Single Spelling of Hanukkah Is Only Thing Lost in Translation

What’s wrong with this sentence? On Thursday night, Jews lighted the eighth and final candle on Hanukkah menorahs, marking the end of Chanuka, the Jewish festival of lights; Hanuka will begin next year on the night of Dec. 23.

Answer: Nothing.

The three different spellings of the holiday are among the most common variations in English that show up in Jewish publications, holiday banners and reference works.

It’s a problem shared by Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus living in an English-speaking world. A favorite religious festival may legitimately be spelled different ways, depending on what transliteration from the original language into English is preferred or customary.

Consistency is sought, but not always easily attained.

When Shoshana Hirsh, planning director for the Jewish Federation’s Valley Alliance in West Hills, wanted to publicize Hanukkah festivals at three locations this year, she had to choose between different spellings by two centers.

“I picked ‘Hanukkah’--the spelling used by the center with the longest history,” she said.

That spelling is also used by The Times. But guidelines at the weekly Jewish Journal in Los Angeles call for “Chanukah” in all news stories. Some ads use different spellings, but the inconsistencies haven’t drawn complaints, said Jewish Journal Editor Gene Lichtenstein.

“We’ve received complaints about everything else, but never about this,” Lichtenstein said.

On the other hand, the Los Angeles Jewish Times featured a lighthearted treatment of the holiday spelling quandary on the cover of its Dec. 6 issue--offering 17 possibilities, including a writer’s suggestion to adopt “Khanukah,” or even “Xanuka” as the new standard.

The biggest problem lies in trying to replicate the throaty “H” of Hebrew with an English equivalent. “Ch” is often preferred in English-speaking Jewish circles, justified by some as being close to the “ch” sound in words such as “mach,” “Bach” and “Loch Lomond.”

However, whenever an English word begins with “ch,” the inclination is to use the sound found in words like “chair” and “chalk.”

Given the choice between starting the word with “H” or “Ch,” the latter is preferred by Zev Garber of Valley College, who is president emeritus of the National Assn. of Professors of Hebrew.

“But using a double ‘k’ [toward the end of the word] is the correct rendering from the Hebrew,” Garber said. “The first ‘k’ is after a short vowel and closes that syllable, and the second ‘k’ starts the next syllable. The ‘h’ at the end, however, is redundant.”

The Jewish communities are not alone in having spelling differences.

* When the Muslim Ramadan month of daytime fasting ends around Feb. 9, Muslims will begin the three-day holiday of “Eid al-Fitr,” which in Arabic means the “festival of breaking the fast.” Some Muslims spell that holiday “Id ul-Fitr,” “Id al-Fitr,” “Id ul-Ftr,” among other variations, but most Americans tend to pronounce “id” the way they do the psychoanalytic term, rather than using an “ee” sound.

Eid al-Fitr is the spelling recommended by the Fountain Valley-based Council on Islamic Education, which works with major school textbook publishers in the United States. “We are very pleased that several publishers have accepted our suggestions,” said Council Director Shabbir Mansuri.

* Buddhists, especially Terevadan Buddhists with origins in Southern Asia, celebrate “Vesak,” or “Wesak,” on or near the full-moon day in May in the triple observation of the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.

“ ‘Wesak’ is correct; that’s just the way it is,” said Karuna Dharma, an American-born convert to Buddhism who has been abbess of the International Buddhist Meditation Center in Koreatown since 1980.

However, it is spelled “Visak” by the HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion and Vesak by the Publishers Weekly Religion BookLine newsletter--two relatively new sources for academics and journalists among many published resources.

* Hindus observed on Nov. 10 their own festival of lights, spelled “Diwali” by the Artesia-based Federation of Hindu Assns. and Religion BookLine. One variation is “Dewali,” which suggests the correct “ee” sound for “i.” But HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion spells it “Divali,” which indicates the proper “vee” sound in the middle.

“The confusion arises because the ‘v’ sound in Sanskrit may become a ‘w’ in pronunciation when it is next to a consonant,” said Kumarswami, deputy editor of the monthly magazine Hinduism Today, published in Hawaii.

“Thus, the word written as ‘svami’ is pronounced ‘swami.’ ”

Compounding the confusion is that the Sanskrit word for the holiday is “Dipavali,” which many practitioners use instead of the shortened word in modern usage, he said.

In Judaism, the spelling of Hanukkah (the recommendation by HarperCollins and Publishers Weekly) varies in popular usage by denominations, some say.

“Chanuka is definitely preferred by the Orthodox whereas Reform prefers Hanukka, and it’s 50-50 among Conservative Jews,” said Yossie Kram, managing editor of Los Angeles Jewish Times, the successor publication one year ago to B’nai B’rith Messenger. Zev Garber, in a separate interview, said he would agree with that estimate.

Nevertheless, Temple Isaiah on Los Angeles’ Westside and Shir Ha-Maalot in Irvine--both Reform synagogues--sent out news releases this year about their “Chanukah” programs.