For Len Maxwell ( Saturday Writing Essential) ~ How To Spell Ha New Caw חֲנֻכָּה

The only correct spelling for the holiday is in Hebrew....like this  ????????

Everything else is just a translation into another language.

From Wikipedia:  "Hanukkah (pronounced HAH-n?-k? ;Hebrew: ????????, spelled ?????, pronounced [?anu?ka] in Modern Hebrew; a transliteration also romanized as Chanukah, Chanukkah or Chanuka), also known as the Festival of Lights and Feast of Dedication, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar."

We celebrate this holiday every year with special foods, prayers, songs, gifts for the children, and candle lights.  I don't think it's coincidental that the celebration comes at the dark time of the year in the northern hemisphere.  Let's face it.  We all need more light as the winter solstice approaches.

I was raised as a Catholic and fell in love with the only child of holocaust survivors.  We married and raised two children in the Jewish faith at our home while celebrating Christmas and Easter at my parents with our large family.  We avoided clashes with either family and only suffered one minor (but sad and embarrassing) mishap when the holidays coincided as they often do.

My mother had recently purchased a beautiful new modern French Provincial buffet cabinet for the dining room.  We set our menorah upon a cloth mat on the buffet and lit the candles just before sitting down to the Christmas dinner.  The dinner was so good that no one noticed until it was too late that a candle had fallen off and burnt a black hole right through the cloth and into the wood.  The lustrous surface of the wood was forever marred.  My mother and I were both devastated.  She was gracious in her reaction to the accident but I was horrified that our family celebration had damaged her treasure.  As with most things in life, we all got over it and moved on.  I am grateful for all the the family memories in my life as well as the ability to celebrate all the holidays.

To listen to the melody for Maoz Tzur as well as other Hanukkah songs, check out: Hanukkah Songs.

 

The Rules:

• Put this challenge statement at the beginning or end of your submission so readers will know what you’re supposed to do.

Challenge: Using prose or poetry, write fiction, nonfiction, or an essay about one of the following: this Christmas, your plans for New Year’s Eve or Day (if you write it before then), the results of your New Year’s Eve or Day (if you write it after then), your Hanukkah celebration, or your Kwanzaa celebration.

• There is a limit of three submissions from each member per day. If you’re extremely prolific, spread out your work and post only three submissions per day.
• Post to Gather Writing Essential.
• Tag your submission with SatWE.
• Include (Saturday Writing Essential) as part of your title.
• I ask that you make your submission(s) by next Friday afternoon.