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Hanukkah 2025 Begins at Sundown With Public Lightings and Community Action

Public menorah lightings highlight a season of security preparation, relief work, rebuilding.

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FILE - A Jewish ultra-Orthodox man lights candles during the last day of Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
FILE - Ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students light candles on the third day of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

Overview

  • Hanukkah runs from sundown Sunday, Dec. 14, through Dec. 22, with communities organizing wide-ranging public lightings and family events.
  • Connecticut has more than 50 ceremonies, including West Hartford’s Fire on Ice ice-sculpted menorah and a seven-foot LED display in Farmington, while Greater Manchester hosts citywide lightings and car parades.
  • The Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford reports channeling millions to humanitarian relief in Israel, including a multi‑year partnership with Kibbutz Sufa as it rebuilds, alongside ongoing security support for local institutions.
  • Recent data underscore safety concerns: 55% of Jewish Americans reported experiencing antisemitism in the past year, and the ADL counted 9,354 U.S. incidents in 2024.
  • The festival commemorates the rededication of the Temple and the oil that lasted eight days; observance centers on the hanukkiah using a shamash, adding candles right to left and lighting left to right, with fried foods and dreidel play common.