Is this just a tradition or is there a deeper significance behind it?
We bought a house and were told that we had up to a year to do the chanukat habayit. Well, time is running out and although we're still not financially able to throw a big thing, we want to know what we have to do. Do we need a minyan? is there some sort of ceremony?

Sharon

I think I spent tops $150 on ourse and I went all out. HOWEVER, you don't need anything fancy. I wish I was told one year- we were just told to do it asap. I wasn't even unpacked! It was SUPER informal as well. We put out food, people hung out, dh said a few words of Torah.

As most of you know I didn't have kids for almost 6 years after we were married. Well we bought a house and had a treatment cycle scheduled for 2 months later. We went to a Rav for a bracha for the cycle and for the house. He told us we needed to make a Chanukat Habayit within 30 days (he wanted it before the cycle) and that Dh should make a siyum. We had a minyan and a siyum and buffet style mostly bought stuff - fried chicken, etc. And the cycle worked B"H!

Does the chanukat habayit apply to condos as well?

The rav of our yishuv (DL) and the Chabad rabbonim we talked to say it applies to all dwellings, incl rented. It should also be done ASAP after moving in without consideration to decorating or other finishes.

By Lubavitch you should not enter the house to live until some Torah has been learned in the house. It is usual here to bring children into the house to say the pasukim. Some edot have a nusach.

After that you make a party and it does not have to be any bigger than you want it. My ds had only us and his wife's and my ex's family. That's 39 people counting them.

Less well know is blessing the foundations. My 2 next door neighbors are Moroccans. When adding on to their homes they invited the close neighbors for cakes and arak while they poured the foundations. The melamed brought the cheder kids to learn and the men that are there, incl the building workers, say tehilim or learn the whole time the foundations are being laid. There is a special nusach for the baal habayit to say. It is to symbolize that Torah is the foundation of the home.

Then DC and I will have to have a chanukat habayit after we move into our condo or apt - whatever it may be :D

But if we have possession of our living space before we get married, do we still make the chanukat habayit then or do we wait until we are properly living in it?

Also, if it's a condo, my parents may be buying the condo (as their personal investment) and DC and I would be making monthly rent payments (poverty without threat of eviction - lol). So would my parents have to make it because they are the owners, or DC and I because we are the ones who are going to be living there - or all 4 of us? Either way, I want to encourage Torah learning in my humble abode. Torah is the foundation of a home!

can someone tell me what it is?

It is a celebration on moving into a new home.

Chanukat habayit = dedication of the house.

Like Chanuka the holiday comes from that they rededicated the Temple. Bayit is house in Hebrew. It's a party of thanks to Hashem for enabling us to buy/move into a new home (I never heard of doing it for a rental).

ahh thanks.
we have done that in the 2 homes we have bought without even knowing. the first was the night we bought the first house- had bout 40 people over. the second was the week after- had a bbq for bout 80 people

That's so neat! I never heard of it. We also had a house warming party, but what a perfect opportunity we missed to make it a Chanukat habayit.

Just one more question. Do I need a minyan?

Sharon

According to my DH, you can do whatever you want. We had a minyan b/c we wanted to make a siyum with kaddish.

I undertand it's an inyan and ha to do with thanking HaShem. What and how is not important. By us, DH had his friends over to farbreng.

We made ours on Sukkot. We had to put it off because we were out of the country for almost a month right after we moved in, and then came the chagim...we figured chol hamoed was a good time to celebrate our permanent walls. We served dessert only (cakes and fruit and soft drinks) and DH said a few words. It was also someone's birthday, so we made a bit of a surprise party out of it.

I have only heard of doing it for a bought house because then it is yours...rented places aren't really as secure dwellings as outright bought ones.
I can't wait to buy someplace and make a party. It's such fun, plus it's a great excuse to get together with your friends.

I have never heard of anyone doing a chanukat habayit on a rented apt, even if they planned to live there for the rest of their lives.