Posted on 12/23/2016 9:31:18 PM PST by nickcarraway
The Jewish Festival of Lights will commence at sundown on Saturday. But even for those who will be lighting the candles on the menorah there may well be some confusion over just how to spell the name of the holiday. Is it Hanukkah or Chanukah?
The truth is there is no right or wrong answer. They are both translations of a Hebrew word meaning “dedication” or “consecration.” The holiday was given that name because of its celebration of the rededication of the Holy, or Second, Temple by the Maccabean Jews after it had been desecrated by the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire under the rule of Antiochus.
The Hebrew word is pronounced with a guttural “kh” sound that has no direct equivalent in English, making it hard to spell and even harder to pronounce. Chanukah was initially used, but gradually Hanukkah gained in popularity due to its more accessible spelling for native-English speakers.
But then there’s also the matter of whether it’s one K or two Ks. The root of that confusion appears to lie in the fact that there are two ways of making the K sound in Hebrew, with two Ks perhaps being used to represent the second way of making the sound.
The lack of clarity doesn’t end there. There are also a number of other spellings floating around, including “Hannukah,” “Channuka” and plenty more.
Getting the Hebrew pronunciation right does help, though. The last two Hebrew letters of the holiday, “chaf” and “hei,” are equivalent to 25 in the Hebrew alphanumeric system, acting as a mnemonic device to remember that Hanukkah occurs on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev.
If you’re still wondering how to spell it, then the choice is really over whether you want to fall in with the bulk of the crowd or be a traditionalist. Hanukkah has now become the most commonly used spelling, turning up 28.1 million search results on Google, compared with 5.6 million for the more traditional Chanukah.
Adam Sandler – Chanunak Song Lyrics
“Okay...
This is a song that uhh..
There’s a lot of Christmas songs out there and uhh..
Not too many Chanukah songs.
So uhh..
I wrote a song for all those nice little Jewish kids who don’t get to
Hear any Chanukah songs.
Here we go...”
Put on your yarmulke
Here comes Chanukah
So much funukah
To celebrate Chanukah
Chanukah is the festival of lights
Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights
When you feel like the only kid in town without a Christmas tree
Here’s a list of people who are Jewish just like you and me
David Lee Roth lights the menorah
So do James Caan, Kirk Douglas, and the late Dinah Shore-ah
Guess who eats together at the Carnegie Deli
Bowser from Sha Na Na and Arthur Fonzerelli
Paul Newman’s half Jewish, Goldie Hawn’s half too
Put them together, what a fine lookin’ Jew
You don’t need “Deck The Halls” or “Jingle Bell Rock”
‘Cause you can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr.Spock- both
Jewish
Put on your yarmulke
It’s time for Chanukah
The owner of the Seattle Supersonicahs
Celebrates Chanukah
O.J. Simpson, not a Jew
But guess who is? Hall of famer Rod Carew- he converted
We got Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby
Harrison Ford’s a quarter Jewish- not too shabby
Some people think that Ebenezer
Scrooge is
Well he’s not, but guess who is
All three Stooges
So many Jews are in showbiz
Tom Cruise isn’t, but I heard his agent is
Tell your friend Veronica
It’s time to celebrate Chanukah
I hope I get a harmonicah
Oh this lovely, lovely Chanukah
So drink your gin and tonicah
And smoke your marijuanikah
If you really, really wannakah
Have a happy, happy, happy,
Happy Chanukah
Happy Chanukah
Chanukah is the Chinese Jewish version.
They are both translations of a Hebrew word meaning “dedication” or “consecration.” …Transliterations rather than translations. Not always easy to convert sounds from one alphabet to another, especially into a language whose orthography is all over the place phonetically like English.
Let it be known, Chanuka or Hanukka.. the jews have much in common with their brethren muslims. Halakha (halacha) or Shria laws.. wish they just get along in their bit of land in the ME. Happy Hanukka!
Kh is pronounced like a hissing cat.
I learned Chanukah.
Whatever! Let’s have a happy day on Dec 25th!
Merry Christmas!
Enjoy the melody, even if you don’t understand the language in this song - live concert anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pYsdBtf_xM
Well, let’s not start with the leftist habit of attempting to control the language by changing the official “approved” spelling and pronunciation every decade or so. It’s a glottal that the English language as well as our alphabet don’t accommodate particularly well, so of course there will be debate as to the best way to spell it. So, spell it whichever way strikes you as best, and, Happy Hannukah.
“And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of Dedication and Yeshua taught in the Temple, in Solomons porch.” John 10:22 It was on this occasion that Yeshua declared his absolute devotion to HaShem: “I and my father are one.” Because it was on that day that Miryam received the message from Gavriel of her coming son. The Gospel of Luke 1:5-25 fixes the date of Yochanans conception and birth: conceived at Shavuot ( course of Abiya in the priestly service schedule). Miryam is told that Elisheva her cousin is six months pregnant. That would place the announciation at Channukah. Nine months from Channukah is Sukkot or the feast of Tabernacles. This is the actual time of Yeshuas birth. There are also 14 weeks from Channukah to Pesach, or Passover, when Yochanan would be born. So here we have the true times of their births; the Forerunner, John born at Shavuot (Pentecost) and Yeshua born at Sukkot. Both probably circumcised on the eith day of their respective festivals. Dig deeper people G-d is restoring Israel.
“Keep the ‘C’ in Chanukah!”
or Putting the Chan back in Chanukah
One thing though that is useful is that both “accepted” spellings have 8 letters, to go with the 8 days of the festival
“The Hebrew word is pronounced with a guttural “kh” sound that has no direct equivalent in English, making it hard to spell and even harder to pronounce.”
Interestingly, a similar guttural “h” sound was used in Latin: for example, “mihi” (the dative singular form of “ego” = “I”) is pronounced with that same sound.
It is a transliteration from a different orthography and as such there is no “correct” spelling in Latin bast alphabets.
The ‘ch’ sound at the beginning of a Hebrew word is usually pronounced much more softly than in the middle or end. Since it is a transliteration from a non-Latin alphabet, there is no correct spelling beyond what might best convey the meaning.
Chappy Charmonica to all our Jew friends!
Like this!
Buddy Hackett said, “If you make less than $30000 a year, it’s Hanukah. If you make between $30000 and $100000 a year, it’s Chanukah. If you make more than $100000 a year, it’s Christmas.”
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