The White House just kicked off Hanukkah, which doesn't begin for 11 more nights

The White House kicks of Haunakkah early — (Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Hanukkah, the annual Jewish festival of lights, begins at sundown on Dec. 22 this year. Unless you are at the White House, in which case it kicked off on Wednesday.

People in #MAGA yarmulkes mingled among Christmas trees at the annual White House celebration of Hanukkah, a festival to commemorate a lamp-based miracle during the Maccabean victory against the Seleucid Empire in about 165 B.C. Evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress and lawyer Alan Dershowitz both spoke, celebrating President Trump, and Trump touted an executive order he had just signed purportedly aimed at fighting anti-Semitism on college campuses. Then it was time to light the menorah.

Or, actually, it wasn't time. "This isn't like Christmas lights (which are lovely!) that are supposed to go up for all of December," tweeted Daniel Drezner, an international relations professor and Washington Post columnist. "You light the menorah for those eight nights." He also found this:

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.