Why is Hanukkah called Hanukkah?

Answer 1

Hanukkah or Chanukah literally means re-dedication. On Chanukkah we re-dedicated the Temple. So too, every Chanukkah each and every Jew re-dedicates himself! So you ask. "What do you re-dedicate yourselves to?" The answer is simple. We re-dedicate ourselves to Torah study, to Mitzvos, to G-d, to BEING JEWISH! That, is why Chanukkah has its special name.

Answer:The name Hanukkah comes from the Hebrew word חנך, which means "to dedicate," since the festival commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees after they successfully rebelled against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd Century BCE.

It is also an acronym for ח' נרות והלכה כבית הלל, which means "eight candles as determined by the school of Hillel." This comes as a result of the fact that in the past, there was a debate over how the menorah should be lit - Rabbi Shammai said that it should start with all eight candles lit and gradually be decreased to one, whereas Rabbi Hillel said it should start with one candle and be increased to eight. In the end, Jewish law sided with Rabbi Hillel and the menorah is lit as he recommended to this day.

Answer 2

Because they want and like to call Hanukkah "Chanukah."

Answer:The first consonant in the Hebrew word Hanukkah is not pronounced like the English letter H. It's a rasping sound, which we often transliterate as "ch."

Answer 3

There are only 2 standard English spellings:

Hanukkah

Chanukah.

All other spellings are just variations. The reason there are so many spellings is because this is not an English word.

Answer 4

Because it's a Hebrew word that only came into English in the 19th Century, so a single standard spelling hasn't been chosen yet.

Answer 5

Since Hanukkah is not an English word, different transliterations are possible.