The Jewish festival of Hanukkah- also known as the Festival of Lights or the feast of dedication- lasts for eight days every year. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe holiday begins on the 25th day of Kislev- the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year and the third month of the civil year on the Hebrew calendar- which normally falls at any time in November or December in the Gregorian calendar. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe festival commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem by the Jews and the rededication of the Second Temple that occurred at the start of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire, which occurred in the 2nd century BCE.