From the Rabbi

One of my favourite recurring queries about the Jewish holidays is “How do you spell [the holiday that falls on the 25th of the Jewish month of kislev]?”

It’s a favourite because it invariably leads to wonderfully informative and often entertaining stories of folks’ encounters with this festival, whether in their family of origin, or over the years at school, work and elsewhere. Everyone knows something about this 8 days light-fest, and everyone has an opinion for how it should be spelled.

Of course, there is one clear way it is spelled — with the same Hebrew letters that form the root for the words dedication and education.  Far more important than how we spell Hanukkah in transliteration is how we bring to light, and to life, those values and practices in our community/ies.

As the colder and darker time of the year approaches, we’ll be lighting the Chanuk…Hanukkiy … oy, menorah  together, warding off the short days with the light. We’ll sing, eat and dance, and no matter what we have previously learned, learn more — about ourselves, our tradition, and our values.

As far as the “correct” transliteration goes, my best rabbinic response is: it depends! But my dictionary says: Hanukkah. Ask me why.

With bright, shining wishes for a hag urim sameah — a joyous festival of lights.