1. Whether you spell it Hanukkah, Chanukah, Hanukah, don’t worry about it — they’re all right. These are all English transliterations for the Hebrew word, which means as long as you’re pronouncing it right, you’re A-OK.2.
The word “Hanukkah” translates to dedication, which also helps explain the holiday. Each year, Hanukkah marks the rededication of the second temple in Jerusalem, when the Maccabees stood up against Antiochus and reclaimed the temple from the Greeks.
Here’s what led to that: Judea, or the Land of Israel, fell under control of the Seleucid king of Syria, Antiochus III, around 200 B.C.
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