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Hanukkah 2025 Begins With Candle Lightings, Public Displays and Heightened Patrols

The eight-day festival commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple with nightly hanukkiah lightings.

Overview

  • Hanukkah runs from sundown Sunday, Dec. 14, through Dec. 22 this year.
  • The nightly practice uses a shamash to light one additional candle each evening, with candles added right to left and lit left to right.
  • Common observances include frying foods like latkes and sufganiyot, playing dreidel, giving gelt and gifts, and supporting charitable efforts.
  • Large public menorahs and communal lightings at city landmarks have grown more prominent, and households traditionally place menorahs where they are visible from outside.
  • Police have announced increased patrols at Hanukkah events following a terrorist-designated antisemitic shooting in Sydney that targeted a Jewish celebration.