A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem... The first 5 days of Chanuka always have the same dates: 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29 of Kislev. The last three days of Chanuka each have two possible dates: 30 Kislev or 1 Tevet, 1 or 2 Tevet, 2 or 3 Tevet. From a practical halachic perspective, dates of birth or [L] death are calculated by their date, not which day of Chanuka they fell. For example, for someone who died on the 7th day of Chanuka, his yahrzeit is not the seventh day of Chanuka, but rather the first or second of Tevet - whichever it was in the year of death. On the birth side of the issue, a boy who was born on the 8th day of Chanuka might not be able to celebrate his Bar Mitzva on that same Zot Chanuka, if he was in fact born on the 3rd of Tevet and the year of his Bar Mitzva has two days Rosh Chodesh Tevet, making his birthday on the day after Chanuka. [The Parshat Miketz Homepage]
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