Having a blast for Hanukkah
Instead of risking its form dismantling bombs, robot from IDF's Engineering Corps used to light candles, hand out treats to soldiers remaining on base for holiday
Soldiers from an elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces' Engineering Corps found a unique way to celebrate Hanukkah Monday: The Andros robot, typically used to help dismantle bombs, was used to light Hanukkah candles and pass out sufganyiot (traditional holiday doughnuts) to soldiers in the unit.
In honor of the holiday, the soldiers who had remained on base and weren't able to spend Hanukkah with their family, decided to stretch their day of rest to the fullest. Instead of handing out sufganiyot themselves, they had the robot do the dirty work.
The Andros, who is used to dealing with more dangerous missions, certainly must have felt relief for his limbs once he discovered that the soft sufganiyot would not explode in his face.
The soldiers used the robot to light five candles for the fourth night of Hanukkah.
Rabbis may have been unsure whether the Andros constitutes a sufficient representative to take on such a mitzvah, and whether his performance truly relieved the soldiers of their candle-lighting duties.
Nonetheless, even if not, the soldiers sang the holiday songs all by themselves, in order to ensure a festive atmosphere.
