A shammash in the age of electricity – Ask the Rabbi
Q. Why do we need a shammash these days when we have easy access to electricity?
A. The technical answer is that – regardless of using the shammash as a “servant” to kindle the lights – there must always be an extra light (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim 673) because the Chanukah candles are there to look at and not to be used for a utilitarian purpose.
This is the message that we clearly derive from the HaNerot Halalu paragraph – ein lanu reshut l’hishtammesh bahem.
But when the menorah is in a place where there is electric light, surely it is by the electricity that we see and we don’t need the shammash?
Perhaps there is also a theological consideration.
Ideals do not come about on their own; they need a visionary to promote them and an activist to bring them to realisation… in other words, a shammash!
