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When is Hanukkah 2027?
Hanukkah 2027 falls on Friday, December 24, 2027.
About Hanukkah
Hanukkah, also spelled Chanukah, is a Jewish festival that lasts eight nights and days. It is known as the festival of lights. Hanukkah remembers the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC, after a small Jewish force led by the Maccabees recaptured it from the Seleucid empire, which had banned Jewish worship. According to tradition, when the Temple's lamp was relit there was only enough consecrated oil to burn for one day, but it lasted for eight. The festival celebrates that event and, more broadly, religious freedom and the survival of Jewish identity.
The central custom of Hanukkah is lighting the hanukkiah, a lamp with nine branches. One additional light is kindled on each of the eight nights, using a helper candle called the shamash, so the display grows from one flame to eight. Other traditions include eating foods cooked in oil, such as potato pancakes called latkes and jam-filled doughnuts called sufganiyot, playing a spinning-top game with a dreidel, and giving small gifts or coins. Hanukkah begins on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev, so its Gregorian date falls in late November or December and moves each year. It is not among the most religiously significant Jewish holidays, but it is widely and warmly observed, and work is not forbidden during it.
Frequently asked questions
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that lasts eight nights and days and is known as the festival of lights. It commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC, after Jewish fighters known as the Maccabees recaptured it. By tradition, a single day's supply of consecrated oil for the Temple lamp lasted miraculously for eight days. Hanukkah celebrates that event and stands more widely for religious freedom and the endurance of the Jewish people.
When is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah begins at sundown on the 25th day of Kislev, a month in the Hebrew calendar, and continues for eight nights. The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, so the Gregorian date changes from year to year, falling somewhere in late November or December. This is why Hanukkah sometimes overlaps with the Christmas season and sometimes falls weeks earlier. Like other Jewish observances, each day of Hanukkah begins at sundown the evening before.
How is Hanukkah celebrated?
The main custom of Hanukkah is lighting candles on a nine-branched lamp called a hanukkiah, or Hanukkah menorah. One light is added each night, lit with a helper candle, until all eight are burning on the final night. Families also eat foods fried in oil, such as potato latkes and jam doughnuts, recalling the oil of the Temple lamp. Children play a game with a spinning top called a dreidel, and small gifts or chocolate coins are often given. Blessings and songs accompany the candle lighting.
What is a menorah and a dreidel?
The lamp used at Hanukkah is often called a menorah, though its proper name is a hanukkiah. It has nine branches: eight for the eight nights and one for the shamash, the helper candle used to light the others. A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top used in a children's game played at Hanukkah. Each side carries a Hebrew letter, and together they stand for a phrase meaning a great miracle happened there, referring to the miracle of the oil.
Is Hanukkah the Jewish Christmas?
Hanukkah is not the Jewish equivalent of Christmas, although the two often fall close together in December, which can give that impression. The festivals are unrelated. Hanukkah remembers the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and is, in religious terms, a relatively minor holiday, with no ban on working. Its high profile, especially in North America, owes much to its nearness to Christmas. The most important holy days in the Jewish year are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, not Hanukkah.