What Makes the World Feel Smaller? Our Shared Hanukkah Traditions

The eight-day holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev (which begins sometime in November or early December in the secular calendar). The events in the story of Hanukkah took place in ancient Israel during the winter solstice, when the days were getting shorter and nighttime came early. In much of North America, it’s dark and cold when the Hanukkah candles are lit, and watching the flames flicker brings some warmth and brightness into the holiday. But for PJ Library communities in the southern hemisphere (places like Brazil and New Zealand, for example), Hanukkah comes during their summer months, when the days are long and sunny!

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What makes the world feel smaller?

While Jewish families around the world have different Hanukkah traditions, we all share one main mitzvah, or commandment, of the holiday: to light candles.

The days — and weather — may feel so different in our own corners of the globe from other places, but this tradition unites us all. That’s why, when we take part in shared rituals, we remind ourselves that we’re all one big Jewish community.