How many days is Hanukkah, and why eight?

The story

In the second century BCE the Seleucid Greek rulers defiled the Temple in Jerusalem and banned Jewish practice. A small group led by the Hasmonean family – Mattathias and his son Judah the Maccabee – revolted and recaptured the Temple. The Talmud asks “What is Hanukkah?” and answers: they found only one sealed jar of oil, enough to light the menorah for a day, and a miracle occurred and it lit for eight days. The next year the sages fixed these days as a festival of praise and thanks.

Other reasons for eight

Commentators add that the dedication of the altar also took eight days, and that preparing new pure oil took that long. The famous question of the Beit Yosef – if there was enough oil for one day, the miracle was only seven days – has many answers in the literature.

Dates

Hanukkah begins on the evening before 25 Kislev and ends on 2 or 3 Tevet, depending on whether Kislev has 29 or 30 days. In the civil calendar it falls between late November and late December. See our Hanukkah dates.

What is added to the prayers

For all eight days the full Hallel is said in the morning prayers and Al HaNissim is added to the Amidah and to grace after meals. The Torah is read every day from the offerings of the tribal princes at the dedication of the Tabernacle (Numbers 7). Hanukkah is not a day of rest: work is permitted, though women customarily refrain while the candles burn.