Hanukkah Countdown

Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, begins on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, which falls on a different Gregorian date each year. This countdown targets the first night.

How many days until Hanukkah?

Hanukkah is on Friday, December 4, 2026, which is 117 calendar days away. The live countdown above ticks down to the exact moment, to the second.

See where this falls among everything else — the event calendar.

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The story of Hanukkah

167-160 BCEAntiochus IV's persecution of Judean religious practice, including the desecration of the Temple, sparks the Maccabean Revolt led by Judah Maccabee and his brothers against the Seleucid Empire.

164 BCEThe Maccabees recapture Jerusalem and rededicate the Temple altar on 25 Kislev — the historical event that becomes the origin of Hanukkah.

c. 500 CEThe Babylonian Talmud is redacted, preserving in tractate Shabbat 21b the account of a single day's supply of oil lasting eight days.

1600sPolish Jewish communities begin the custom of giving children coins to pass along to their teachers, the documented root of today's Hanukkah gelt tradition.

1974-1975Chabad-Lubavitch stages the first large public menorah lightings — Philadelphia's Liberty Bell in 1974 and San Francisco's Union Square 'mama menorah' in 1975 — launching the modern public-menorah movement.

1979President Jimmy Carter lights the first National Menorah near the White House in Lafayette Park; the ceremony has been held every year since.

2005A 32-foot menorah designed by Yaacov Agam is unveiled at Manhattan's Grand Army Plaza and goes on to be recognized as the world's largest.

Hanukkah world records

Largest menorahThe 32-ft (9.7 m), 4,000-lb menorah designed by Yaacov Agam at Manhattan's Grand Army Plaza — unveiled in 2005 and recognized as the largest in the world

Most dreidels spinning simultaneously820, set by the Boy Scouts of America at the 2017 National Jamboree, breaking the previous record of 754 set in Tel Aviv in 2014

Largest dreidelA wooden dreidel just over 25 ft tall, built by students at Hebrew Academy Community School in Margate, Florida — and it actually spins

Most valuable dreidelA diamond-encrusted dreidel valued at $70,000, crafted by Estate Diamond Jewelry in New York City and certified by Guinness World Records in 2019

The festival of lights

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of one day's oil burning for eight. Each night another candle of the menorah is lit, alongside games of dreidel and foods fried in oil like latkes and sufganiyot.

Eight nights

Because it follows the Hebrew lunar calendar, Hanukkah can begin anywhere from late November to late December. It lasts eight nights, with the menorah growing brighter each evening.

Quick facts

Begins on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar
An eight-night festival of lights
Foods are fried in oil to recall the miracle
Can start from late November to late December

Eight nights, fully stocked

Menorah lit, dreidels spinning, gelt guarded closely.

Menorah Hanukkah candles Dreidel set Chocolate gelt Latke mix Hanukkah decorations

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Hanukkah — frequently asked questions

When is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah is on Friday, December 4, 2026.

How many days until Hanukkah?

117 calendar days, counting from today: Hanukkah falls on Friday, December 4, 2026. The clock at the top of the page counts down to the exact second.

Updated August 2026 · time-and-space.science

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