Hanukkah Sameach! (Happy Hanukkah!) Every year, Jewish families around the world celebrate this sacred holiday that honors the steadfast Jewish faith and its resilience against the adversities faced in the last 2,000 years.
No matter where you travel this December, you’ll find a Hanukkah celebration in almost every country with a Jewish population. Learn how to celebrate Hanukkah, including which Hanukkah customs and traditions to expect at any Hanukkah celebration.
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What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah means “dedication” in Hebrew and is known as the Feast of Dedication in Jewish communities. It commemorates a legendary miracle during the Maccabean Revolt in 167-160 B.C.E., when Judaism was banned in the Seleucid Greek empire. Rather than give up their faith, ancient Israelites led by Judas Maccabeus rebelled against the Greek emperor Antiochus.
After recapturing the Jewish Temple, the Maccabees found they only had enough consecrated oil to last one night. But that oil lasted eight nights, which the Jewish community celebrates today in an eight-night Hanukkah holiday.
Hanukkah presents two main goals for celebrants: to advertise the miracle and recognize that it took place, and to remember those who chose death over conversion in the Maccabean Revolt.
When is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah begins on Kislev 25 on the Hebrew lunisolar calendar (usually eight days in December on the Gregorian calendar). In the next few years, Hanukkah falls on these dates:
- 2024: December 25 to January 2
- 2025: December 14 to December 22
- 2026: December 4 to December 12
- 2027: December 24 to January 1
- 2028: December 12 to December 20
- 2029: December 1 to December 9
- 2030: December 20 to December 28
Hanukkah and Christmas falling close together (and in some years, on the same day) is a historical coincidence.
How to celebrate Hanukkah
Hanukkah customs and traditions combine sacred texts and prayers with time-honored rituals and foods. Whether you grew up celebrating Hanukkah or you’re invited to your first Hanukkah feast, there are a few elements of the celebration that you can expect to see.
Lighting the menorah
Hanukkah celebrants light one candle per night on a menorah (also called a Hanukiah). It holds nine candles: one for each night, plus the shamash (helper) candle that lights the other eight candles.
After the shamash is lit, celebrants recite traditional blessings, and then light the next candle. They sing Hanukkah hymns after lighting the nightly candle, including Maoz Tsur (Rock of Ages) and prayers like Al Ha-Nissim (For the Miracle).
Hanukkah foods
Hanukkah recipes include foods cooked in oil that symbolizes the long-lasting oil of the Maccabean Revolt. Common Hanukkah foods include latkes (potato pancakes), sufganiyot (doughnuts), and hamantash (triangle pastries).
Hanukkah customs and traditions
A popular Hanukkah tradition includes the dreidel, a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. These Hebrew letters stand for the phrase Nes Gadol Haya Sham, which means “a great miracle happened here.”
Players add small tokens or gelt (chocolate coins) before spinning the dreidel. When it lands, each letter symbolizes a different game action:
- נ (Nun): take nothing
- ג (Gimel): take all
- ה (Hey): take half
- ש (Shin): add one to the pot
Once a player runs out of gelt, they’re out of the game. The game is over when all the latkes are gone, the sun goes down, or when there’s only one player remaining.
How to celebrate Hanukkah around the world
Today there are around 15 million Jewish people in the world dispersed in nearly every country. And in any country with a Jewish population, no matter how large or small, you’ll find Hanukkah celebrations.
Find out more about Hanukkah celebrations around the world, whether they’re in Israel or countries where Jewish Diaspora (people who live in places other than their ancestral homeland) live today.
Israel
There are about seven million Jewish people in Israel (out of a population of nine million), and Hanukkah is a national holiday there. Schools are closed during the eight days of Hanukkah, and menorahs appear in every town, including around government buildings like the Knesset (the Israeli parliament).
Most Hanukkah celebrations in Israel are very religious and traditional, including services at synagogues and private nights of Hanukkah at home.
United States
American Hanukkah celebrations are often less traditional than Hanukkah in Israel. According to World Population Review’s 2021 data, around six million Jewish people live in the United States, where the holiday has become more of a gift-giving occasion in many families.
For families with one Jewish parent (or non-Jewish parents who enjoy the Hanukkah traditions), the US also has many celebrations of “Chrismukkah,” a combination of Christmas and Hanukkah. These occasions may replace a Christmas tree with a Hanukkah bush and add Christmas carols to Hanukkah hymns.
One beloved Hanukkah tradition specific to the US is the Latke-Hamantash Debate at the University of Chicago, an annual discussion where Jewish scholars argue the merits of the latke vs. hamantash as official Hanukkah food. The debate began over 75 years ago and is still going strong today!
France
Nearly half a million people of the Jewish faith live in France (World Population Review, 2021), where visitors can watch a public menorah lighting at Place de la Republique in Paris. You can also see a Hassidique (Hasidic) concert on the Champs de Mars and visit various Jewish bakeries and synagogues in French communities.
Private Hanukkah celebrations tend to be more traditional, though many French families use a double menorah with 16 candles instead of eight. That way, the next generation can light the candles along with their parents.
Canada
The first Hanukkah celebration here took place in the mid-18th century when the first Jews immigrated to Canada. It became the first non-Christian settler holiday in the country, and today, almost 400,000 Jewish people call Canada home (World Population Review, 2021).
Visitors to Canada will find Hanukkah more of a secular celebration, similar to a non-religious Christmas holiday, though more traditional families do practice the same rituals. If you’re looking for a public celebration, head to Montreal where a large Jewish population comes together every year.
United Kingdom
Almost 300,000 Jewish people live in the United Kingdom (World Population Review, 2021), making it home to the second-largest Jewish population in Europe (behind France). One of the largest British Hanukkah celebrations takes place in London’s Trafalgar Square, where members of the Jewish community light one candle of a giant menorah, shop at Hanukkah markets, and enjoy dancing to live music.
Hanukkah in the UK is more of a commercial holiday, with celebrants exchanging cards, gifts, and tchotchkes (small trinkets). Some British families enjoy giving small gifts on the first night, then increasing each gift’s size and/or value as the eight nights of Hanukkah progress.
Argentina
After many Jewish immigrants arrived in Argentina during the early years of the Nazi regime, Hanukkah became a publicly celebrated holiday. Today, almost
200,000 Jewish people live in Argentina (World Population Review, 2021), with more residing in neighboring Brazil and Chile.
Many large Hanukkah celebrations take place in Buenos Aires, including public menorah lightings and family Hanukkah activities at Plaza San Martin or Palermo’s Plaza Oriental de Uruguay. At Once and Abasto, a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, you’ll even find the only kosher McDonald’s outside Israel. Private Hanukkah celebrations in Argentina are more traditional, so the gifts you’ll see are mainly gelt.
Russia
Hanukkah is a growing tradition in Russia, where religious celebrations were banned in public during the years of the Soviet Union. Today, more than 150,000 Jewish people (World Population Review, 2021) celebrate Hanukkah with public menorah lightings at Manezh Square in Moscow, as well as in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara.
Besides private family Hanukkah traditions, you can find fireworks and dancing each night of Hanukkah, as well as programs at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow.
Germany
Hanukkah is an especially significant occasion in Germany, where the Jewish population went from around 525,000 pre-World War II to just over 100,000 today. German Jewish communities commemorate both the ancient history of Hanukkah and the lives lost during the Holocaust.
One of the most poignant celebrations of Hanukkah in Germany takes place at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. A giant menorah lights the historical site where anti-Semitic rallies took place in the 1930s, reminding Jewish survivors of how far Germany has come in the last 90 years.
South Africa
Unlike many Hanukkah celebrations around the world, Hanukkah in South Africa takes place during the summer (because December is summertime in that part of the world). Over 50,000 Jewish people live in South Africa today (World Population Review, 2021), where both African and Jewish foods are fried in oil and served as part of a Hanukkah feast.
To celebrate Hanukkah in South Africa, make sure to see the giant menorah lit at Sandton City in Johannesburg. It’s an emotional connection to South Africa’s recent history of apartheid and persecution, which echoes the plight of the worldwide Jewish population.
Hungary
Hanukkah in Budapest is a public celebration with a complicated past. Today, 50,000 Jewish Hungarians (World Population Review, 2021) enjoy ice skating, lighting a public menorah, and visiting the Great Synagogue on Dohány Utca (the biggest Jewish temple in Europe). But before the fall of the Soviet Union, Hanukkah was not celebrated publicly, leaving families to celebrate their faith in secret.
Some Jewish elements are inextricably linked to Hungarian culture, such as common dishes. Many Jewish dishes are part of everyday Hungarian cuisine, including latkes (known as berét in Hungary) and sufganiyot (fánk). You can enjoy them all on a winter trip to Budapest!
How to say ‘Happy Hanukkah’ in different languages
You already know that Hanukkah Sameach means “Happy Hanukkah” in Hebrew. But how else can you wish someone a happy Hanukkah when you’re traveling to another country?
| Language | “Happy Hanukkah“ |
| Arabic | hanuka saeida) هانوكا سعيدة |
| Chinese | 光明节快乐 )Guāngmíng jié kuàilè) |
| Dutch | Fijne Chanoeka |
| Farsi (Persian) | (cpehanoka mobark) هانوکا مبارک |
| French | Joyeux Hanouka |
| German | Fröhliches Chanukka |
| Greek | Χαρούμενο Χανουκά (Charoúmeno Chanouká) |
| Hungarian | Boldog Hanukát |
| Irish | Hanukkah sona duit |
| Japanese | ハッピーハヌカ (Happīhanuka) |
| Korean | 해피 하누카 (haepi hanuka) |
| Polish | Szczęśliwej Chanuki |
| Portuguese | Feliz Hanucá |
| Russian | Счастливой Хануки (Schastlivoy Khanuki) |
| Spanish | Feliz Jánuca |
| Swedish | Glad Hanukkah |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Maligayang Hanukkah |
| Turkish | Hanuka Bayramınız kutlu olsun |
| Vietnamese | Hanukkah hạnh phúc |
To help you learn holiday greetings (and more!) in these languages, Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition engine focuses on your pronunciation to ensure that you’re speaking with a regionally appropriate accent.
Happy winter holidays
Whether you’re traveling this winter or wishing Jewish friends well, share Hanukkah greetings around the world with ease. For more conversation starters during the Hanukkah season, maybe this is the time to learn Hebrew (or find out how to say “Merry Christmas” in different languages). You can also follow our guide to how to say “Happy Kwanzaa” and other Swahili greetings if you’re invited to a Kwanzaa celebration—or if you’d just like to wish “Happy Holidays” to as many communities as possible.
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