Chanukkah and Thanksgiving..... Turkey and Latkes.....What a
great combination!
Chanukkah will be on Thanksgiving this year, for the first time ever,
and never again!
We will be celebrating the first night of Chanukah on Thanksgiving, so
expect turkey and latkes on the table.
This is the only time it will ever happen, read below to see the explanation!!!
Thanksgiving is set as the fourth Thursday in November, meaning the
latest it can be is 11/28.
11/28 is also the earliest Chanukkah can be.
The Jewish calendar repeats on a 19 year cycle, and Thanksgiving
repeats on a 7 year cycle.
You would therefore expect them to coincide roughly every 19x7 = 133 years.
Looking back, this is approximately correct – the last time it would
have happened is 1861.
However, Thanksgiving was only formally established by President
Lincoln in 1863.
So, it has never happened before.
Why won't it ever happen again?
The reason is because the Jewish calendar is very slowly getting out
of sync with the solar calendar, at a rate of 4 days per 1000 years!
This means that while presently Chanukkah can be as early as 11/28,
over the years the calendar will drift forward, such that the earliest
Chanukkah can be is 11/29. The next time Chanukkah falls on 11/28 is
2146, which is a Monday. Therefore, 2013 is the only time Hanukkah
will ever overlap with Thanksgiving!!!
Of course, if the Jewish calendar is never modified in any way, then
it will slowly move forward through the Gregorian calendar, until it
loops all the way back to where it is now.
So, Chanukah would again fall on Thursday, 11/28...in the year 79,811.
Given our trajectory with global warming, it is fair to say humans
won’t be here then. And if there are no humans, the holidays will be
cancelled.
So on November 28th 2013, enjoy your turkey and your latkes. It has
never happened before, and it will never happen again.
