how to say “menorah” in Modern Hebrew
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חֲנֻכִּיָּה
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The word מְנוֹרָה (meh-noh-RAH) in the Torah happens to refer to a specific lamp of great religious significance, but contrary to what Jews in the Diaspora might believe, the word מנורה in Hebrew is really just a regular old lamp. Its root is נ.ו.ר (n.w.r), the same as that of נֵר (nehr) – candle.
מנורה has always, technically speaking, referred to a simple lamp, but in the many generations of Jewish history that Hebrew was not spoken, מנורה had only one significance:
So what do native Hebrew speakers today call the menorah that lit up the old country and continues to illuminate to this very day? We call it a חֲנֻכִּיָּה (khah-noo-kee-YAH), playing off the word for the holiday itself.