What day in December is Hanukkah celebrated?

Answer 1

The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, whilst the Gregorian calendar is a Solar Calendar, therefore they have different months.

Often the Hebrew month of Kislev, which is the month in which Chanuka falls, will correlate to the Gregorian month of December, so it is common for Chanuka to fall in December.

The way the Hebrew calendar is formed, the correlation between with the Gregorian months do not vary a great deal, as leap years occur periodically keeping the Hebrew months in the same season each year. This differes from the Islamic calendar, which is a purely lunar calendar - explaining why the month of Ramadan will occur at a different time of the Gregorian calendar every year.

Answer 2

Hanukkah is celebrated starting the 25th of the month of Kislev, which can be as early as the end of November, and as late as January 1. This date commemorates the rededication of the ancient temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE, following the Hasmonean War.

Answer 3

Yes, Hanukkah is a holiday in the Hebrew calendar. It falls on Kislev 25. Here is its background:
The Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) under Antiochus Epiphanes (2nd century BCE), at the instigation of the Hellenizers, had forbidden various Torah-practices such as Sabbath-observance and circumcision, rededicated the Temple to a Greek idol, and pressed the Jews to offer up sacrifices to the idol. One of the leading elder Jewish sages called upon the people to keep observing the Torah anyway; and if necessary, to use force in resisting the decrees. When a Hellenized Jew offered a sacrifice to the Greek idols in a nearby village, the sage killed him as well as the Greek overseer. This brought a violent reaction from the Greeks; and the loyal Jews, led by the Hasmonean family, were forced to retreat from their towns and strike out at the Greeks in an attempt to oust them from the Holy Land and to enable the people to once again observe the Torah. The Torah-Jews were heavily outnumbered by the attacking Greek armies, but God gave them miraculous victories again and again. After three years of struggle, the Greek armies retreated from Jerusalem, and the Hasmoneans (also called Maccabees) entered the Holy Temple which the Greeks had defiled, reconsecrated it to God, and began the Temple service once more. Among other things, they wanted to relight the olive oil candelabrum (Exodus ch. 25), but could only find one day's supply of undefiled oil - and it would take eight days to make and bring some more.
Miraculously, the menorah stayed lit for eight days (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), allowing enough time for new oil to be prepared and brought. The significance of the miracle is that it demonstrated that God's presence was still there. The Torah-community was overjoyed, because God's presence meant everything to them.
This is what Hanukkah represents: the closeness to God; and the avoidance of Hellenization (assimilation).
The Torah Sages instituted the festival of Hanukkah at that time (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), to publicize the miracle (Rashi commentary, ibid). This is why we light our Hanukkah-menorahs.
(The Hanukkah-menorah, or hanukkiyah, is a special form of the original seven-branched menorah. Our Hanukkah-menorahs have eight spaces for oil, or candles, to mark each of the eight days for which the oil lasted and a ninth to hold the shamash, a candle used to light the others.)
The Al-Hanisim prayer which we recite during Hanukkah centers around the Hasmoneans' victory and rededication of the Temple, while the candle-lighting commemorates the miracle of the oil.
Though the military victory is prominently mentioned in the prayers, it wouldn't have been celebrated if not for the miracle of the oil. It should also be noted that the main goal for which the Maccabees fought was not political independence. They fought to enable the people to observe the Torah's commandments; as we say in the Al Hanisim prayer: "the Greeks sought to cause us to forget Your Torah and leave Your statutes."

Answer 4

Hanukkah always starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. The Hebrew calendar does not line up with the western calendar because it has a completely different leap year system that can shift holidays each year by to 11-28 days.

Here are the coinciding secular dates for the upcoming years. The candle lightings begin on the evening BEFORE the first date:

2011: December 20-28

2012: December 8-16

2013: November 27-December 5

2014: December 16-24

2015: December 6-14

Answer 5

Hanukkah 2008 starts on December 21 after sunset and lasts for 8 days. So the last day is December 29 at sunset.

Answer 6

Channukah began on December 1 this year (2010).

Answer 7

in 2011 it was. It varies every year.