How many nights does the holiday of Hanukkah last?

Hanukkah lasts for eight nights.

Also called Chanukah, the Jewish festival begins on the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar and continues for eight nights and days. Because the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, its dates shift each year on the Gregorian calendar. Hanukkah can also cross from Kislev into Tevet, unlike holidays fixed to one civil-calendar date.

The festival commemorates the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the second century BCE and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Rabbinic tradition connects the eight-night observance with a small supply of consecrated oil said to have burned for eight days. That oil story appears in the Babylonian Talmud, written centuries after the revolt, while the Books of the Maccabees emphasize the military victory and Temple rededication.

A Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah, has eight candle holders plus a ninth helper light called the shamash. One light is kindled on the first night, with another added each night until all eight are lit.