Hanukkah Events in Las Vegas
Hanukkah begins on Sunday, December 18, 2022. The 8-day festival celebrates the miracle of light. The most important part of Hanukkah celebration is the nightly lighting of the menorah.Â
Featured Hanukkah Events
IAC Hanukkah Miracle Experience
December 17, 5:30 pm – 8:30pm
Cost: $15
IAC Clubhouse
9119 Alta Drive Las Vegas, NV 89145
A unique & immersive visual-audio experience with the story of the Maccabees on huge screens! We invite you to join a unique experience for the entire family! Come see the story of the Maccabees returning to life on huge screens with a visual-audio experience! Also, Nisim, the dreidel of Hanukkah, will guide you throughout the story with a beautiful light show and such more activities! OPEN FOR THE ENTIRE LAS VEGAS COMMUNITY!
December 18, 2pm – 4pmÂ
Young Israel Aish
9590 W Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89117
Give your children an experience of a lifetime with one of the biggest Hanukkah parties on the west coast. This party will feature surprise characters, face painters and a balloon artist, 2 bounce houses, arts & crafts for all ages, & hundreds of donuts! Please join us! Register here: yiaishlv.org
The District at Green Valley Ranch
Menorah Lighting Ceremony featuring live entertainment, dreidels, gelt, and crafts for the little ones!Â
At the entrance of Main Street, in between Shake Shack and REI.
Light the Menorah
December 21, 4pm – 6pmÂ
Downtown Summerlin
A little bit about Hanukkah
Hanukkah is not Jewish Christmas
Hanukkah commemorates the successful revolt led by the Maccabees (we’ll call them Hanukkah heroes) against their oppressors and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.Â
Why so many candles?
After the successful revolt, the desecrated temple had only enough oil for one night, but miraculously the oil lasted 8 whole days allowing enough time for the victorious Jewish people to get more.Â
Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights
Jewish families now come together during Hanukkah to celebrate the miracle and light winning over darkness. Candles will be lit with blessings each night of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah or Chanukah
That’s up to you! Hebrew to English translations are perfect so there are many spellings of the festival including Hanukkah, Hannuka, or Chanukah, and most commonly Hanukkah.
Hanukkah Traditions
Dreidel
Quite simply, a game of dreidel is gambling with a little spinning top. The dreidel has 4 sides each with a Hebrew letter. Depending on where your dreidel stops you will take nothing, take everything, take half or put one in the pot. Dreidel is played with gelt, gold coins, another popular symbol of Hanukkah. Children use chocolate gelt to play during the festival.Â
Fried Foods
Since we’re celebrating the miracle of the oil, cooking with it seems obvious. The most popular fried dishes during Hanukkah are latkes, fried potato pancakes, and sufganiyot, a jelly donut.Â
Hanukkah Gifts
Historically, gelt was given as a gift but modern-day consumerism has led to a little extra pressure on the gift giving side of Hanukkah, so now, especially in the US, more gifts are given during the 8-day festival.
If you want to learn more about Hanukkah or Judaism in general my favorite resource is www.chabad.org. Since I married into a Jewish family, I’ve been learning along the way to make sure we keep family and tradition an integral part of our children’s lives.Â
