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11 charming photos of Hanukkah in Israel in the old days

Soldiers scoffing donuts, dreidel-inspired dances and serious candle-lighting ceremonies – not much has changed when it comes to Hanukkah.
A black and white photography of five adults in formal attire, including Golda Meir and David Ben Gurion, as they stand near a desk and a menorah on a cabinet. Some are facing the camera and some are turned to the side, while the atmosphere appears formal.
Government leaders including Golda Meir and David Ben Gurion gather for a candle-lighting ceremony after a cabinet meeting in 1953. Photo by David Eldan/Government Press Office

Hanukkah is perhaps the most photogenic holiday in Israel on the Jewish calendar, all sparkly lights, singing people and donuts oozing jam.

Not to mention that there’s no weird things such as fish heads in sight during the week-long festival of Hanukkah.

A black and white photo featuring a group of seven young girls stand indoors in a row, dressed in matching outfits with short-sleeved tops and skirts, each holding a lit candle. They are participating in a Hanukkah ceremony and celebration.
Young girls pose in the shape of a hanukkiah during Hanukkah celebrations in 1948. Photo by Rudi Weissenstein, all rights reserved to Pri-Or PhotoHouse, The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, The National Library of Israel

To celebrate all that is good and beautiful about this holiday of lights, we’ve gathered photos of the Hanukkahs of yore in Israel and its surroundings.

A black and white photo of four young girls dancing indoors wearing large dreidel-shaped costumes, smiling and holding hands, while a group of children watch in the background.
Children perform a dreidel-inspired dance in Raanana in 1948. Photo by Rudi Weissenstein, the Photohouse Collection, The National Library of Israel
A black and white photo of men in military uniforms sitting close together; one wears a knitted hat and looks ahead while the other eats a piece of food, gazing slightly to the side. The background is blurred with indistinct objects.
Soldiers devour donuts at their post on the west bank of the Suez Canal following the Yom Kippur War, 1973. Photo courtesy of GPO

Some are courtesy of the Keren-Kayemeth-LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), which is celebrating a centennial of wonderful archives, giving us the chance to have a more nostalgic Israeli Hanukkah experience.

A black and white photo featuring a group of boys and girls sit in a classroom. Some boys stand and play accordion while another holds a bouquet. Several sit around a table with plants and flowers, participating in a Hannukah celebration.
Schoolchildren gather in the classroom for a musical Hanukkah party in 1949. Photo by Fritz Cohen/Government Press Office
A photo featuring an elderly man who lights candles on a Hanukkah menorah, with several candles already burning. Another person stands nearby, and an oil lamp hangs on the wall in the background. The scene appears indoors.
A member of Israel’s Yemenite community lights a homemade hanukkiah in a moshav in the Jerusalem Hills, 1954. Photo by Fritz Schlesinger/KKL-JNF Photo Archive

Others come from the National Library of Israel and from the hardworking photographers of the Government Press Office (GPO).

A black and white photo featuring Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who sits and smiles, hugging two young children who are looking at dreidels they are holding, during a festive Hanukkah celebration with decorations, flowers, and other children in the background.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir with two of his grandchildren during a Hanukkah celebration in his office in Jerusalem in 1986. Photo by Chanania Herman/GPO
A black and white photo featuring a woman in uniform who stands beside a menorah with lit candles, leading a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony for a seated group of women, also in uniform, in a large room with simple decor.
Jewish volunteers of the British Auxiliary Territorial Service celebrating Hanukkah in Cairo, Egypt, in 1942. Photo by Zoltan Kluger/GPO

All give us a glimpse at the different zeitgeists throughout the ages, while at the very same time revealing how little has changed throughout the generations – for little children doing dreidel-inspired dances has apparently always been the fashion.

A black and white photo featuring a large menorah with lit candles, stands in the foreground of the spacious, brightly lit hall at Ben Gurion Airport, where people are gathered and walking, some carrying luggage.
A hanukkiah is lit at the arrival hall at Ben-Gurion Airport in 1974. Photo by Moshe Milner/GPO
A black and white photo of a group of young students standing close together, holding lit candles and singing. The scene is set during a Hanukkah lighting ceremony.
New immigrant students light candles and sing during a Hanukkah celebration in the central town of Modi’in. Photo by Cohen Fritz/Government Press Office

Happy holidays from all of us here at ISRAEL21c!

A man in military uniform lights a menorah with a young girl beside him, both focused on the candles, during what appears to be a Hanukkah celebration in a grayscale photo.