How many days until Hanukkah 2026?
How many days until Hanukkah 2026? The first night is Friday, December 4. The timer reaches zero at midnight as that date begins, in your time zone. The first candle is lit that evening, at sundown, not at midnight.
The festival runs eight nights and ends at nightfall on December 12. The next first night is December 24, 2027.
When is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah, also spelled Chanukah, begins on 25 Kislev in the Hebrew calendar and lasts eight days. Because that calendar is lunisolar, the Gregorian date moves between late November and late December.
One new candle is added each night, plus the shamash used to light the others. The dates on this page follow the Hebrew calendar published by Hebcal.
Create your own Hanukkah countdown
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Questions
Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights. It recalls the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BCE. Families light a hanukkiah, adding one candle each night for eight nights.
Eight nights. The first candle is lit at sundown on the opening date, and one candle is added each evening after that.
It is not a federal holiday in the United States. In Israel it is a national holiday, and schools there are closed.
No. They sometimes fall in the same weeks because both are in December, but they are different holidays. Christmas is December 25. Hanukkah moves with the Hebrew calendar.