▷ When Time Does Hanukkah Start?

Hanukkah is an important holiday for millions of people from many different backgrounds and religions. Every year, around the beginning of December, the Jewish community celebrates the eight-day festival Hanukkah, known as the Festival of Lights. It commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. As part of the celebration, families light a Hanukiah, a special lamp, for eight days. But when exactly does Hanukkah start and how is it measured?

Hanukkah is traditionally celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, which generally falls in December. In 2019, Hanukkah began on Sunday, December 22nd and ended on Monday, December 30th. The date of Hanukkah shifts each year, based on the Hebrew calendar. The Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar, derived from the Babylonian calendar. It contains both solar and lunar elements, with the solar elements determining the structure of the year and the lunar elements generating the dates for the holidays.

The numbers of days in each month of the Hebrew calendar can vary between 29 or 30 days and the month of Kislev can have either 29 or 30 days. Thus, the length of Hanukkah may also vary from year to year. In addition to this, Hebrew dates may vary between the Gregorian calendar, or the standard calendar used in the Western world, and the Jewish calendar. For this reason, Hanukkah may start on a different date each year in the Gregorian calendar.

When the date of Hanukkah is calculated, it is usually done using the modern Hebrew calendar, which is a form of the ancient lunisolar calendar. This modern version of the calendar was adopted in the 16th century. The Gregorian calendar is used in conjunction with the Hebrew calendar in order to determine the exact date of Hanukkah in the Gregorian calendar.

Many online tools and apps are available that can help to calculate the exact date of Hanukkah each year. By inputting the current Gregorian date, the corresponding date on the Hebrew calendar, can be calculated. This can be used to determine when Hanukkah starts in the Gregorian calendar.

In conclusion, Hanukkah traditionally starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, which falls in December in the Gregorian calendar. The date of Hanukkah varies depending on the Hebrew calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar derived from the Babylonian calendar. Since the length of the Hebrew months can vary, the date of Hanukkah may also vary from year to year. Tools and apps are available online to help calculate the date of Hanukkah in the Gregorian calendar. Different families and communities will celebrate the eight-day festival of Hanukkah in their own ways, with traditional activities such as lighting the Hanukiah and singing songs.

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Last update 2023-11-27. Price and product availability may change.