Hannukah

What is the festival of lights?

Hannukah is a Jewish festival and it celebrates one of the greatest miracles in Jewish history.

2,000 years ago, a Greek king called King Antiochus banned all Jewish rituals and tried to force the Jews to worship him and pray to Greek Gods. A group of Jews called the Maccabees refused to do this and fought a three-year-long war to reclaim their Jewish temple from the Greeks.

The Maccabees won the war and then cleaned and repaired their temple, which had been damaged in the war. To celebrate, they lit an oil lamp. The oil lamp was only supposed to last for one day, but miraculously it burned for eight days.

When does the festival take place?

Hannukah is most likely to start on the evening of Wednesday 25th December 2024 and will end on Thursday 2nd January 2024.

Please check the date closer to the time as this may be subject to change because the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar. This means the Hebrew calendar is regulated by the positions of both the moon and the sun, so the time or date may change.

Why does the Jewish community celebrate this holiday?

Hannukah means “dedication” in Hebrew. The Jewish community celebrates it to remember the re-dedication of the Jewish temple and the miracle of the oil lamp burning for eight days instead of one. To many Jewish people, the festival is also a celebration of their right to practice their religion freely.

Facts you should know

Here are a few quick Hannukah facts:

• There is no one correct way to spell Hannukah in the English language because it is a Hebrew word. Hebrew cannot always be spelt with English letters, so there is no standard English spelling for the holiday. This is why some people may spell the holiday as “Hanukah” or “Hannukkah” or “Chanukah” or “Chanuka” and these are all accepted spellings.
• Hannukah lasts for eight days because that is how long the oil lasted for during the Hannukah miracle.
• Some Jewish families will give each other small gifts on each of the eight nights of the festival.
• One of the ways Jewish people celebrate is by eating foods fried in oil such as latkes (which are a kind of potato fritter), pancakes and doughnuts. This helps Jewish people remember the miracle of the oil lasting eight days in the temple.
• Dreidel is a game most commonly played during Hannukah. You play it by spinning the dreidel and bet on which Hebrew letter will be shown when the dreidel stops spinning. You can learn how to play the game online.
• Jewish families will light the Hanukkiah or Menorah during the festival of lights. A Hanukkiah is a type of candelabra, with nine candle holders representing how long the oil lamp in the Hannukah story lasted. It represents the miracle of the oil burning for eight days instead of one. Some people confuse the Hanukkiah with the Menorah, but it is important to remember that the Menorah is one of the Jewish symbols that represents the Jewish faith as a whole, while the Hanukkiah represents the Hannukah miracle and some may only light it during the festival of lights.

How to celebrate the festival in the workplace

There are many ways to celebrate Hannukah at work. Some ways to mark the festival include:

• Learning about Judaism with our Judaism factsheet, Inclusive Employers members can download it for free.
• Listening to and sharing our Faith, Religion and Belief at Work podcast.
• Hosting a webinar or event about religion in the workplace to raise awareness about Hanukkah and what your Jewish colleagues may need during the holiday.
• Using the inclusion bitesize toolkit to encourage your colleagues to discuss what they know about Hanukkah.
• Learning about how you can make the workplace more faith inclusive with our Religion and Belief in the Workplace guide, Inclusive Employers members can access this for free.
• Hosting a Hanukkah workplace party with your Jewish colleagues where you can treat everyone to traditional Hanukkah food and play the dreidel. It is important to be aware of kosher food rules if you plan to do this. It may also be helpful to seek advice from the Jewish community.

Continuing your faith inclusion journey

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