Hanukkah begins after sundown on Thursday evening, December 7, this year, and ends after sundown on Friday evening, December 15.
Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is an 8-day Jewish festival marking the miraculous victory of the Maccabees, Jewish freedom fighters, over the Seleucidian Greek occupiers in the year 139 BCE. After recapturing Jerusalem’s Holy Temple, which had been converted into a place of idol worship, they searched for pure oil with which to light the Temple menorah. They found just enough to burn for one day, but miraculously it burned for eight days until more oil could be brought.
The holiday is celebrated by candle lighting, meals, and gifts.
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