By Fred Reiss, Ed.D
WINCHESTER, California — A news story under the byline of Jonathan Mizrahi has been making its way around the Internet. The story says that this year will be the only time that Chanukah will fall on Thanksgiving. So, is the story true? Yes and no.
President Lincoln in 1863 proclaimed a national Thanksgiving to be held on the fourth Thursday in November. Since that date, Chanukah has never fallen on the fourth Thursday in November; so officially, this is the only time that Chanukah falls on Thanksgiving. However, Chanukah did fall on the equivalent to Thanksgiving in 1861, 1766, 1709, 1641, and 1614.
The answer as to why only these years has to do with the structures of the two calendars, the Gregorian or civil calendar and the Jewish calendar. The Gregorian calendar, for example has 97 leap years, in which an extra day is added, every 400 years. Century years that are not divisible by 400 are not leap years. The Jewish calendar has 7 leap years, in which an extra month of 30 days is added, at fixed intervals every 19 years. More important, the length of a Jewish year is variable. A regular year can have 353, 354, or 355 days while a leap year can have 383, 384, or 385 days. There is no way of knowing in advance the type of Jewish year without making mathematical calculations about the day and time of the New Moon of the month of the Hebrew month of Tishri of that year.
It turns out that Chanukah falls on a Thursday in November when the first day of Rosh Hashanah is on a Thursday, Passover of the following year is on a Saturday and there are 385 days in the Jewish year. However, it falls on the fourth Thursday only when these conditions are met and January 1 falls on a Tuesday or Wednesday of that year.
Chanukah will never fall on Thanksgiving again because of the 4 day per thousand year error in the Jewish calendar owing to the use of an average time between New Moons. This means that the Jewish holidays are progressing forward with respect to the Gregorian calendar, so an interesting question to ask is when will Chanukah coincide with New Year’s Day? The first time will be on Sunday January 1, 3031.
Save your money and have a Happy Chanukah!
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Dr. Fred Reiss is a retired public and Hebrew school teacher and administrator. He is the author of The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars; Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book that Started Kabbalah, Revealed; and Reclaiming the Messiah. The author can be reached through his website, fred.reiss@sdjewishworld.com.