Happy "Jewish Holiday that some people..."
 

are afraid they'll mess up the spelling of." :)

Three quick comments on spelling and pronounciation from a Jew

First of all, it's spelled חֲנֻכָּה but in English, it is (Ch or H)a(one n or two ns)u(one k or two ks)(a or ah) This gives 16 different possibilities and I've seen at least half of them. Even the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC isn't consistent. Hannukah and Chanukah are among the most common...

Secondly, in any word from Hebrew or Yiddish, if there is a Ch, it is *never* pronounced like Ch in Cheese (That's why Michelle Bachmann got all of the press for pronouncing Chutzpah incorrectly). Instead, it is aspirated 'H', if you've ever seen Germans in the movies saying "Ach Du Liber", take the sound at the end of the first word and turn down the flem to barely noticeable. If you can't do that, just use 'H'.

Thirdly, There is a t-shirt out this year with Han Solo holding a Memorah that says "Keep the Han in Hanukkah". I love it. :)

Happy CHannukkah :p

Often, when you try to transliterate words from one alphabet into a different alphabet, you get different spellings. For example, I have seen the Hindi word for water written in our alphabet as "pani" or "panee". Hebrew is just as fun to transliterate. I sing with my synagogue's choir, and the Hebrew in our scores is transliterated (it's kinda necessary - music goes left to right, Hebrew goes right to left), but our director makes sure our pronunciation is spot on.

I spell it "Hanukkah" but I'm ok with any spelling. As long as you don't spell it "Christmas". :D

Happy Hanukkah! (LOL at don't spell it Christmas!)

This is exceedingly helpful. :) Happy Hannukah!

I spell it Hanukkah, too! But here's a fun video regarding the spelling conundrum:

http://youtu.be/R7JiDBi_v4c

Dumb question from a Gentile...
 

I used to work with this wonderful Jewish woman, and I remember her saying something about Hannukah not being a big deal like the high holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. She said the only reason it gets as much attention as it does is because it is close to Christmas, and the PC crowd wants to appear as inclusive as possible this time of year. Can someone clarify this? Is it true?

Off topic: The Jewish faith really speaks to me on a very deep level. At one time I considered converting (I'm Roman Catholic!), and it had a lot to do with this Jewish lady I worked with sharing her faith with me. I even spoke to a rabbi, and while he was very welcoming, he told me it would be very difficult to convert because of where I was living at the time (a very rural area with a very small Jewish community). The closest city where I could receive instruction was hours away from me. The rabbi said so much of Judaism is about family, and I wouldn't be able to fully experience that without Jewish family members, or unless I lived in a larger city with a larger Jewish community I could affiliate with.

When I tell people I once seriously considered converting, they look at me like I'm nuts! :D

For the first half, Yes to the first, No for the second.

For the first Hanukkah is definitely behind the "High Holidays" (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) and Passover, pretty definitely behind Shavuot and Sukkot and more or less even up with Simchat Torah, Purim and Tu Bishvat.

For the second, *much* less to do with Political Correctness and more to do with the last 50 years of Christmas Toy Commercials and begging Jewish Kids. :) And it's been much less of a somber holiday than a lot of others, so upgrading it to gift/toy giving holiday is considerably easier than Tish B'Av (which commemerates the destruction of the first and second temples)

I can see where the Rabbi is coming from. On the balance I might not agree with him, but still it makes sense.

I just moved to a more rural area this year, and I couldn't even find a few dreidels and some gelt to throw around.

But yeah, Channukah is not even really a synagogue holiday.

I'm a Catholic who grew up in a mixed Jewish, Italian, Irish neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a kid in the 1960s I remember the 'Ch' spelling being more common. Today it seems the 'H' spelling is more common. Funny story - while of course not part of Catholic teaching we learned the Hannukah story in my Catholic school because so many kids were curious about it in the days when every house had either Christmas lights or a Menorah in the window.

Was working with a 3rd grade class this week. Teacher and I are Jewish. Children were writing holiday notes to the residents of a special care residence for those with Alzheimer's. One boy asked the teacher how to spell (the Jewish winter holiday where we enjoy latkes). Teacher and I informed him to pick a spelling as you can't spell it wrong. The look on his face was priceless.

DaffyKD

Cool. Not sure why on the Ch -> H, but interesting on the "everyone has lights" situation..

How did he end up spelling it?

Hanukkah is definitely not one of the "big" holidays in Judaism. It's become a big deal in the US mainly because Jewish kids have asked their parents why their Christian friends are getting presents from Santa and from their parents and relatives while they themselves get squat. In Israel, it's a minor holiday - you light candles and say the prayers and that's that.

I actually did convert from Roman Catholicism to Judaism. To make a very long story short, I was a cradle Catholic, but the Jewish faith always resonated with me, to the point where I finally approached a rabbi and said, "I want to convert. Can I study with you?" It took over a year before I was officially Jewish, but I came out of that mikveh (the ritual bath you take when you convert) feeling like I'd been reborn. :)

I hasten to add that, although I was an AEPhi when I converted, and I was engaged to a Jewish man when I converted, I would have converted anyway. Becoming Jewish was something that had been in the back of my mind long before I even ever got to college.

I'll shut up now...

"Happy Hanukkah or Chanukkah which ever you like."

DaffyKD