When is Hanukkah in 2024 and how is it celebrated? The Jewish festival's important dates

Hanukkah, different known arsenic Chanukah, is an eight-day festival of lights and a joyous juncture for Jewish people worldwide.

The day of the peculiar juncture changes each twelvemonth based connected the lunar calendar. Falling anyplace betwixt precocious November and December each year, it begins 4 days earlier the caller satellite and is simply a clip to bask nutrient and clip with the household and loved ones.

For some, Hanukkah mightiness beryllium a vacation they privation to larn much about.

Because the Jewish calendar is lunisolar, the day of Hanukah changes each year. It ever falls betwixt precocious November and December, 4 days earlier the caller moon.

This year, Hannukah volition statesman astatine nightfall connected December 25 and tally until January 2, meaning that it coincides with Christmas.

The past clip this happened was successful 2005, however, successful 2016, the archetypal time of Hanukkah fell connected Christmas Eve. This volition hap again successful 2027.

Hanukkah commemorates the Maccabean Revolt of 167-160 BCE, successful which a Jewish service rebelled against the ruling Hellenistic Seleucid Empire and won.

The Seleucids - who were culturally Greek - had outlawed Judaism and its practices, with King Antiochus attempting to marque Jews commune and marque sacrifices to Greek gods.

This prompted a tiny set of Jews to rebel against Antiochus successful an effort to reconstruct Judaism and region the Seleucids from Judea. After 3 years of war, this tiny service - known arsenic the Maccabees - won, but their temple had been destroyed.

The Maccabees past proceeded to rebuild and cleanse the temple, and airy flames to observe their victory. They lone had capable kosher lipid to pain for 1 day, but the occurrence miraculously stayed lit for 8 days, giving them capable clip to hole a caller proviso of lipid for the menorah.

Dr Maria Diemling, scholar successful Jewish-Christian relations, told the Standard: “The humanities discourse is the conflict betwixt contented and assimilation, a recurrent taxable successful Jewish history. According to Jewish tradition, it celebrates a miracle: wrong the temple, the Maccabees recovered capable consecrated lipid to airy the eternal occurrence successful the temple for a azygous time but, miraculously, the lipid lasted for 8 days, agelong capable to nutrient caller oil.

“This is the crushed wherefore Hanukkah is celebrated implicit 8 days."

Hanukkah involves lighting candles connected a peculiar nine-branched candleholder known arsenic the Hanukkiah, oregon Hanukkah menorah.

The ninth candle is the ‘servant’ utilized to airy the different 8 candles.

The lit Hanukkiah volition beryllium placed adjacent a model to ‘announce the miracle' of the festival to the extracurricular world, and a candle is lit each time successful bid (one connected the archetypal day, 2 connected the second, and truthful on).

Families volition get unneurotic and sing accepted songs, springiness gifts to children, devour and rotation the dreidel.

A dreidel is simply a four-sided spinning apical with antithetic Hebrew letters connected each side, which usually signifier the archetypal letters of the Hebrew condemnation “a large occurrence happened there”, referring to the occurrence of the cruse of oil.

Adults and children volition stitchery astir and play for wealth oregon sweets, putting 1 of these successful the mediate earlier having a spell astatine spinning the dreidel. Winners are determined by the missive that appears erstwhile the dreidel has stopped spinning.

Food astatine Hanukkah is often fried successful oil, which refers to the lipid of the miracle. Common foods see latkes with pome condiment and sour cream, doughnuts filled with jam, fried chicken, mashed murphy pancakes, olive oil-fried aubergines, and honey-soaked dough fritters.

Children were traditionally talented wealth (‘gelt’ successful Yiddish) though present cocoa coins are traditionally given.

It's becoming much communal for radical to springiness presents to each different implicit the 8 days, portion galore families springiness to foundation implicit the festival.