Hanukkah
When does Hanukkah take place?
Hanukkah is a holiday that takes place over 8 nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev.
5787 / 2026 — first candle at sundown on December 4
5788 / 2027 — first candle at sundown on December 24
5789 / 2028 — first candle at sundown on December 12
Hanukkah meaning "dedication" in Hebrew, refers to the joyous eight-day celebration during which Jews commemorate the victory of the Maccabees over the armies of Syria in 165 B.C.E. and the subsequent liberation and "rededication" of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is celebrated by lighting the hanukkiyah, a special menorah for Hanukkah; foods prepared in oil including latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts); and special songs and games.
Maoz Tzur and Other Hanukkah Songs Linked HERE
- How to play dreidel
- How to make latkes
- Hanukkah recipes from around the world
- Ner Shel Tzedakah: The Candle of Righteousness
Sat, January 17 2026
28 Tevet 5786
On Hanukkah, we traditionally serve holiday dishes cooked in oil to commemorate the miracle of a single vial of oil lasting eight days. But oil as the Hanukkah food of choice was not always so.
One thousand years ago, in the warmer climates of the Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa, the Hanukkah specialty dish was a cheese latke (pancake), which commemorated Judith's heroic efforts to save her people during the second century B.C.E. As the story (told in the Apocrypha) goes, the Syrian General Holofernes was sent to Bethulia (due east of Caesarea) by King Nebuchadnesser to annihilate the Jews. To make him thirsty, the beautiful Judith fed him salty cheese, followed by wine...