Looking for new ways to celebrate Hanukkah at home, in your classroom, at work, or with friends? Discover our wide range of resources, including dreidel instructions, menorah and candle blessings, kids activities, coloring pages, recipes and more. Hanukkah is a joyous celebration of victory against persecution, so embrace the fun!

Learn more about Hanukkah
Hanukkah 2026 begins the evening of Sunday, December 4, 2026 and ends the evening of Saturday, December 12, 2026. Hanukkah typically falls in November or December each year, but because Jewish holidays follow the lunar calendar, the date of the holiday on the Gregorian calendar changes each year.
Though Hanukkah isn’t classified as a major Jewish holiday, it is one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays. Also known as the Festival of Lights, the 8-day celebration commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed in 164 BCE. It also celebrates the burning of a small amount of oil that miraculously burned for eight days.
Hanukkah is typically celebrated at home. Each night the hanukkiah, or nine-branched menorah, is lit and blessings are said. A common tradition is to eat foods fried in oil to commemorate the burning of the miracle oil – think jelly donuts (sufganiyot) and potato pancakes (latkes)! It’s also popular to play the common game of dreidel, and given its close proximity to other winter holidays, it has also become a tradition for many families to exchange gifts on Hanukkah.
Either is correct! Because the word is translated into English from Hebrew, there are several ways to spell Hanukkah. The two most common spellings are Hanukkah and Chanukah, though according to the Oxford Dictionary, there are actually 24 different ways to spell it!
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Featured ritual books

Blessings for Lighting the Menorah
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8 Nights of Journal Prompts to Honor Your Light
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Featured clips

Dedicate Each Hanukkah Candle to a Strong Biblical Woman
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Nuestra Luz: An 8-Day Mediation Experience
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When the world is upside down,
I/Me/Us/We must flip the script:
Grab hold of the narrative,
revolt against the same old story,
resist the riptide of history
despite grim odds,
the plot twist brought
to untwist this plot.
Thus begins every
inner rebellion.
I/Me/Us/We enter
the cold wetness
of the cave
made of echo-stone
to retrieve the oil
hidden in secret
and Maccabean shadow-folds
for generations.
When the world is upside down,
I/Me/Us/We must flip the script:
Watch the exalted letters
dance into all possible combinations,
account for every permutation,
precisely as numerous
as each luminous star
in the numinous field
of our milky and honeyed galaxy.
I/Me/Us/We reclaim our sovereignty
over the landscape
of our heavenly body,
shore up our borders,
draw constellations as boundaries,
rededicate the sacred space
in the center of us,
sanctify the nourishment
of moon and sun.
Let us rise elemental,
offer our/self as vessel,
four mothers to the left,
four angels to the right,
we long to be anointed, filled with
hyssop and frankincense,
spikenard and myrrh,
balsam and cassia,
jasmine and rose,
holy olive.
Pour in the gloaming
moment of every tiny brave blaze
thrown in stark relief
against the gift
of mysterious darkness.
Hanukkah: Illumined Nation/The Rededication Of Space
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More
When the world is upside down,
I/Me/Us/We must flip the script:
Grab hold of the narrative,
revolt against the same old story,
resist the riptide of history
despite grim odds,
the plot twist brought
to untwist this plot.
Thus begins every
inner rebellion.
I/Me/Us/We enter
the cold wetness
of the cave
made of echo-stone
to retrieve the oil
hidden in secret
and Maccabean shadow-folds
for generations.
When the world is upside down,
I/Me/Us/We must flip the script:
Watch the exalted letters
dance into all possible combinations,
account for every permutation,
precisely as numerous
as each luminous star
in the numinous field
of our milky and honeyed galaxy.
I/Me/Us/We reclaim our sovereignty
over the landscape
of our heavenly body,
shore up our borders,
draw constellations as boundaries,
rededicate the sacred space
in the center of us,
sanctify the nourishment
of moon and sun.
Let us rise elemental,
offer our/self as vessel,
four mothers to the left,
four angels to the right,
we long to be anointed, filled with
hyssop and frankincense,
spikenard and myrrh,
balsam and cassia,
jasmine and rose,
holy olive.
Pour in the gloaming
moment of every tiny brave blaze
thrown in stark relief
against the gift
of mysterious darkness.
Hanukkah: Illumined Nation/The Rededication Of Space
Preview
More

Dedicate Each Hanukkah Candle to a Strong Biblical Woman
Preview
More

Nuestra Luz: An 8-Day Mediation Experience
Preview
More
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