SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One of the most festive times of the year is approaching for Jews and gentiles alike as the week Hanukkah is set to fall on Christmas this year.
Hanukkah, which has 24 spellings according to the Oxford dictionary, is known as the festival of light and celebrates the miracle of oil and liberation of the holy temple in Jerusalem in ancient times.
This year, Hanukkah will begin at sundown on Dec. 18 and end the evening of the 26th.
The famously illuminated Jewish holiday lasting eight days and eight nights typically falls between late November, on or around Thanksgiving, and mid-December, on or around Christmas. But why does this happen?
Rabbi Jason Gwasdoff of Stockton's Temple Israel congregation, says while this occurrence happens only once every few years, Hanukkah is "always on time" in the Jewish world.
"In the Jewish year, our holidays are celebrated and observed according to the Jewish or the Hebrew calendar, which is a lunar calendar," said Gwasdoff.
Hanukkah is observed on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew Calendar, which much like Christmas, is aligned to be just days of the Winter solstice.
Gwasdoff says the reason the lunar calendar is observed in Jewish tradition may have to do with the significance of the new moon.
"In ancient times, we would discern the beginning of a month was by visually seeing the new moon," said Gwasdoff. "But in later years, in addition to the observance of the moon, they started to calculate the Hebrew calendar using a mathematical approach."
The Gregorian Calendar, set up by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to reflect the time it takes for the earth to orbit the sun, otherwise known as a solar calendar. This calendar is typically used in Western nations to track months and years.
The lunar calendar, used in Jewish culture, is calculated by the moon cycle. However, both calendars are set up in an effort to align with the seasons.
"If we're celebrating the Jewish holidays according to the lunar calendar, and we're adding a month, every two to three years, it means that the alignment with the Gregorian calendar is going to shift as much as much as about a month," said Gwasdoff.
For this reason, Hanukkah, as well as all other Jewish holidays, will shift by days and sometimes weeks when being observed on the Western calendar.
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