How Long Does Hanukkah Last?
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days or—more importantly—eight nights. Days in the Jewish calendar begin and end at sundown, and the holiday’s main ritual of lighting the menorah occurs over the course of eight nights.
Hanukkah begins on the evening of Kislev 25 on the Jewish lunisolar calendar, which usually falls in December on the Gregorian calendar. For eight nights, candles on a special nine-branched menorah, called a ḥanukkiyah, are lit. On the first night of Hanukkah, celebrants light a main candle (the shammash) that they use to light another candle to mark the first day of the holiday. An additional candle is lit on each of the remaining seven nights until all eight candles and the shammash blaze brightly on the final night. Hanukkah typically ends on the second day of the month of Ṭevet. However, the month of Kislev, in which the holiday begins, occasionally has 29 days rather than 30. When Kislev is shorter by a day, Hanukkah concludes on the third day of Ṭevet.
Why eight nights?
The holiday is often said to commemorate a miracle, mentioned in the Talmud, when one day’s worth of oil in the Temple of Jerusalem burned for eight days until more oil could be retrieved. This miracle is said to have occurred after Judas Maccabeus recaptured the Temple from the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 164 bce.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
In I Maccabees 4 it is stated that Judas Maccabeus, when he had reclaimed the Temple, celebrated its rededication for eight days and established its commemoration as a holiday beginning on Kislev 25. Evidence from II Maccabees indicates that the eight-day holiday possibly originated as a belated celebration of the seven-day Sukkot festival paired with its eighth day, Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of the Solemn Assembly”). Sukkot is one of the three Pilgrim Festivals in the Hebrew Bible, and, until the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70 ce, its rituals were performed in the month of Tishri (September or October) in the Temple. Thus the eight days of Sukkot, including Shemini Atzeret, could only be observed in the Temple once Judas Maccabeus reclaimed it.