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"Oh
Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay.
And when its dry and ready, Oh dreidel I shall play."
Children's Hanukkah Song
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The
dreidel is a four sided spinning top with a different Hebrew letter on
each side. The word for dreidel in Hebrew is S'veevon.
Dreidel is
a Yiddish word taken from the German word drehen (which
means to turn).
Dreidels
can be made of any materials. |
Outside
of Israel (and prior to 1948), dreidels have the letters nun,
gimmel, hay, shin.
These stand for "Nes
Gadol Haya Sham"
which means "a
great miracle happened there."
In
Israel, dreidels have the letters nun,
gimmel, hay, pay.
These stand for "Nes
Gadol Haya Po"
which means "a
great miracle happened here."
Dreidel
Game Rules
Everyone
starts out with the same amount of pennies, chocolate
coins (Hanukkah gelt), candies, raisins, or tokens. All players put one token
in the pot in the center.
Then players take turns spinning the dreidel. The
player acts according to the letter which is facing up when the
dreidel stops spinning.
Here are the results ...
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nun
player
does nothing |
gimmel
player takes the pot |
hey
player takes half the pot |
shin
-
pay
player puts one in the pot |
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