Everything You Need to Celebrate Hanukkah With Kids
/Begins Sunday December 14, 2025 at sundown; ends at nightfall on Monday December 22, 2025.
In the Hebrew month of Kislev (November or December in the Gregorian calendar), the days grow shorter in Israel and across the Northern Hemisphere.
Toward the end of Kislev, Jews celebrate an eight-day Festival of Lights. We tell the story of the Maccabees, ancient Jews who fought against the Greeks for their religious freedom. We practice the best-known ritual of Hanukkah: lighting the Hanukkah menorah (hanukkiah) for eight nights. Hanukkah is Hebrew for “dedication.” On Hanukkah we teach our children how the Maccabees rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Hanukkah begins the evening of December 14, 2025 with the lighting of the first candle. The last candle is lit in the evening on December 14, 2025, and Hanukkah ends in the evening on December 22, 2025.
How to Hanukkah
Hanukkah Events
All event listings are checked at the time of posting but schedules may change without notice. Please confirm information with the website. And come back often! Events are updated and added frequently.
Local Nosh for Hanukkah
Hanukkah Book Guide
Wishing you and your family a Hanukkah season filled with love and light.
About PJ Library Bay Area
Content and images used with permission from PJ Library.
We’ll share in Chanukah traditions and ride the train through the streets of Santa Cruz listening to Chanukah music and enjoying warm latkas and hot apple cider provided by Chabad by the Sea.