The Hanukkah Holiday is called in Hebrew ‘chag ha•Cha•nu•ka.’
The word ‘chag’, holiday or feast, illustrate the continuity of God’s holidays. All Biblical holidays are named with prefix word ‘chag.’ For example, we say officially: ‘chag ha•Pesach’ and not just ‘Pesach’ for Passover, and ‘chag ha•Cha•nu•ka’ and not just Cha•nu•ka’. Here are some Biblical examples of the use of ‘chag’ with the name of holidays:
‘And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.’
‘Speak to the people of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord.’
‘And you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give according as the Lord your God has blessed you.’
The root of ‘chag’ means ‘to turn in circles’. Cyclicality of God’s chosen days are of importance that we don’t fully comprehend. We have a hint about this cyclicality in the very first chapter of the Bible when the word ‘mo•a•dim’ is used for seasons:
‘And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years;’
‘He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its setting time’
But ‘mo•a•dim’ is not only ‘seasons’. It is also the Hebrew names for holidays or feasts.
‘He appointed also the king’s portion of his wealth for the burnt offerings, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Torah of the Lord’
The common blessing during Hanukkah is the same as the blessing for all the other holidays: ‘Chag Sa•me•ach,’ ‘happy Holiday.’
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