Page 62 - HaMizrachi #15 2019 Chanuka USA

WHAT’S IN A WORD

David Curwin

EDUCATION AND DEDICATION

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he etymology of the word Cha- He writes that in the places where the Denominated from chekh, ך ֵ ח (palate)
nukah ה ָּ כֻנ ֲ ח is more complicated verb ךנח is used in regards to the Mish- and originally meaning ‘to rub the
Tthan one might think. kan or Beit HaMikdash (Numbers 7:10, palate of a child with chewed dates.’
Chronicles II 7:5-9), a good translation Compare Arabic hanak (palate), hence
First of all, the popular understanding would be “initiation” or “starting upon hannaka (he rubbed the palate of a
that the name of the holiday comes their course of beneficial service.” If child), hanaka (he taught, instructed).
from a portmanteau of the phrase ּונ ָ ח “dedication” was intended, the verb
ה"כ – “They (the Maccabees) rested on should have been שדק or חשמ. So according to Klein, the develop-
the 25th (of the month of Kislev)” is a ment is palate → rubbing the palate
cute mnemonic, but has nothing to According to Reif, the reading of ךנח as → instruction. It is unclear how we get
do with the origin of the holiday. The “to train, instruct” comes from a mis- from there to “dedicate” (as Klein has
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name comes from the chanukah of the translation of Proverbs 22:6 – ר ַ עַּנ ַ ל ךֹנ ֲ ח it) or “initiate.” As Reif wrote, the case
Temple. ֹו ּ כ ְ ר ַ ד י ִּ פ ל ַ ע. for development from “initiation” to
“education” is stronger than that from
Why can’t I just translate chanukah While the JPS has “Train a lad in the “dedication” to “education.” But consid-
into English? Even just agreeing on a way he ought to go,” Reif prefers “Start ering the linguistic evidence, perhaps
translation isn’t simple. The complica- a boy on the right road.” (Another the order needs to be reversed – the
tion arises from the multiple meanings common misunderstanding of this word first meant education, and only
of the root ךנח. While ךנח in modern verse is that ֹו ּ כ ְ ר ַ ד י ִּ פ ל ַ ע means “according later meant initiation (of the child).
Hebrew can mean “to educate,” as in to his way.” But based on the context of
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chinuch, ךּוּנ ִ ח, I always thought that the verse, which mentions his old age One additional point of interest is that
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ךנח for chanukah meant “dedication.” in the second half, the plain meaning the word chanich ךיִנ ָ ח – which today
However, Prof. Stefan Reif shows how of the phrase here means “at the begin- means “pupil, apprentice, member of a
the basic meaning of the root ךנח is ning of his path.”) youth group” – might not be related to
“to begin, to initiate.” Dedicate, on the A number of Rishonim support Reif’s the root ךנח at all. It appears only once
other hand, means “to consecrate to approach. Rashi on Genesis 14:14 writes in the Bible, in Genesis 14:14: ת ֶ א ק ֶ רָּי ַ ו
וי ָ כיִנ ֲ ח.
sacred uses” – שדק in Hebrew. that “the word ךנח signifies introducing

One of Reif’s proofs is Deuteronomy a person or a thing, for the first time, to The JPS translation is “he mustered his
retainers” and Prof. Menachem Kaddari
20:5, where it says: תִי ַ ב הָנ ָּ ב ר ֶ ׁש ֲ א ׁשי ִ א ָ ה י ִ מ some particular occupation in which it claims that it comes from an Egyptian
ֹוכָנ ֲ ח אלֹ ְ ו ׁש ָ ד ָ ח. is intended he should remain.” Radak
in Sefer HaShorashim follows the same word ha-na ku-u-ka meaning “armed
While the JPS translates it as “Is there approach. retainers.” But certainly today, chanich
anyone who has built a new house but has become fully understood as associ-
has not dedicated it?” Reif would trans- Reif concludes by writing: the later ated with education.
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late it as “initiated it” or “started to development of the noun ךּוּנ ִ ח chinuch To conclude, I think that the best trans-
live in it.” Reif quotes an earlier article in the sense of “education” also demon- lation for Chanukah would be “inaugu-
strates that the rendering “dedication”
as saying it does not mean “remov- is inimical to the essential meaning of ration.” It maintains the sense of initia-
ing from the realm of the profane... the stem. tion, and also denotes consecration, as
to that of the sacred, but the putting appropriate to the Temple.
to common use.” He also points out This all seems very convincing. How-
that no dedication of a private house ever, Reif does not discuss an import-
is found in the Bible or “subsequent ant aspect of the etymology of ךנח. David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat,
Jewish custom” and that “house dedica- Ernest Klein writes in his dictionary and the author of the Balashon blog
tion” is a modern Jewish custom. entry for ךנח: balashon.com • balashon1@gmail.com

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