when is hannukah

Hanukkah in 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, December 4, and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12.

Key details

• Hanukkah always starts at sundown, so the first candle is lit on the evening of December 4, 2026.

• The holiday lasts eight nights, concluding after the eighth candle burns on the night of December 12, 2026.

• On the Hebrew calendar, this corresponds to 25 Kislev through 2 Tevet in 5787.

Quick background

• Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival often called the Festival of Lights.

• It commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days.

• Traditions include lighting a hanukkiah (menorah), playing dreidel, and eating foods fried in oil like latkes and sufganiyot.

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