DREIDEL

A dreidel or Jewish top (sevivon in Hebrew) is a time-honored symbol of Chanukah. Its origins go back to the time of the Maccabees, when Jews were imprisoned by the Greeks for the "crime" of studying Torah. Some say that while in jail, these Jews would continue to study Torah, but would either use the cover of playing with the dreidel to hide what they were doing or quickly take out the dreidel when someone approached. Others say that the Jews who were not imprisoned would use the dreidel as a cover for studying Torah.

Every dreidel has four sides with one Hebrew letter on each side. Each of these letters is the first letter of a word.  The four letters [outside of Israel] are:

• Nun - the first letter of the word nes, which means "miracle"

• Gimmel - the first letter of gadol, which means "great"

• Hey - the first letter of haya, which means "was" and

• Shin - the first letter of sham, which means "there"

In Israel, the last letter is Peh, the first letter of Poh, which means here (as the miracle occurred in Israel).

Thus, these four letters stand for the words that make up the sentence: "A great miracle happened there/here."

The game of dreidel still serves as a reminder of our eternal vigilance toward studying the Torah and our determination to not let anyone stand on the way of that study.

It also said in mystical Kabbalah teachings, that the four letters represent the four different historical empires, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman, that tried to destroy the Jewish people. Today, we are in the exile that stemmed from the time the Romans destroyed the Second.

PLAYING WITH THE DREIDEL

One of the first things young children are taught about Chanukah is the dreidel. A dreidel can be spun both on its top and on its point. It is fun to see who can keep the dreidel spinning the longest.

The most well known way of playing with the dreidel is to play for Chanukah "gelt." After an initial “pot” is started, everyone takes turn spinning. The results of each spin are the following:  

• Nun – no action/neutral

• Gimmel - spinner takes the pot

• Hey - spinner takes half the pot

• Shin - spinner puts one in (or matches the pot)

The Yiddish words corresponding to the letters also explain the rules of the game:

• Nun=nit (nothing)

• Gimmel=gantz (all)

• Hey=halb (half)

• Shin=shtell (put)