A temporary gap, pause, break, or absence can be called a hiatus. When your favorite TV show is on hiatus, that means there are no new episodes — not forever, just for a little while.
Even things that go on for a long time take a break once in a while: one kind of break is a hiatus. If someone has to leave her job for a time, she's going on hiatus. A touring band will need to take a hiatus if the lead singer gets in an accident. The key thing about a hiatus is that it's an interruption of something that was happening, but it's not a permanent break.