What is the meaning and origin of Hanukkah, the Jewish “festival of lights”? What are its dates?
Hanukkah, the famous traditional Jewish holiday, takes place in December. The Jewish “Festival of Lights” will punctuate the daily lives of practitioners from Wednesday, December 25. Hanouka (also written Hanukkah) is a holiday established by the Talmud, one of the main texts of Judaism, unlike other Jewish holidays, such as Yom Kippur, Shabbat or Passover which are biblical holidays.
On this occasion, Linternaute.com returns to the origins of Hanouka, which in reality celebrates an event dating from the IIe century BC. Through a file, we invite you to understand why this holiday is never celebrated on the same date and what is its meaning according to practicing Jews. Thanks to the summary opposite, find the story of the miracle of lights, its dates, its prayers, its “Happy Hanukkah” wishes.
Hanukkah lasts eight days. In the Hebrew calendar, it begins on day 25 of the month of Kislev and ends on day 2 of the month of Tebeth. Most of the time, these dates correspond to seven days of the month of December according to the Gregorian calendar currently used in France. It is often near Saint Nicholas Day, December 6. Dates which give it a certain symbolism: for Claude Vigée, the French poet of Jewish and Israeli origin, Hanouka is the “Advent of Israel”, because the festival generally takes place at the start of winter. One of the traditions is lighting candles during Hanukkah. The first is lit on the eve of the 25th of Kislev, then a central candlestick allows the eight lights on the other branches to be lit every day.
In 2024, Hanukkah takes place from Wednesday December 25, 2024 to Thursday January 2, 2025. The celebration therefore takes place several months after Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, considered by believers as the “holiest of Jewish holidays”.
Symbolic, the act of gradually lighting the traditional candlestick or making dishes with oil (the “latkes”, potato pancakes; and other donuts) for Hanukkah commemorate the “miracle of the vial of oil”. For believers in Judaism, this miracle took place 23 centuries ago, after the rededication of the Temple of Israel by the Jews. The latter then just recovered it, following an unexpected victory over the Greco-Syrian troops of Antiochus Epiphanes, who sought to subdue them. In the Jewish story, thanks to a small vial unearthed as best as possible far from the temple, a candlestick lights up the place of worship for eight days compared to one normally.
What rituals are on the program of the Jewish liturgy? The Hanukkah interlude is made up of blessings and songs, dishes fried in oil, but above all, the famous traditional Jewish candlestick. Called “menorah”, this nine-branched object has a very particular resonance. Every evening of this week of the “Jewish festival of lights”, Jewish believers light one of the branches. More precisely, they illuminate the first on the eve of the first full day of Hanukkah, which is the evening of December 6 this year. By lighting their menorah a little more each day, Torah practitioners commemorate “the miracle of lights”.
During Hanukkah, the usual liturgy does not give rise to an additional prayer service: without a holy character and non-holiday except in Israel, this celebration is in fact not linked to any prayer ritual indicated in the Bible. It is said to be rabbinical and not biblical. But several readings are added to the ordinary liturgy, varying over time, to signal that Hanukkah is taking place. At the synagogue, we therefore begin to recite very particular prayers such as Al Hanissim, a blessing integrated into the Amida, the prayer of the morning services but also the Birkat Hamazon, a Jewish prayer after a meal; the Hallel, read in its entirety every day, with the value of praise and thanks and used for joyful Jewish holidays; or even the reading of very specific passages from the Torah, like that on the sacrifices made at the time of the inauguration of the Temple. The latter had then just been returned to the Jews after they had regained their independence from the Greeks, in the 2nd century BC.
How do you wish Hanukkah? You can say “Hag Hanouka sameah” or “Hag sameah” for short, which means “Happy Holiday” or “Hanouka samear” (“Happy Hanouka”). And if you want to go further, offer a menorah to your friend or boyfriend celebrating Hanukkah, this inexpensive traditional candlestick, and the candles that go with it. Making donuts, topped with mint tea, is also a special treat during the Festival of Lights. But don’t panic: for each “edition” of these festivities, you have eight days to make a Hanukkah surprise for the loved one(s) who may be concerned…
Celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in future years will take place on very different dates from each other. In 2024: from Wednesday December 25 to Thursday January 2; in 2025: from Sunday December 14 to Monday December 22; in 2026: from Friday December 4 to Saturday December 12.