The Postal Service issued a 37-cent Hanukkah commemorative stamp on October 10, 2002, in Washington, DC. The stamp, designed by Hannah Smotrich of Washington, DC, went on sale nationwide October 11, 2002.
The stamp, reissued with a new denomination, had been first issued in 1996 as part of the Holiday Celebrations Series. This special stamp was designed in honor of Hanukkah, a Jewish celebration commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 165 B.C.E., three years after its destruction. Because Hanukkah centers on the miracle of light, candles are the primary symbol of the celebration.
Avery Dennison printed 35 million stamps in pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) panes of twenty in the gravure process.
