In my experience, it's not really a term you'll come across unless you're Jewish/around a Jewish family at Hanukkah. I have only ever heard/used this term with my family and other Jews because the generic "menorah" is what's known to the population at large - assuming they know anything about Jews to begin with.
this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2023
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Asklemmy
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Ah, so itβs another one of those tightly guarded Jew secrets. Well, thanks for leaking this one
Did a search. After reading a few articles, I think I can summarize it like this:
Menora means lamp, and is usually 7 candles. Hannukah menora is a lamp for hannukah and has 9 candles. It is usually called a hannukiah, but that's hard for non-Hebrew speakers to say, so we usually hear menora or hannukah menora.
Edit: forgot to include the sources. I'll try to find them all, but here's the one that, though the shortest, said the most.
Edit: found two more of the sources (1, 2), but can't refind the longest one. Sometimes, it's very annoying not having history saved.
No one ever says "hanukia menora' it's either 'hanukia' referring to the menora used specifically during hanukah or 'menora' which is a bit more genetic, but without further explanation it's usually referring to the one with 7 candles.
I've never heard of hannukiah menora, either. I've either heard, menora (most common), hannukah menora (least common), or hannukiah (only heard in specific situations).
Hanukia is pretty specifically a menora for hanukia, so it makes sense to be used in specific situations. Menora refers to replicas/modern day versions of the 7-candle light used in the old temple in Israel. The hanukia was based on it, adding enough for all nights.
I think your autocorrect keeps changing hannukah to hannukiah, which caused my misunderstanding haha
Looks like it changed it once, my bad
No one's bad, mate. We all get caught by autocorrect.
lol wtf is this? I have Jewish heritage and never heard of this
Did you celebrate hanukah growing up? When was the last time you went to synagogue?
Yes. Never went regularly, just for special events, so itβs probably been 5 years.
I've never celebrated with my havurah where anyone called it a menora, it was always a hanukia. Different groups in different places though, it's interesting to hear other people's experiences for sure.
My family have always been fairly pedantic about it. Only call it a hanukkiah. It's a square and rectangles thing, hanukkiahs are menorahs but as a menorah it needs to be able to hold nine candles, with one candle preferably on a higher level than the others to be considered a hanukkiah.
Wait until you find out about the little square hat thing π€―
I knew of it, but I also went to Hebrew High School once a week for like 6 years. Like CCD style, not full time high school, that was secular for me.
I like the word menorah more, so I use it more!