Shabbat 23A

עששית שהיתה דולקת והולכת כל היום כולו, למוצאי שבת מכבה ומדליקה. אי אמרת בשלמא הדלקה עושה מצוה ⁠— שפיר. אלא אי אמרת הנחה עושה מצוה, האי מכבה ומדליקה, מכבה ומגביהה ומניחה ומדליקה מיבעי ליה! ועוד: מדקא מברכינן ״אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו להדליק נר של חנוכה״⁠ — שמע מינה הדלקה עושה מצוה. שמע מינה.

A lantern that continued to burn the entire day of Shabbat, at the conclusion of Shabbat one extinguishes it and lights it again as a Hanukkah light. Granted, if you say that lighting accomplishes the mitzva, the requirement to extinguish the lantern and relight it in order to fulfill the mitzva of kindling the Hanukkah light works out well. However, if you say that placing accomplishes the mitzva, this statement, which stated that one extinguishes it and lights it, is imprecise. According to this opinion, it needed to say: One extinguishes it and lifts it from its place and sets it down and lights it, as only by placing the lamp in an appropriate place could one fulfill the mitzva of the Hanukkah light. Furthermore, there is additional proof that lighting accomplishes the mitzva. From the fact that we recite the following blessing over the mitzva of kindling the Hanukkah light: Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us to light the Hanukkah light, the Talmud suggests: Conclude from this that lighting accomplishes the mitzva, as it is over lighting that one recites the blessing. The Talmud concludes: Indeed, conclude from this.

והשתא דאמרינן הדלקה עושה מצוה, הדליקה חרש שוטה וקטן לא עשה ולא כלום. אשה ודאי מדליקה, דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: נשים חייבות בנר חנוכה שאף הן היו באותו הנס.

And, the Talmud remarks, now that we say that lighting accomplishes the mitzva, there are practical ramifications. If a deaf-mute, an imbecile, or a minor, all of whom are of limited intellectual capacity and not obligated in mitzvot, kindled the Hanukkah light, he did nothing in terms of fulfilling the mitzva, even if an adult obligated in mitzvot subsequently set it down in its appropriate place. That is because placing a lit lamp does not constitute fulfillment of the mitzva. The lighting must be performed by a person with full intellectual capacity, obligated in mitzvot. However, a woman certainly may light, as R' Yehoshua ben Levi said: Women are obligated in lighting the Hanukkah light, as they too were included in that miracle of being saved from the decree of persecution.