Chanukah 2026: How to Light the Menorah, Night by Night

Chanukah (Hanukkah) 2026 begins on the evening of Friday, December 4 and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12. That calendar has a small twist this year. Both the first night and the eighth night fall on a Friday, so twice you light the menorah in the late afternoon, before Shabbat candles, instead of after dark.

If you have never lit a menorah on your own, or you grew up with one but never learned the details, this guide walks through it: what you need, the order of the candles, the blessings, and how the two Friday nights and the Saturday night work. A quick note up front: Bayit is our app, and this is its journal. It comes up once near the end.

Chanukah 2026, night by night

The dates are the same in Israel and everywhere else, since Chanukah has no extra Diaspora day. Each night starts at sundown.

• Night 1, Friday, December 4: 1 candle, lit before Shabbat candles
• Night 2, Saturday, December 5: 2 candles, lit after Shabbat ends
• Night 3, Sunday, December 6: 3 candles
• Night 4, Monday, December 7: 4 candles
• Night 5, Tuesday, December 8: 5 candles
• Night 6, Wednesday, December 9: 6 candles
• Night 7, Thursday, December 10: 7 candles
• Night 8, Friday, December 11: 8 candles, lit before Shabbat candles

The last day of Chanukah is Shabbat, December 12. Rosh Chodesh Tevet falls inside the holiday on December 10 and 11. The two Shabbatot of Chanukah this year read Parashat Vayeshev and Parashat Miketz. If you follow the weekly parsha, the Joseph story runs right through the holiday. For the rest of the year's dates, see our Jewish holidays 2026 and 2027 calendar.

Why we light

Chanukah remembers the Maccabees, a small Jewish band who fought the Seleucid Greek empire in the second century BCE and took back the Temple in Jerusalem. The Talmud (Shabbat 21b) tells that when they went to relight the Temple menorah, they found one sealed jar of pure oil, enough for a single day. It burned for eight. The lights in our windows are a way of telling that story to the street, which is why the tradition puts so much weight on where the menorah stands and when it is lit.

What you need

• A menorah (hanukkiah) with eight lights in a row at the same height, plus a ninth helper light, the shamash, set apart, usually higher or off to one side.
• Candles or oil. Standard Chanukah candles are fine. Many people prefer olive oil with cotton wicks because it echoes the story. Over all eight nights you need 44 candles, including the shamash each night. Most boxes hold 45.
• Longer-burning lights for Friday. The small standard candles often burn out too fast for the two Friday nights. More on that below.

How to light, step by step

1. Set the candles from right to left. On night one, put a single candle at the far right. Each night, add the new candle to the left of the previous ones.
2. Light the shamash. In many Ashkenazi homes the shamash is lit first and used to light the others. Some Sephardi families use a separate candle to light and then set the shamash last. Follow your family custom if you have one.
3. Say the blessings while holding the shamash, before lighting the other candles. The texts are below.
4. Light from left to right. Start with the newest candle, the one farthest left, then move right. So you place candles right to left but light them left to right (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 676:5).
5. Put the shamash back in its spot and stay near the lights for a few minutes. Many families sing Haneirot Halalu and Maoz Tzur here.

The lights should burn for at least half an hour after nightfall. They are there to be seen, not used, so tradition says not to read or work by their light. That is part of why the shamash exists. Classic practice places the menorah in a window facing the street or by the doorway, opposite the mezuzah.

The Chanukah blessings

Say the first two every night.

1. Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha'olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner Chanukah.
   Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who made us holy with His commandments and commanded us to light the Chanukah light.
2. Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha'olam, she'asah nisim la'avoteinu bayamim haheim bazman hazeh.
   Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who did miracles for our ancestors in those days, at this time of year.

On the first night, or the first night you light this year, add Shehecheyanu:

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha'olam, shehecheyanu v'kiyemanu v'higiyanu lazman hazeh.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this time.

Some Sephardi siddurim word the first blessing slightly differently, ending l'hadlik ner shel Chanukah. Either is fine if it is your custom. If Hebrew is slow for you, saying the blessings in English is a perfectly good start, and our guide to reading Hebrew as an adult can help for next year.

The two Friday nights: December 4 and December 11

Once Shabbat starts you cannot light a fire, so on Friday the menorah goes first and the Shabbat candles come right after it. The usual order:

1. If you daven Mincha, many people do it before lighting.
2. Light the menorah shortly before Shabbat candle-lighting time. Halachic guides commonly say about 20 minutes before sunset, and not earlier than plag hamincha, roughly an hour and a quarter before the end of the day, measured in seasonal hours.
3. Then light the Shabbat candles as usual.

Because you light earlier, the menorah has to last longer: until at least half an hour after nightfall, which can be well over an hour. Small Chanukah candles may not make it. Use larger candles or put enough oil in the cups. Check your local Shabbat time on our candle-lighting times page. For context, Hebcal lists Friday, December 4 candle lighting at 4:10 pm in New York and 4:25 pm in Los Angeles.

Saturday night, December 5

On Saturday night you wait until Shabbat is over, then light two candles. The question people ask is whether Havdalah or the menorah comes first. Customs differ. Many families make Havdalah at home first and then light, while in many synagogues the menorah is lit before Havdalah. If your family or rabbi has a practice, go with it.

What else changes during Chanukah

• Al HaNissim, a short paragraph about the miracles, is added to the Amidah and to grace after meals.
• Hallel, psalms of praise, is said each morning of Chanukah in Shacharit.
• Work is allowed. Chanukah is not a Yom Tov like Shabbos, so school, work, and driving go on as normal. Many women have a custom of not doing housework while the candles burn.
• Food and games. Latkes and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) because they are fried in oil, plus dreidel.

Specific questions, like lighting when you travel, in a dorm, or for a guest, are good ones for a local rabbi. The answers depend on your situation and your community.

Using the eight nights for a small habit

Chanukah is eight evenings in a row with a few quiet minutes already built in. If you have been meaning to add a small daily habit, that time beside the candles is a natural place for it: a few lines of the week's parsha, one blessing you want to learn by heart, or the story of the Maccabees read aloud to your kids. Our guide to daily Torah in 10 minutes has ideas sized for a busy evening.

Bayit, our daily practice companion, does this every day of the year. Its Daily Plan gives you one small piece of Torah and tefilah for today, with the Jewish calendar built in, so you see what is coming up without hunting for it.

Want a small daily plan that keeps you ready for Chanukah and the rest of the year? Try Bayit on the App Store.