hanukkat ha-bayit

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Pronunciations

hanukkat ha-bayit (khah-noo-KAHT hah-BYE-eet) listen

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Definitions

  • n. The ceremony of attaching a mezuzah to a new home while reciting two special prayers, typically in the first 30 days of moving in.

  • n. A house-warming.

Example Sentences

  • "There is a ceremony when you put up the mezuzah called a chanukat habayit. Also depends where you live." (source)

  • "The prevalent Jewish custom of holding a Chanukat Ha’Bayit is not obligatory in terms of Halacha, for our Sages have not recorded such an obligation anywhere in the Talmud." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH חנוכת הבית 'lit. dedication of the home' > Y חנוכּת־הבית ‪khanukes-habayis

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

      Alternative Spellings

      hanukkat habayit, hanukkat ha'bayit, hanukat ha-bayit, hanukat habayit, hanukat ha'bayit, chanukkat ha-bayit, chanukkat habayit, chanukkat ha'bayit, chanukat ha-bayit, chanukat habayit, chanukat ha'bayit, khanukkat ha-bayit, khanukkat habayit, khanukkat ha'bayit, khanukat ha-bayit, khanukat habayit, khanukat ha'bayit, khanukas habayis, khanukas ha'bayis, chanukas ha'bayis, chanukas habayis

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