Hanukkah festivities light up Jerusalem as the Jewish holiday begins on Wednesday. This year marks a rare convergence, as Hanukkah and Christmas share the same date for the first time since 2005.

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, or Chanukah — the Festival of Lights — is underway. It began at sundown on Wednesday, Dec. 25 and will continue into the beginning of 2025. On eight consecutive nightfalls,

Long Island Jews were expected to celebrate the start of Hanukkah Wednesday with traditional dreidels, menorah lightings and, of course, latkes as the holiday — in a calendar rarity — landed this year on Christmas Day for the first time in nearly two decades.

On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah — a multi-branched candelabra.

Christmas Day also marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah - it's the first time in 19 years that both holidays begin at the same time. The eight-day-long festival features the lighting of a Hanukkah menorah every evening to symbolize God's presence.