Gemara:

Shabbat 

Halacha:

Brachot,  Chanukah 

Machshava:

Chanukah 

Description

The Berakhah we recite before lighting Nerot Hanukkah - which even a young child knows well - presents a problem insofar as we thank God for commanding us to...light Ner Hanukkah; God never directly commanded us to do so. The Gemara (Shabbat 23) addresses this issue; we explore this passage along with a related passage in the Yerushalmi, along with briefly surveying the wide range of variant texts of the Berakhah.