🕎Hanukkah

About Hanukkah

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is an eight-night celebration that begins on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev — usually falling in late November or December. It commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE, after a small band of Jewish fighters known as the Maccabees reclaimed it from the Seleucid Empire. According to tradition, a single day's worth of consecrated oil miraculously kept the Temple's menorah burning for eight days.

Each evening families light one additional candle on the nine-branched hanukkiah, using the central shamash (helper) candle, until all eight glow on the final night. The holiday is filled with food fried in oil to recall the miracle — crispy potato latkes and jam-filled sufganiyot doughnuts — along with spinning the four-sided dreidel, giving chocolate gelt and gifts, and singing traditional songs. Lamps are placed in windows and doorways to publicize the miracle.

Because Hanukkah follows the lunar-based Hebrew calendar, its Gregorian dates move from year to year, sometimes overlapping with Christmas and sometimes arriving in late November. In 2026 the first candle is lit at sundown on December 4. Whether you are preparing the menorah or planning family gatherings, the counter above shows exactly how long until Hanukkah begins — add it to your own page so you are ready for the first night.