The dreidel (Hebrew: sevivon) is one of the most recognized symbols of Hanukkah, alongside the menorah itself. Emerging from times where Jews would play games to hide their TorahRefers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, also called the Five Books of Moses, Pentateuch or the Hebrew equivalent, Humash. This is also called the Written Torah. The term may also refer to teachings that expound on Jewish tradition. Read more study, this game is a reminder of the difficult moments in Jewish history and the miracle of the Hanukkah story.
The dreidel has four letters on it, in the following order: Nun נ, Gimmel ג, Hey ה, and Shin ש. These spell out the phrase: Nes gadol haya sham, נס גדול היה שם, meaning: “a great miracle happened there.”
In Israel, the Shin is swapped out with the letter Pey פ, referring to the word poh פה, meaning “here.” This changes the phrase to, “A great miracle happened here.”
Here is how to play the game of dreidel:
What you need:
- A dreidel
- Small tokens or items (some people use gelt/chocolate coins)
- A flat surface
Game tokens are distributed evenly to all players before the game begins.
The gameplay works like this:
- Every player antes a token into the shared pot.
- Players take turns spinning the dreidel.
- Depending on the letter shown, the player acts as described below.
- When the pot is emptied, the gameplay repeats.
What does each letter mean?
- Nun – This letter means that nothing happens, and the play continues with the next player.
- Gimmel – This letter means that you have won the jackpot, and you can take everything in the pot.
- Hey – This letter means that you win half the pot.
- Shin – This letter means that you have to put one of your tokens into the pot.
That’s basically it!
If you want to add your own house rules to make the game more exciting, you can do that!
Happy Hanukkah!
