning from the market which is around a half hour after sunset. (This time limit of a half an hour comes from the Rif, 1013-1103.) This is the simple reading of the Talmud.
On the other hand, due to Rabbenu Tam’s new definition of when is sunset and ben ha-shemashot (see Arukh Hashulchan 672:4), the Tur (1275-1340, Orah Chayyim, 672) writes that one lights at the end of the sunset, which is usually understood to be when the stars come out, tsetz ha-cochavim, see Mishnah Berurah 672:1. According to Rabbenu Tam’s definitions of sunset and ben ha-shemashot, this would be 72 minutes after sunset. The Shulchan Arukh (672:1) follows the Tur and not the Rambam.
However, by lighting Shabbat candles, the Tur (261) seems to follow the Rambam’s definition of sunset, which is when the sun goes sunder the horizon. The Arukh Hashulchan notes (261:8,672:4) that the common practice in his times is to follow the Rambam’s definition of sunset by lighting Shabbat candles by or prior to sunset but to follow the Tur’s opinion with regard to Hanukkah candles to light when the stars come out. My impression is that in the 21st century this is still the common practice, but most people do not wait 72 minutes after sunset to light Hanukkah candles but rather around twenty minutes after sunset. Why did the Tur follow Rabbenu Tam’s definition of sunset by Hanukkah candles?
Maybe (see Bach, 1561-1640, Poland, on the Tur 672) the Tur’s opinion to light the candles when the stars come out is because this is when the candles will be most visible since by sunset there is still a lot of sunlight. The Rambam would then have to argue that either it is sufficiently dark by sunset to see the lights and/ or that people did not return from the market after the stars come out because it was too dark. According to this latter possibility, one could not light when the stars come out even if it made the lights more visible since there were no people outside to see the lights, and hence one could only light at sunset and the period following sunset.
A different possibility is that the Tur believes that people are still returning from the market even after the stars come out, and then the argument could be about the life style of the people in the time of the Talmud, when did they return from the market, after sunset or after the stars come out? Or, maybe, in the times of the Talmud people returned from the market after sunset and not when the stars came out (like the Rambam), but by the (end of the?) Middle Ages, people went out later in the dark than in the times of the Talmud. Accordingly, the Tur and the Shulchan Arukh would say to light when the stars come out because then the lights would be more visible, and people were still in the streets.
A different but related questions is what is the latest time a person can light Hanukkah candles at night?
The Rambam (Laws of Hanukkah 4:5) writes that one cannot light Hanukkah candles after people are no longer walking in the streets, which is assumed to be a half hour after sunset. This again is the simple reading of the Talmud Shabbat 21b.
The Rambam’s opinion was not accepted in Medieval France. Tosafot (Shabbat 21b, Deei) quotes R. Yosef Poras (Troyes, France, 12th century) that while one should light immediately at night (apparently he means when the stars come out) if one did not, then one lights later out of doubt. Tosafot continues and quotes the Ri (France, 1120-1200) that nowadays one does not have be concerned what time at night one lights since one lights inside for the people in the house and not for the people returning from the market. The Meiri (Provence, 1249-1306, on Shabbat 21b) writes that according to this latter opinion, the “giants of France” allowed the people to light until daybreak, and the practice of the yeshiva students of France was to light after they finished learning.
The Tur (672) attempts to compromise between the opinions of the Ri and the Rambam. He first writes that we do not follow the Rambam and then one can light the whole night. However, he ends by writing that one should be careful not to delay lighting the candles in order that people who are passing by can see the lights. Similarly, the Rama (16th century, Poland, 672:2) first writes that since today people light inside one does not have to be careful when one lights but then he quotes the Maharil (1365-1427, Germany) that still one should try to light at the right time.
R. Yosef Caro (1488-1575, 672:1,2) in the Shulchan Arukh also seems to compromise between the two positions. He first writes that ideally one should light at the end of sunset (when the stars go out), but if one did not light then, then one can light until a half hour after the stars go out. This is the Rambam’s position according to Rabbenu Tam’s definition of when is sunset, but then R. Yosef Caro adds that one can light the whole night, which is the Ri’s opinion.
The Magen Avraham (1637-1683, Poland, 672:6) notes that the Shulchan Arukh did not mention whether one lights with a blessing if one lights after the half hour period. However, he notes that in the Bet Yosef, R, Yosef Caro writes that the Rambam’s opinion is not completed rejected, and hence one would only light after the half hour period based on doubt what is the correct opinion. This implies that according to R. Yosef Caro if one lit after the half hour period then one should not say a blessing on the lighting. The Magen Avraham then conditions the saying of the blessings as to whether there are people awake in the house when one lights. If yes, then one would say the blessings even though one is lighting after the half hour period, but if nobody is awake, then Magen Avraham writes that one should not say the blessings if one lights after the half hour period.
This opinion of the Magen Avraham is quoted by the Mishnah Berurah (1907, 672:11) and the Arukh Hashulchan (672:7), but is difficult. The Mishnah Berurah in the Shaar Tzion (672:17) quotes the Chemed Moshe (R. Gedaliah Moshe b. Tzvi Hirsch) that the Magen Avraham’s opinion implies that if a person lives alone and lights in the house, then he/ she would not recite the blessings, but this is not the accepted practice. Thus, the Chemed Moshe writes that even if everybody in the home is asleep and cannot be woken, still one lights and says the blessings, and the Mishnah Berurah in the Shaar Tzion concludes that one can follow either opinion to say the blessings or not.
It seems to me that the Magen Avraham is contradicting the Rama, as the Rama writes that one does not have to worry about the times, which means that one recites the blessings, and in his comments on the Shulchan Arukh he makes no mention of a need for somebody in the family to be awake. Thus, following the Rama and Chemed Moshe, I would think that if one returns home late from work and everybody is sleeping in the house, then one should light and say the blessings.
In addition, in modern times with the advent of electricity it could be argued that the time period of returning from the market has changed. Today, people are in the streets until late at night (10 PM? 11PM?), and then maybe this period would still be considered within the proper time frame even for the Rambam. If this is true, then if one lights late at night and everybody is asleep in the house but some people still pass in the street, then one should be able to light and say the blessings according to all opinions. Yet, if this change in the definition of when people return from the market is correct, then might create a stringency that the candles should need to burn for the longer time period and not just for a half hour.
A new question in the 21st century, is what if a person lives by him or herself, or other people in the house are sleeping but the person can send a live video of the candles burning. Would this be enough that even the Magen Avraham would agree that the person could light with a blessing? If this is true, then what if the video is sent with a delay? How long a delay?
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