Hanukkah 2026 begins with the first candle at sundown on Friday, December 4, and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12. That calendar has one detail worth planning around: the first night and the eighth night both fall on Friday evenings, when Hanukkah candles are lit before the Shabbat candles.
So we plan Hanukkah deliveries for Thursday, December 3, before the first candle and before Shabbat, and we avoid planning for Saturday. Order by Mon, Nov 23 with Standard shipping or Mon, Nov 30 with Express.
Hanukkah boxes compared
| Box | Items | Price | Order by |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Eight Nights Hanukkah Gift Box | 8 | $195 | Standard: Mon, Nov 23. Express: Mon, Nov 30. |
| The Festival Glow Hanukkah Box | 6 | $118 | Standard: Mon, Nov 23. Express: Mon, Nov 30. |
| The Thinking of You Care Box | 5 | $78 | Standard: Mon, Nov 23. Express: Mon, Nov 30. |
| Raihan Saffron Gift Vial, 1 g | 1 | $20 | Standard: Mon, Nov 23. Express: Mon, Nov 30. |
The Eight Nights Hanukkah Gift Box ($195) holds one wrapped gift for every night: extra-virgin olive oil, chocolate gelt, raw honey, a wooden dreidel, a blue mini candle, salted caramels, a winter tea blend, and a blessing card with a keepsake, all in a keepsake box. Contains milk and soy.
The Festival Glow Hanukkah Box ($118) is the host gift: chocolate gelt, 250 ml of olive oil, a winter cedar candle, shortbread and a card, in a keepsake box. Contains milk, soy and wheat.
A gift for each of the eight nights
The Eight Nights box arrives with eight wrapped gifts, so the family opens one each evening instead of everything at once. Here is the order we suggest, matched to the 2026 calendar.
- Night 1, Friday, December 4: olive oil. Hanukkah remembers one day's worth of oil that burned for eight days, so the first gift is a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil for the latkes. Open it early, since candles go on before Shabbat.
- Night 2, Saturday, December 5: chocolate gelt. Candles go on after Shabbat ends, and the gold coins are ready for the dreidel games to come.
- Night 3, Sunday, December 6: the wooden dreidel. Now the gelt has something to be won with.
- Night 4, Monday, December 7: raw honey. For tea, for challah, for the middle of a long week.
- Night 5, Tuesday, December 8: the blue mini candle. A decorative candle for the table, separate from the menorah.
- Night 6, Wednesday, December 9: salted caramels. Something sweet for the second half of the festival.
- Night 7, Thursday, December 10: winter tea. A quiet night in with a pot of tea.
- Night 8, Friday, December 11: the blessing card and keepsake. The last gift is the one that stays, opened before the candles and Shabbat on the final Friday.
Building your own eight nights
If you are putting nights together yourself, mix sizes. Not every night needs a big gift. One simple pattern: two larger gifts (nights 1 and 8), three consumables, two small keepsakes and one experience, like a family game night with the dreidel.
Foods fried in oil, such as latkes and sufganiyot, are part of the holiday because of the oil, which is why olive oil appears in both of our boxes. For the cook, a Raihan Saffron Gift Vial, 1 g makes a small night-five or night-six gift. For someone far away who is celebrating alone, The Thinking of You Care Box says you remembered.
Notes on customs and labels
- Kosher. We do not label these boxes kosher. If your recipient keeps kosher, email us before you order and we will share what each item's label says.
- Allergens. The Eight Nights box contains milk and soy; the Festival Glow box contains milk, soy and wheat. Full ingredient labels are inside.
- Greeting. "Happy Hanukkah" is always right. "Chag Sameach" means happy holiday.
- Spelling. Hanukkah and Chanukah are the same holiday; both spellings are common.
- Timing. Because the first night is a Friday, a gift that arrives Thursday can be opened calmly, not in the rush before sundown.
Why we built the Eight Nights box
A gift box usually gets opened in one sitting. We wanted a box that lasted the whole festival, so we packed eight separate wrapped gifts, each one small enough to open in a minute and useful long after the candles are gone. We chose olive oil as the first gift because oil is at the heart of the story.
We also set the delivery date by the calendar. With the first candle on a Friday evening, a Thursday delivery is the difference between a relaxed first night and a scramble.
Shop every box in our Hanukkah gifts collection, and see dates for Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve on our order-by dates page. Past the Express date? The Exclusive Gift House E-Gift Card arrives by email.
Questions
When is Hanukkah 2026?
The first candle is lit at sundown on Friday, December 4, 2026, and Hanukkah ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12.
When should I order Hanukkah gifts?
Order by Mon, Nov 23 with Standard shipping or Mon, Nov 30 with Express. We plan delivery by Thursday, December 3.
Why do you plan delivery for Thursday?
The first night is a Friday, with candles lit before Shabbat, and many families prefer no Saturday deliveries. A Thursday arrival avoids both.
Are your Hanukkah boxes kosher?
We do not label them kosher. Email us before you order and we will share what each item's label says.