USPS announces 2026 Hanukkah Forever stamp and New Orleans first-day ceremony

The United States Postal Service announced its 2026 Hanukkah Forever stamp on 28 August, confirming that the first-day ceremony will be held at Touro Synagogue in New Orleans on 29 September. USPS describes this as its ninth stamp for the eight-day Jewish holiday. The public dedication is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Central Time, with Postmaster General David Steiner serving as the dedicating official.

The design centres on a dark blue dreidel bearing rust-coloured Hebrew letters against a turquoise field. Flowers and foliage in light and dark orange, cream and several shades of blue frame the spinning top. USPS art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp from original artwork by illustrator Lisa Perrin. The issue will be produced as a Forever stamp in panes of 20, so each stamp will retain the value of the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Hanukkah begins at sundown on 4 December in 2026. The dreidel is closely associated with the holiday, while the wider celebration recalls the rededication of the Second Temple and the traditional account of a small supply of oil lasting eight days. The design therefore uses a familiar object rather than a literal narrative scene, continuing the modern U.S. practice of representing religious holidays through broadly recognizable symbols. Traditional observances also include songs and foods fried in oil, including latkes and sufganiyot.

For collectors, the announcement supplies the principal elements needed to distinguish the issue: subject, artist, art director, format, postal status and first-day venue. The New Orleans ceremony also creates a clear postal-history connection with Touro Synagogue, a congregation whose roots extend to the nineteenth century. First-day material from the event will form the earliest dated usage associated with the issue. The pane format will allow collectors to preserve both individual examples and complete multiples.

The ceremony at 4238 St. Charles Avenue is free and open to the public, and USPS encourages advance registration. Stamps and related philatelic products are expected through normal USPS sales channels. The announcement does not state the printer, printing process, dimensions, plate layout, product numbers or print quantity.