How do you spell Hanukkah?

In order to sound out that Hebrew word in English, we have to add vowels because KHNUK-H just doesn't work that well in our language. In addition, the final hey sound, if we just spelled it KHNUKH, would look just like the initial khet (chet) sound.

I guess most of our popular spellings change the gutteral KH at the beginning of the word to a simple HUH sound because KH is not a sound used in modern-day English (except in foreign words like Bach).

It also occurs to me that people stopped using the "Chanukah" spelling because they were afraid it would lead to "CH as in choo-choo" and that would be dreadful!!!

Yiddish is the Eastern European Jewish language which is spelled in Hebrew characters, and uses many Hebrew words, but is derived from older Germanic and Romance languages with some Slavic thrown in.

Although there are plenty of native Yiddish speakers who objected, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research has pretty much succeeded in promulgating a standardized transliteration for Yiddish.

In English transliteration of Yiddish, the word is written "Khanuke" and that sounds like "khanookeh" NOT "khanook."

According to both google and onelook.com, Hanukkah is the most common spelling in English. Oh, well, I have always made unpopular choices. The book is good, though, it's full of wonderful Chanukah songs in my own arrangements for 2- to 4-voices, with guitar chords. And a beautiful cover I painted myself! You can buy it directly: the TJC Hanukah Songbook at CreateSpace and they ship very quickly! Have a look!

I painted this picture from a mosaic at the Beth Alpha temple in Israel, and it came out so well, I made a Hanukkah card out of it. You can personalize it (change the background color, add your own text) very easily and they ship quickly.

Check out This Hanukah card at Zazzle. Thanks!

Here are a few excerpts from the funny BriWise blog post on The Difference Between Christmas and Hanukkah.

He starts by writing: This is not meant to be serious. ... If you are offended, I apologize. If you are mock-offended, I mock-apologize.

Christmas is one day, same day every year, December 25. Jews also love December 25th. It's another paid day off work. We go to movies and out for Chinese food and Israeli dancing.

Chanukah is 8 days. It starts the evening of the 24th of Kislev, whenever that falls. No one is ever sure. Jews never know until a non-Jewish friend asks when Chanukah starts, forcing us to consult the calendar so we don't look like idiots. We all have the same calendar, provided free with a donation from the World Jewish Congress, the kosher butcher, the local Sinai Memorial Chapel (especially in Florida) or other Jewish funeral home.

Christmas is a major holiday. It's easily in the top 5 in Christianity.

Chanukah is a minor holiday that probably wouldn't crack the top ten. It has the same theme as most Jewish holidays. They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat.

Christmas: There is only one way to spell Christmas.

Chanukah: No one can decide how to spell Chanukah, Chanukkah, Chanukka, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, etc.

Christmas: A home preparing for Christmas smells wonderful. The sweet smell of cookies and cakes baking. Happy people are gathered around in festive moods.

Chanukah: A home preparing for Chanukah smells of oil, potatoes, and onions. The home, as always, is full of loud people all talking at once.

This lens is part of Chapel Hill Fiddler's Jewish Lenses CollectionBest Jewish Books • Best Jewish Lenses • Mystery band from the Ukraine • Chai Lifeline helps sick Jewish kids • Hamsa: beautiful good-luck charm from Israel • TJC Hanukah Songbook • When does Chanukah begin in 2009? • How do you spell Hanukkah? • Jewish choral music songbook • I love Yiddish music! • The Jewish Storyteller • Jewish Wedding Music • Mani Leib, famous Yiddish poet-shoemaker • Purim Puppets of Michel Nedjar • A Sephardic song about eggplants • Uncle Shlomo's Pushcart • I love Yiddish!