The festival of lights

Hanukkah 2026: the dates, and the eight candles night by night

Eight nights, one more flame each night, at the darkest moment of the year. Hanukkah begins at sunset: here is when, wherever you are.

Hanukkah 2026 begins on the evening of Friday, December 4, 2026 with the first candle, and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12, 2026. On the Hebrew calendar it runs from 25 Kislev to 2 Tevet 5787.

Night by night

The eight candles of Hanukkah 2026

One candle on the first night, one more each night, eight on the last. Add the shamash, the “helper” candle used to light the others. Candles are lit at nightfall, and many light right at sunset.

In New York, the sun sets around 4:30 PM on those evenings.

On Friday, the Hanukkah candles are lit before the Shabbat candles, so before sunset, with enough oil or wax to burn into the night. On Saturday night, you wait for Shabbat to end before lighting. Every night, the flames should burn for at least half an hour after nightfall (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 672:2).

Where it comes from

One jar of oil for one day, burning for eight

In the 2nd century BCE, Judea lived under Greek Seleucid rule, and the Temple in Jerusalem had been defiled. A handful of rebels, the Maccabees, took back the city and rededicated the Temple on 25 Kislev. Hanukkah means “dedication”. It is also spelled Chanukah.

The Talmud tells the rest (Shabbat 21b): to relight the menorah, the great lampstand of the Temple, they found a single jar of pure oil, enough to burn for one day. It burned for eight, long enough to prepare more. Hence the eight nights, and oil everywhere: in the lamps, and in the doughnuts and fried potato latkes eaten on those evenings.

The same page sets the rule still followed today: one more flame each night, following the school of Hillel, because in matters of holiness one goes up, never down.

What the sky says

The festival of light falls in the darkest nights

Hanukkah begins on the 25th of the lunar month, when the moon is only a thin crescent rising late. It disappears completely in the middle of the festival, at the new moon that opens the month of Tevet. And all this happens as the winter solstice approaches, in the longest nights of the year. The darker the sky, the more we light: the calendar placed the festival of lights exactly where it was needed.

It is also the only festival that straddles two months, and so two signs. It opens in Kislev, the month of Sagittarius: the bow, fire and, according to the Sefer Yetzirah, sleep and dreams. It closes in Tevet, the month of Capricorn: earth, endurance, what holds firm in the cold.

Born during Hanukkah? Depending on the exact day, and the hour, since the Hebrew day begins at sunset, your mazal is Sagittarius or Capricorn. The calculation tells you in seconds.

A festival meant to be seen

The only light you put in the window

Most festivals are lived indoors. This one shows itself: the Talmud asks for the lights to be placed at the entrance of the house, facing the street (Shabbat 21b), and today often in the window, so that passers-by can see them. The tradition calls it “publicizing the miracle”. Hanukkah is addressed, by principle, to whoever walks by.

And the tradition sets its own limit on the sky: “Israel is above the mazal” (Shabbat 156a). A sign describes a slope, never a fate.

Frequently asked

Hanukkah in six answers

When does Hanukkah start in 2026?
On the evening of Friday, December 4, 2026, with the first candle. The festival lasts eight days and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12, 2026.

What are the dates of Hanukkah in the coming years?
The first candle is lit on the evening of Friday, December 24, 2027; Tuesday, December 12, 2028; Saturday, December 1, 2029; and Friday, December 20, 2030. It is always the evening that opens 25 Kislev on the Hebrew calendar.

How many candles do you light on Hanukkah?
One on the first night, one more each night, eight on the last night, plus the shamash, the candle used to light the others. Over the whole festival that makes 36 candles, or 44 with the shamash.

What time do you light the Hanukkah candles?
At nightfall, and many light right at sunset. On Friday, the candles are lit before Shabbat begins; on Saturday, after it ends. The lights must burn for at least half an hour after nightfall.

Why does Hanukkah fall on a different date every year?
On its own calendar it never moves: it is always 25 Kislev. But the Hebrew calendar follows the moon, so the civil date shifts from year to year, between late November and late December.

Born during Hanukkah: what is my sign?
Sagittarius if you were born in Kislev, Capricorn if you were born in Tevet. The exact day also depends on the time of birth, since the Hebrew day begins at sunset.