Reciting Blessings Over Chanukah Candles Lit by a Non-Jew
Question
Can a Jew recite the blessings if the Hanukkah candles were lit by a non-Jew? (Specifically, a non-Jew lit the shamash, and then a Jew took the shamash from him and lit the Hanukkah candles from it). My point is not whether a non-Jew can light the Hanukkah candles (being in the process of conversion, without blessings or just for fun). My point is whether a Jew can recite the appropriate blessings over such a candle – lit by a Gentile. It seems to me that this is not permitted. (Nor is it about a situation in which, say, a disabled Jew has only a non-Jewish caregiver to assist him, and if that non-Jew doesn’t light a candle for him, performing the mitzvah is not possible).
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Answers
If it was the Chanukah lights, themselves, it would be a problem because a Blessing cannot be recited if the candles were lit by someone who does not have an obligation to light them. But the Shamash is not actually a direct part of the commandment to light the Chanukah lights. Subsequently, it would be permitted for a non-Jew to light the shamash and hand it over to the Jew to light the actual Chanukah candles.
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