Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Join thousands of readers who support our workDONATE NOW
Community

How Do You Spell Hanukkah / Chanukah?

8 crazy nights of candles, fried food, and celebrating miracles.

It’s the Jewish festival of lights, Hanukkah.

Or is it Chanukah?

In Hebrew, there’s no room for debate: The word, חנוכה, pronounced with the same first guttural sound as “challah,” is always spelled the same way. But in English, there’s more wiggle room.

The Associated Press (as well as the Forward, the Jerusalem Post, Tablet Magazine and the Jewish Telegraphic Association) opts for “Hanukkah,” while Chabad uses “Chanukah,” and a 2017 Manischewitz poll found that most Jewish Americans surveyed use this spelling, too.

So what do you think? How do you spell the holiday in English?

Have more to say or your own Hanukkah story to submit? Email us.

Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.