Hanukkah and Christmas
Click here to read an article published by Religion Unplugged concerning Hanukkah and Christmas falling on the same day. Click here for a list of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship services.

Hanukkah, with its various spellings, and Christmas fall on the same day this year, which is an unusual occurrence. 

Hanukkah, also is known as the Jewish Festival of Lights, begins on Dec. 25 and lasts until Jan. 2. Christmas Day, for some Christians, is the first day of Christmas. It ends on the date of the Epiphany, which is Jan. 6 for Western Christians. The Epiphany commemorates the first manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi or Wisemen. 

Locally, many churches will have Christmas Eve services, and a few will have services on Christmas Day. Click here for a list of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.

Temple Mizpah will host a Hanukkah dinner at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27. A service will follow. Cost is $5. Call (325) 672-8225 for a reservation. 

Hanukkah is an eight-day festival that begins at sundown on the first day of the observance. Hanukkah is based on the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple in 165-164 B.C.E. The story tells of the miraculous oil lamp that burned for eight days when it was filled with oil sufficient for only one day. 

Monica O’Desky, cantor at Temple Mizpah explained why it is spelled in various ways:

“The problem comes from trying to translate from Hebrew to English. Hebrew for Hanukkah is חֲנֻכָּה. Now reading from right to left as you do in Hebrew, that first letter is a ‘chet.’ The sound is that guttural throat sound like you were clearing your throat or gargling! You hear it in some European languages, but not in English at all. So right away you need to make it an ‘H’ or a ‘CH’ but actually neither is correct,” O’Desky wrote.

“The third letter with a dot in it is a ‘KAF.’ If it has the dot (called a dagesh) it is a hard ‘K’ sound. Without it, it sounds just like the ‘chet!’ The dot represents a few things grammatically, but one of them is doubling of the letter as in, well, leTTer. There are no doubled letters in Hebrew. Because of that, you see the English as HanuKKah to represent that doubling, although it would make no difference in pronunciation if it were not there. Just like ‘leTer’or ‘leTTer’ sound the same!”