Times for Chanukah
Halachic times for Valencia, Spain · 4 December 2026 – 12 December 2026
Calculated for Valencia (39.47° N, 0.38° W). The menorah is lit at sunset (Chabad custom) and the candles must burn until at least half an hour after nightfall. On Friday it is lit before the Shabbat candles (with longer candles) and on Saturday night after Havdalah.
Chanukah (חֲנֻכָּה), the Festival of Lights, celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek-Syrian empire and the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE.
When they liberated the Temple, the Maccabees found only one small jar of pure oil bearing the seal of the High Priest — enough for a single day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare new oil.
For eight nights we light the menorah (the Chanukah lamp), adding one candle each night from right to left and lighting from left to right.
Chanukah customs:
- Lighting the menorah at nightfall, facing a window or the door
- Sufganiyot (doughnuts) and latkes (potato pancakes), fried in oil
- Dreidel (sevivon): the four-sided spinning top
- Chanukah gelt: Chanukah money for the children
- Songs: Maoz Tzur, Haneirot Halalu
The Rebbe launched the worldwide campaign of public lightings of giant menorahs in squares and public places, bringing the light of Chanukah to every corner of the world.