Mukilteo Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

Hanukkah came “early” this year. The first candle in the menorah was lit this past Sunday, Nov. 28, on the first night of the eight-day holiday.

Because Jewish holidays follow the lunar-based Hebrew calendar they float in our everyday solar-based calendar. Hanukkah always starts on 25 Kislev in the Hebrew calendar but in the secular calendar it can start as early as Nov. 27 or as late as Dec. 26 (which means the eighth day would be Jan. 3 as it will in 2043).

This is just one example of how being Jewish in Mukilteo and the rest of the United States can be unsettling.

Another thing that...