For the 3rd time since 1900, Hanukkah begins Christmas Eve

YOUNGSTOWN

This year, Hanukkah begins Christmas Eve. The first candle on the menorah will be lit at sundown Saturday.

In Christian churches, there will be candlelight services.

Rabbi Franklin Muller of Congregation Rodef Sholom said he sees the coincidence as an opportunity to share some calendar trivia and motivate people to think about the holiday’s significance.

In his “View from the Pulpit” column in the synagogue’s newsletter "Star," he cited another coincidence that prompted fun and entrepreneurship when Hanukkah began Nov. 27, 2013, the eve of Thanksgiving.

The “menurkey” was created to celebrate the Festival of Lights. The rabbi pointed out that Hanukkah was early on the secular calendar.

This year, Hanukkah comes very late, he noted. It has begun Christmas Eve just three times since 1900 and occurred in 1902, 1940 and 1978. He posed the question: “Is it merely a coincidence that Hanukkah falls on Christmas Eve exactly every 38 years?”

Rabbi Muller said the Torah counts a generation as 40 years, and the timing could reflect the “genius of rabbis who devised the Jewish calendar.”

Congregation Rodef Sholom recently hosted a Hanukkah party. The rabbi said Hanukkah is a minor Jewish festival and is more a home-based observance than religious services at the temple.

Read more about the holiday in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.