Why is the holiday of Chanukah called Chanukah?

One answer is that this name spelled in Hebrew חנוכה is actually a conjunction of two Hebrew words- חנו and כה. The word חנו means they camped or rested. כה is the way the number 25 is spelled in Hebrew. Every letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value.The letter כ equals 20 and the letter ה equals five. Together they make 25. So they rested on 25, the day of the month of Kislev that the battle ended and the Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple) was retaken and restored.

The question arises that if we are commemorating the victory of taking back the Beit HaMikdash why not use a word that depicts victory, not just resting from battle? An answer given is that celebrating victory can be misconstrued as celebrating our military accomplishments. Therefore we use a word that implies only a break from war with the significance of that being the ability to restore the Avodah (the Divine Service) to the Beit HaMikdash.

In the commentary of Maharsha (Talmud Shabbat 21b) we find another reason for the name. Chanuka in Hebrew means dedication as in dedicating something new into use. The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 52b) relates that when the Chashmonaim (also known as the Maccabees) entered the Holy Temple they realized that the vessels had been made tamei (ritually impure) rendering them unusable for the Temple service. They set out to purify them but when they came to the Mizbeach (altar) they had no way to purify it. They had to dismantle it, hide its stones, and build a new one. Therefore they called the holiday Chanukah (which means dedication) to commemorate the dedication of the new altar. Thus the holiday that celebrates the return of the Avodah (divine worship) to the Jewish people commemorates through its name the new altar upon which the Avodah was performed through the offering of Korbanot (sacrifices).

Based on this there is an interesting explanation given as to why we eat sufganiyot (the Hebrew word for doughnuts) on Chanukah. After eating bread we recite Birkat HaMazon (Grace after meals). After eating food made from one of the Five Grains (wheat, barley, oats, spelt, rye), drinking wine, or eating grapes, olives, pomegranates, dates, or figs, we recite Birkat Me’ein Shalosh, widely referred to as Bracha Achrona, which is a condensed version of Birkat HaMazon.

In Birkat HaMazon we pray, “Have compassion, Hashem, our God, on Israel, Your people, on Jerusalem, Your city, on Zion, the dwelling place of Your glory, on the kingship of the house of David, Your anointed; and on the great and holy House upon which Your Name is called.”

In the Bracha Achrona we make an additional request. “Have compassion, Hashem, our God, on Israel, Your people, on Jerusalem, Your city, on Zion, the dwelling place of Your glory, on your altar and your sanctuary.” Here we add a prayer for the altar. Therefore on Chanukah when we commemorate the dedication of the new altar, we eat food like doughnuts which after eating them we recite the Bracha Achrona in which we pray for the altar’s return (this is in addition to remembering the miracle of the oil through eating doughnuts or Latkes which are fried in oil).

May we see this prayer fulfilled speedily in our days!

Shabbat Shalom & Happy Chanukah!
Yitzchak