This year, the first night of Hanukkah will fall on the same day as Christmas for the first time since 2005.
Christmas and Hanukkah both always fall on the 25th, but of two different months, with Christmas coming on the Dec. 25th of the Gregorian calendar, and Hanukkah starting on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Jewish calendar.
Hanukkah’s start date on the Gregorian calendar varies year by year because the Jewish calendar is based on luni-solar calendar cycles. According to Chabad, months under the Hebrew calendar follow a lunar cycle, lasting about 354 days. To keep from falling behind the approximately 365-day solar calendar, there’s a 13th month on the Jewish calendar every few years to make a “leap year.”
Another difference is that on the Jewish calendar, holidays begin at sundown and continue through the next day, so Hannukah, which lasts eight days, will get its start this year hours after the start of Christmas.
Hanukkah and Christmas have only coincided a handful of times since 1900, according to the Jewish Federations of North America. They started on the same day in 1910, 1921, 1959 and 2005. Rabbi Joshua Stanton, vice president of interfaith initiatives for Jewish Federations of North America, views it as an opportunity for learning, collaboration and togetherness.
“The goal is not proselytizing; it’s learning deeply from each other,” Stanton told CBS News in a statement. “It’s others seeing you as you see yourself.”
Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, said he views the convergence of holidays as an opportunity to value the diverse religious landscape in the U.S.
“This is something that we have learned that we must work hard to protect, especially in times of rising antisemitism and other forms of hate,” Hauer told CBS News in an email.
The convergence of holidays also offer unique opportunities and challenges for interfaith families. Some people celebrate what’s known as “Chrismukkah,” a name derived from the overlap of the holidays that was made popular by the television series “The O.C.”
“I think that, especially as Hanukkah has become seen as kind of the Jewish Christmas, we are seeing more and more interest in sort of how they might correspond to one another. Both holidays are interested in light and in God’s presence in dark times,” Candida Moss, a professor of theology at the University of Birmingham, told “CBS News 24/7.” “And of course this presents a huge opportunity for interfaith families to celebrate both traditions alongside one another.”
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said he feels that each holiday should be given its due, rather than blended together, “because I think that does harm to the uniqueness of each.”
“But the proximity can actually lead us to understand more, to appreciate more about those who make up different faiths, and for us to create more light in an often very dark time of year,” Jacobs told “CBS News 24/7.”
The two holidays will coincide again in 2035 and 2054, according to Hebcal.
It’s also rare for Hanukkah to start on Christmas Eve. It’s happened twice in the last 50 years: in 1978 and 2016.
