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Hanukkah2028 Countdown
Tuesday, December 12, 2028
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About Hanukkah
Hanukkah is the Jewish eight-day festival of lights, celebrated with a nightly kindling of the nine-branched menorah, or hanukkiah. It commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BCE, after the Maccabean revolt, and the tradition that a single day of consecrated oil burned for eight days. Because it follows the Hebrew lunar calendar, Hanukkah begins on a different Gregorian date each year, anywhere from late November to late December.
The festival is one of the best-known Jewish holidays worldwide, celebrated by Jewish communities across North America, Israel, Europe, and beyond. Its observance is home-centered rather than synagogue-centered, which has made it especially resilient through centuries of dispersion. In Israel and the diaspora alike, the holiday combines historical remembrance with a celebration of religious freedom and perseverance.
Each evening families light candles, adding one more over the eight nights, recite blessings, and often sing or play the dreidel game. Foods fried in oil — latkes, or potato pancakes, and sufganiyot, jelly-filled doughnuts — recall the miracle of the oil. Children may receive Hanukkah gelt, coins or chocolate, and gift-giving has grown in communities where Christmas is celebrated nearby. Public menorah lightings bring the festival into city squares.
History of Hanukkah
Hanukkah commemorates events of the second century BCE, when the Maccabees, a Jewish rebel force, reclaimed Jerusalem from the Seleucid Empire and rededicated the desecrated Second Temple. According to the Talmud, only one flask of ritually pure oil could be found, yet it kept the temple lamp burning for eight days — the miracle the festival reenacts. Rabbis established an eight-day observance of kindling lights at the entrances of homes. Over the centuries, customs such as dreidel play and fried foods developed across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Emigration carried these traditions worldwide, and today public menorah lightings mark Hanukkah in cities on every continent.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- When is Hanukkah?
- Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, so its Gregorian start date changes every year, falling anywhere from late November to late December, and the festival lasts eight nights.
- Is Hanukkah a public holiday?
- It is not a public holiday in most countries, though schools may close in Israel and some Jewish communities, and work is generally permitted during the festival.
- How do people celebrate Hanukkah?
- Families light the menorah each night, recite blessings, eat fried foods like latkes and sufganiyot, play dreidel, and exchange small gifts or gelt.
- Why does Hanukkah last eight days?
- Tradition says a single day of pure oil burned for eight days when the Temple was rededicated, so the festival was set at eight nights.