Christmas and Hanukkah on the same day – How often does it happen?

ST. LOUIS – Wednesday marks the first time the start of Hanukkah and Christmas have fallen on the same day since 2005 and only the fifth time since 1900.

Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is an 8-day celebration of the Maccabees’ recapturing of Jerusalem and the Second Temple from the occupying Seleucid Empire.

Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, when, according to Jewish tradition, Judas Maccabee (Judah) cleansed the Second Temple in 164 BCE by removing all statues of Greek gods and goddesses from the building and rededicating it.

But why has Hanukkah only started on Christmas just five times in the last 124 years? It has to do with the Hebrew calendar.

What we know as the year 2024 or the soon-to-be 2025 is because of the Gregorian calendar. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII modified the then-accepted Julian calendar in order to space out the leap years to more closely reflect the solar calendar.

According to the Hebrew calendar, this is year 5785 since the creation of the world. They're not the only culture or religion with a different calendar:

• Islamic calendar: 1446
• Hindu calendars: 2081 (Vikram Samvat), 1946 (Shaka Samvat), and 5125 (Kali Yuga)
• Buddhist calendar: 2568
• Chinese calendar: 4722 or 4515
• Assyrian calendar: 6774
• Byzantine calendar: 7533
• Korean calendar: 4357

The Hebrew calendar marks time in much the same way as its Gregorian counterpart: 24 hours to a day, 7 days to a week, and 12 months to a year. However, the months on the Hebrew calendar are based on lunar months (the time between full moons), while the years are based on solar years (a full orbit around the sun). As a result, months on the Hebrew calendar are 29 or 30 days. When added up, a normal year on the Hebrew calendar is 354 days. A 13th month is added every two or three years so the average works out to a solar year.

After Wednesday, Hannukah won't start on Christmas again until 2035.