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by Drublic on February 8th, 2007

Drublic

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What do the symbols on a dreidel mean and how is the game played?

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  • by canadianhelper on February 8th, 2007

    canadianhelper

    According to wiki:

    Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet: ? (Nun), ? (Gimel), ? (Hei), ? (Shin), which together form the acronym for "?? ???? ??? ??" (Nes Gadol Haya Sham – "a great miracle happened there"). These letters also form a mnemonic for the rules of a gambling game played with a dreidel: Nun stands for the Yiddish word "nit" ('nothing'), hei stands for "halb" ('half'), gimel for "gants" ('all'), and shin for "shteln" ('put'). In Israel, instead of ? (Shin), the letter ? (Pe) is written to symbolize the location of the miracle — "??" (Po – "here").

    Rules of the game:

    The dreidel is the centerpiece of a game which is often played after the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah, to keep the children interested during the short time the candles are burning. Each player starts out with 10 or 15 coins, nuts or other markers, and places one marker into the "pot". The first player spins the dreidel, which lands with one of its symbols facing up, indicating the appropriate action to be taken, corresponding to one of the following Yiddish words:

    * Nun - nisht - "not" - nothing happens and the next player spins
    * Gimel - gants - "all" - the player takes the entire pot
    * Hey - halb - "half" - the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
    * Shin - shtel ayn - "put in" - the player puts one marker in the pot

    Another version differs in that nun is nem - "take", while gimel is gib - "give". The game may last until one person has won everything.

    The dreidel game is played in part to commemorate a game that the Jews under Greek domination played to camouflage their Torah study. Though the Greeks made a law forbidding the study of Torah, the Jews would gather in caves to engage in learning. A lookout was posted to alert the group to the presence of Greek soldiers; if he spotted them, he would give a signal and the Jews would hide their scrolls and begin playing with spinning tops (dreidels) and coins. This ruse gave the impression that they were engaged in gambling, not learning.

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