Eight days and nights for Festival
CITYWIDE — Oy! It’s Chanukah, not Hanukkah, silly.
The name for the famous Festival of Lights — a Jewish holiday beginning at sundown today — has appeared in two different forms in news publications, textbooks, television, the Internet and just about everywhere else, begging the question: What’s the deal, is it spelled Hanukkah, or Chanukah?
“The better way to spell it is with a ‘ch,’” said Rabbi Jeff Marx of Santa Monica Synagogue on Thursday.
The combination of the letters ‘C’ and ‘H’closely correspond to the correct pronunciation of the holiday. But since many gentiles may have difficulty pronouncing the word, which sounds like “h-kanukkah,”the alternative spelling of Hanukkah materialized.
“English speakers don’t know how to pronounce Hebrew,” said Marx.“Not everyone can make the “ch” sound.”
Regardless of how it’s pronounced, there is only one meaning for the Festival of Lights — the right to be different.
“It’s a holiday about not assimilating into the host culture,” said the rabbi.
The holiday can trace its roots to more than 2,000 years ago, when the Jews rebelled against Syrian rule.
The well-known story of Hanukkah involves the story of the Maccabees, a group of Jews who rebelled against the Syrians, who needed oil to rekindle the menorah that was to burn eternally. There was only enough oil to light the Menorah for one day, but it miraculously continued for eight days and eight nights, hence the time period for which the celebration is observed, according to Marx.
“It’s a holiday to proudly proclaim we’re Jews,” Marx said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 15, 2006. Read the original PDF.