November is October's exact opposite. After a month that barely held one uninterrupted working week comes a month that is nothing but routine: it lands mostly on Cheshvan, the only month of the Hebrew year with no observance in it at all: no festival, no fast, not one marked day.
That is precisely its identity. The rain is falling in earnest, the days shorten fast, everything is back at work, and all the decisions pushed to "after the holidays" come due here. Only in rare years does Hanukkah reach as far back as its final days.
Where the name comes from: "the ninth" that sits eleventh
November comes from novem, nine, and in the old Roman calendar that opened in March that is exactly where it sat. Adding January and February at the head of the year pushed it permanently into eleventh place, and the name was left stranded.
The irony carried into the calendar of the French Revolution, which set out to cut the year loose from Rome and the Church and named the months after weather and season instead. November became Brumaire, "the month of fog". Which is why the coup that brought Napoleon to power in November 1799 is still known as the 18th of Brumaire, in ordinary terms, the 9th of November.
That revolutionary calendar lasted twelve years, and then every Roman name came back, including the ones that do not add up.
The season in Israel: autumn turning into winter
November is the month rain stops being an event. The year's first proper storm usually arrives inside it, and the monthly total on the coast is around a hundred millimetres, several times October's.
Temperatures drop quickly: 25–26°C on the coast at the start of the month, 21–22°C by the end, with nights of 14–15°C. Jerusalem runs at 19–20°C by day and 11°C at night, and the first mornings that need a coat arrive. The sea cools to about 23°C and the swimming season effectively ends.
What is felt most, though, is the light. With the clocks already back and the natural shortening on top, the sun sets before 4:45 in the afternoon by the end of November. Evening starts in the afternoon, and that changes the rhythm of the whole day.
November around the world
One thread runs through almost every November custom in the world: fire and light held up against a dark that is winning.
The month opens with All Saints' and All Souls' Day, and in Mexico with the height of the Day of the Dead. On 5 November Britain lights bonfires and fireworks for the Gunpowder Plot of 1605: "remember, remember, the fifth of November". On the 11th, Germany and the Netherlands mark St Martin's Day, with children walking the streets carrying paper lanterns they made themselves.
On that same date, at 11 o'clock on 11 November, the armistice that ended the First World War was signed, and it has been the day of remembrance in Britain and the Commonwealth ever since, marked with a red poppy. The United States closes the month with Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday, and in India Diwali, the festival of lights, often falls here too.
The Hebrew dates that fall in November
November is the emptiest month on the Hebrew calendar, and in most years it holds no observance at all. It covers Cheshvan and the start of Kislev, and what marks it out are two quiet things:
7 Cheshvan: the date from which, in the Land of Israel, rain begins to be asked for in the daily prayer. There is no ceremony and no restriction attached to it; it is simply the day the Hebrew calendar concedes that winter has started.
Rosh Chodesh Kislev: falling at the end of November or the start of December, and beginning the count towards 25 Kislev.
Hanukkah: usually not in November at all, but in the very earliest years the first candle is lit on 28 November. That is the earliest date the festival can reach. Hanukkah page.
The grid at the top of this page shows November for the year selected with the Hebrew date under each civil one, so you can see at a glance where Cheshvan ends and Kislev begins. The button above it prints the month to a single page. For every date in the year at once there is the annual holiday calendar; for the current month, the home page.
Common questions about November
How many days are in November?
Thirty.
Which Hebrew months fall in November?
Cheshvan and Kislev. When the Hebrew calendar runs late, almost all of November sits inside Cheshvan.
Is there a Jewish festival in November?
In most years, none. Cheshvan is the only month of the Hebrew year with neither a festival nor a fast, and only in unusually early years does Hanukkah reach the last days of November.
Can Hanukkah start in November?
Yes, but only just. 25 Kislev drifts between 28 November and 27 December on the civil calendar, so a first candle in November is a rare case. This year the first candle falls on 7/12/34.
Why is November called that if it is the eleventh month?
The name comes from novem, nine, after its place in the old Roman year that began in March. Adding two months at the front shifted it by two, and the name was never changed.