Overview
- Chanukka in 2025 runs from the evening of December 14 to the evening of December 22, aligning with the 25th of Kislew on the Hebrew calendar.
- Observance centers on lighting a chanukkia, adding one candle each night with a shamash, with Friday lights kindled before the Sabbath candles.
- The festival’s name means “dedication” in Hebrew and recalls the 164 BCE rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
- The oil miracle narrative explains the eight nights, as a single day’s supply kept the Temple lamp burning for eight days.
- Berlin marked the first night with a Brandenburg Gate lighting attended by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and a family celebration at the Jewish Museum, with messages of solidarity following reports of an attack on a Chanukka gathering in Sydney.