One light, many colors

Parashat Vayeshevוישב

First night of Chanukah. Chanukah candles are lit before Shabbat candles.

Ask for a seat on Dec 4 Open the presentation

Date: Friday, December 4, 2026
Candle-lighting: 4:26 pm
Havdalah, Saturday: 5:25 pm
Also this week: Chanukah, night 1

The ten Fridays

Fridays, October 16 to December 18.

The story

The week Joseph says his dream out loud: one Chanukah candle at 4:22 pm, then two Shabbat candles at 4:26 pm.

Vayeshev is the week Joseph dreams. He is seventeen. His father gives him a coat of many colors, and he tells his brothers he dreamed their sheaves bowed down to his. They do not take it well. A long, hard story starts here, with a boy who said his dream out loud.

This year the same Friday is the first night of Chanukah. At 4:22 pm we light one Chanukah candle and the shamash, the helper candle. At 4:26 pm we light the two Shabbat candles. Sunset is at 4:44 pm, so the room is still light when we start and dark by the main course.

At the table we go around once. Each person says one thing they hope for this winter, in a sentence, the way Joseph did. Nobody has to explain it. Then latkes, then sufganiyot, and goodnight at 7:26 pm.

This Friday's theme

Joseph's coat and his dreams, and the first Chanukah light lit just before the Shabbat candles

Two lightings, on time, each explained first.

Two sets of candles on a workday. Each line below can be checked on the night.

The first Chanukah candle is lit at 4:22 pm and the Shabbat candles at 4:26 pm, whoever is in the room.
Every blessing is explained before it is said, with the words and a transliteration on a card at each seat.
If work keeps you late, come straight in. Your seat is held all night.
All cooking, the latkes included, is finished by 4:10 pm and kept warm. Nothing is cooked after candles.
The Chanukah candle is tall enough to burn past 6:00 pm, and nobody blows a candle out.
Confirmed guests get the address on Wednesday, December 2 at 10:00 am. Goodnight is at 7:26 pm.

What to count on

Candles are lit at 4:26 pm on December 4.

Hebcal for Santa Monica lists candle-lighting at 4:26 pm on December 4, 2026, 18 minutes before sunset. Checked on October 9, 2026.
December 4 is the first night of Chanukah.

Hebcal lists the first Chanukah candle on the evening of Friday, December 4, 2026, the same evening as Shabbat candle-lighting at 4:26 pm. Checked on October 9, 2026.
24 seats are set for this Friday.

Capacity is fixed at 24 in the invitation. RSVPs close on Tuesday, December 1.
We post the numbers after every Friday.

Seven Fridays come before this one. How many people came to each, and how many were new, is posted after each dinner. No figure appears here until it is counted.
Every message for this Friday has a send date.

Partner briefing November 20, invitations November 24, press kit November 27, address December 2, thank-you December 6. The full schedule is on this briefing.
The partners shown for this Friday are examples.

No business is named until it applies and is approved. Until then the bakery, wine shop, studio and patron in the guest and partner briefings are labeled illustrative.

Press

Awaiting approval

Fridays lights the first Chanukah candle with Shabbat on Dec. 4 in Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 27, 2026

The full release opens once it is approved and the embargo has passed.

Friday 8 of 10

Come to Friday 8, Dec 4.

Candles at 4:26 pm. Ask for a seat and you hear back within 2 days; the address goes to confirmed guests 48 hours before.

Ask for a seat on Dec 4 Or partner this Friday