Holidays

Hanukkah 2026: dates, and when to order gifts so they arrive in time

Hanukkah 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, December 4. Here are the eight nights at a glance and a simple ordering timeline for gifts.

By the MEGA Israel team · November 6, 2026 · 2 min read

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Hanukkah moves around the calendar every year because it follows the Hebrew calendar. It starts on the 25th of Kislev, so some years it lands right after Thanksgiving and some years it lines up with the winter break. In 2026 it comes early.

Hanukkah 2026 at a glance

• First candle: Friday, December 4, 2026, at sundown.
• First full day: Saturday, December 5.
• Eighth candle: Friday, December 11.
• Ends: nightfall on Saturday, December 12.

Two of the eight nights fall on Friday, so the first and last candles share the evening with Shabbat. Traditionally the Hanukkah candles are lit before the Shabbat candles on those nights. If your family does it differently, your family is right.

A gift timeline that works

• Early to mid November: order anything coming from overseas, and anything made to order in a batch. Shipping from Israel can take longer than you expect once customs is involved, so check the brand's own shipping page.
• Late November: order made-to-order items that ship within days, like our Jaffa Arches Tee, which usually ships in 3-7 business days.
• First week of December: pick up wine, chocolate and pantry gifts locally. Israeli wines from wineries like Recanati and Carmel are easy to find at US wine shops.

Ordering from MEGA Israel

Our caps are made in one batch with the founding drop. Pre-orders run for a limited window, and every cap page shows the date it ships by. If anything changes, we email you, and you can cancel for a full refund any time before it ships. The Cap + Tee Bundle can arrive in two packages, since the tee usually ships first.

Eight nights, eight small ideas

• Night one: sufganiyot from a local bakery, or homemade if you're brave.
• Night two: latkes and an argument about applesauce versus sour cream.
• Night three: a new set of candles in colors someone picks.
• Night four: a family dreidel tournament with real stakes (chocolate gelt).
• Night five: call someone who's far from home this year.
• Night six: a small gift for someone who isn't expecting one.
• Night seven: a movie night with the menorah in the window.
• Night eight: the big gift, if you're a big-gift-on-night-eight family.

Looking for ideas? Start with our Israeli gift guide. Chag sameach!