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Call it Hanukkah, call it Chanukah — the argument over spelling is not a scandal, it’s a symptom. The holiday’s name comes from Hebrew, a language whose letters don’t map neatly to English, so multiple transliterations have always been acceptable. Both spellings are commonly used and, for anyone who values clarity over performative outrage, that should settle the matter.
The linguistic truth explains the confusion: Hebrew has a guttural letter that English speakers render in different ways, which produces variations like Hanukkah and Chanukah. That’s not political; it’s transliteration, plain and simple, and dictionaries and encyclopedias recognize both forms. Pretending otherwise — treating spelling as a moral failing — is a modern affectation, not scholarship.
This year, Chanukah — or Hanukkah — began at sundown on December 14, 2025 and runs until December 22, 2025, a reminder that millions of families will gather to celebrate a story of faith and resilience. The Festival of Lights commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees’ victory and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. Even as pundits squabble over letters, Jewish communities are lighting menorahs and carrying on traditions that have survived millennia.
All the while, what should trouble us far more than a spelling debate is the sharp rise in violent antisemitism worldwide. On December 14, 2025 a deadly attack targeted a public menorah lighting in Sydney, killing and wounding many and forcing communities to rethink public celebrations and security. This grim reality should put an end to pedantic fights over how to spell a holy day and redirect focus to protecting religious people exercising their right to worship publicly and openly.
Instead of sanctimonious policing of language, responsible leaders and outlets ought to rally behind practical measures: better security for public religious events, zero tolerance for antisemitism, and honest discussion about how to defend communities from terror and hatred. Jewish organizations and security experts have been urging heightened protections, and that is where attention and resources ought to go, not to virtue-signaling articles about orthography. The media’s fixation on trivialities leaves real vulnerability unaddressed.
So let the holiday be called what families prefer and let the conversation be what it should be: about faith, freedom, and safety. Those who care about preserving our liberties should laugh off the linguistic posturing and stand with religious communities when they are threatened. Language can be messy; courage and commitment are not, and defending both should be the priority.
