Chanukah on Jay will be moving indoors to Proctors again this year due to the inclement weather forecasted.

To be clear, today’s message is that Chanukah on Jay is moving indoors. Today’s message is not that “Chanukah” is the correct and definitive way of spelling this week’s holiday.

I’ve written about this before, but I think that it’s worth repeating. We do not have a definitive way of spelling our current Jewish holiday, so whatever spelling you use, it is probably OK. Don’t let anyone bully you into believing that you spelled it incorrectly.

The Hebrew name includes sounds that we just don’t make in English, making the transliteration very difficult. So, we start with a basic “hanuka” (ooh, speaking of bullying, my spellcheck doesn’t like this spelling) and then modify it with a “c” at the beginning or an “h” at the end, or we double the “n” or the “k”, all in attempts to either get closer to the Hebrew or at least to an Americanization of the name.

If we ignore the obscure spellings that start with a “k”, use an “x” or a “q”, or even a “j”, there are 16 different letter combinations based on the four optional letters. The best we could possibly hope for is some consistency, but I fear that we are too far gone for that.

Rather than spend too much time on this inconsequential aspect of the holiday, let’s celebrate the revolution of the Maccabees, the rededication of the Holy Temple, the miracle of the oil, religious freedom, and the consumption of latkes, donuts, and other artery-hardening foods.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Chanukah (as spelled on the flyer for consistency and recognition) off Jay on Sunday.

Happy (C)han(n)uk(k)a(h)!