Discover How To Celebrate Hanukkah Anywhere in the World

Players add small tokens or gelt (chocolate coins) before spinning the dreidel. When it lands, each letter symbolizes a different game action:

• נ (Nun): take nothing
• ג (Gimel): take all
• ה (Hey): take half
• ש (Shin): add one to the pot

Once a player runs out of gelt, they’re out of the game. The game is over when all the latkes are gone, the sun goes down, or when there’s only one player remaining.

How to celebrate Hanukkah around the world

Today there are around 15 million Jewish people in the world dispersed in nearly every country. And in any country with a Jewish population, no matter how large or small, you’ll find Hanukkah celebrations. 

Find out more about Hanukkah celebrations around the world, whether they’re in Israel or countries where Jewish Diaspora (people who live in places other than their ancestral homeland) live today.

Israel

There are about seven million Jewish people in Israel (out of a population of nine million), and Hanukkah is a national holiday there. Schools are closed during the eight days of Hanukkah, and menorahs appear in every town, including around government buildings like the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). 

Most Hanukkah celebrations in Israel are very religious and traditional, including services at synagogues and private nights of Hanukkah at home. 

United States

American Hanukkah celebrations are often less traditional than Hanukkah in Israel. According to World Population Review’s 2021 data, around six million Jewish people live in the United States, where the holiday has become more of a gift-giving occasion in many families. 

For families with one Jewish parent (or non-Jewish parents who enjoy the Hanukkah traditions), the US also has many celebrations of “Chrismukkah,” a combination of Christmas and Hanukkah. These occasions may replace a Christmas tree with a Hanukkah bush and add Christmas carols to Hanukkah hymns. 

One beloved Hanukkah tradition specific to the US is the Latke-Hamantash Debate at the University of Chicago, an annual discussion where Jewish scholars argue the merits of the latke vs. hamantash as official Hanukkah food. The debate began over 75 years ago and is still going strong today!

France

Nearly half a million people of the Jewish faith live in France (World Population Review, 2021), where visitors can watch a public menorah lighting at ​​Place de la Republique in Paris. You can also see a Hassidique (Hasidic) concert on the Champs de Mars and visit various Jewish bakeries and synagogues in French communities.

Private Hanukkah celebrations tend to be more traditional, though many French families use a double menorah with 16 candles instead of eight. That way, the next generation can light the candles along with their parents.

Canada

The first Hanukkah celebration here took place in the mid-18th century when the first Jews immigrated to Canada. It became the first non-Christian settler holiday in the country, and today, almost 400,000 Jewish people call Canada home (World Population Review, 2021).

Visitors to Canada will find Hanukkah more of a secular celebration, similar to a non-religious Christmas holiday, though more traditional families do practice the same rituals. If you’re looking for a public celebration, head to Montreal where a large Jewish population comes together every year.

United Kingdom

Almost 300,000 Jewish people live in the United Kingdom (World Population Review, 2021), making it home to the second-largest Jewish population in Europe (behind France). One of the largest British Hanukkah celebrations takes place in London’s Trafalgar Square, where members of the Jewish community light one candle of a giant menorah, shop at Hanukkah markets, and enjoy dancing to live music.

Hanukkah in the UK is more of a commercial holiday, with celebrants exchanging cards, gifts, and tchotchkes (small trinkets). Some British families enjoy giving small gifts on the first night, then increasing each gift’s size and/or value as the eight nights of Hanukkah progress.

Argentina

After many Jewish immigrants arrived in Argentina during the early years of the Nazi regime, Hanukkah became a publicly celebrated holiday. Today, almost 

200,000 Jewish people live in Argentina (World Population Review, 2021), with more residing in neighboring Brazil and Chile.

Many large Hanukkah celebrations take place in Buenos Aires, including public menorah lightings and family Hanukkah activities at Plaza San Martin or Palermo’s Plaza Oriental de Uruguay. At Once and Abasto, a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, you’ll even find the only kosher McDonald’s outside Israel. Private Hanukkah celebrations in Argentina are more traditional, so the gifts you’ll see are mainly gelt.

Russia

Hanukkah is a growing tradition in Russia, where religious celebrations were banned in public during the years of the Soviet Union. Today, more than 150,000 Jewish people (World Population Review, 2021) celebrate Hanukkah with public menorah lightings at Manezh Square in Moscow, as well as in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara.

Besides private family Hanukkah traditions, you can find fireworks and dancing each night of Hanukkah, as well as programs at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow.

Germany

Hanukkah is an especially significant occasion in Germany, where the Jewish population went from around 525,000 pre-World War II to just over 100,000 today. German Jewish communities commemorate both the ancient history of Hanukkah and the lives lost during the Holocaust.

One of the most poignant celebrations of Hanukkah in Germany takes place at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. A giant menorah lights the historical site where anti-Semitic rallies took place in the 1930s, reminding Jewish survivors of how far Germany has come in the last 90 years.

South Africa

Unlike many Hanukkah celebrations around the world, Hanukkah in South Africa takes place during the summer (because December is summertime in that part of the world). Over 50,000 Jewish people live in South Africa today (World Population Review, 2021), where both African and Jewish foods are fried in oil and served as part of a Hanukkah feast. 

To celebrate Hanukkah in South Africa, make sure to see the giant menorah lit at Sandton City in Johannesburg. It’s an emotional connection to South Africa’s recent history of apartheid and persecution, which echoes the plight of the worldwide Jewish population.

Hungary

Hanukkah in Budapest is a public celebration with a complicated past. Today, 50,000 Jewish Hungarians (World Population Review, 2021) enjoy ice skating, lighting a public menorah, and visiting the Great Synagogue on Dohány Utca (the biggest Jewish temple in Europe). But before the fall of the Soviet Union, Hanukkah was not celebrated publicly, leaving families to celebrate their faith in secret.

Some Jewish elements are inextricably linked to Hungarian culture, such as common dishes. Many Jewish dishes are part of everyday Hungarian cuisine, including latkes (known as berét in Hungary) and sufganiyot (fánk). You can enjoy them all on a winter trip to Budapest!

How to say ‘Happy Hanukkah’ in different languages

You already know that Hanukkah Sameach means “Happy Hanukkah” in Hebrew. But how else can you wish someone a happy Hanukkah when you’re traveling to another country?

To help you learn holiday greetings (and more!) in these languages, Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition engine focuses on your pronunciation to ensure that you’re speaking with a regionally appropriate accent. 

Happy winter holidays

Whether you’re traveling this winter or wishing Jewish friends well, share Hanukkah greetings around the world with ease. For more conversation starters during the Hanukkah season, maybe this is the time to learn Hebrew (or find out how to say “Merry Christmas” in different languages). You can also follow our guide to how to say “Happy Kwanzaa” and other Swahili greetings if you’re invited to a Kwanzaa celebration—or if you’d just like to wish “Happy Holidays” to as many communities as possible.