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Dreidel

For elements of Klezmer music, see Dreydlekh.
Dreidels for sale at Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, Israel, with Israel specific lettering on blue dreidels (נ ג ה פ) and diaspora lettering on orange dreidels (נ ג ה ש)
A variety of dreidels

A dreidel, also dreidle or dreidl,[1] (/ˈdreɪdəl/ DRAY-dəl; Yiddish: דרײדל, romanized: dreydl, plural: dreydlech;[a] Hebrew: סביבון, romanized: sevivon) is a four-sided spinning top, played during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a Jewish variant on the teetotum, a gambling toy found in Europe and Latin America.

Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet: נ‎ (nun), ג‎ (gimel), ה‎ (hei), ש‎ (shin). These letters are represented in Yiddish as a mnemonic for the rules of a gambling game derived from teetotum played with a dreidel: nun stands for the word נישט (nisht, "not", meaning "nothing"), gimel for גאַנץ (gantz, "entire, whole"), hei for האַלב (halb, "half"), and shin for שטעל אַרַײן (shtel arayn, "put in"). However, according to folk etymology, they represent the Hebrew phrase נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה שָׁם (nes gadól hayáh sham, "a great miracle happened there"), referring to the miracle of the cruse of oil. For this reason, most dreidels in Israel replace the letter shin with the letter פ‎ (pe), to represent the phrase נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה פֹּה (nes gadól hayáh poh, "a great miracle happened here");[2] however, many Haredi communities insist that shin be used in the Land of Israel as well, because the reference to "there" means in the Temple in Jerusalem and not in Israel. As a result, five-sided dreidels were invented in 2022 to represent the Hebrew phase נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה שָׁם פֹּה (nes gadól hayáh sham poh, "a great miracle happened here and there" or "a great miracle happened everywhere").[3] Twenty-sided dreidels are unique as they are not spinning tops but twenty-sided dice instead.[4]

While not mandated (a mitzvah) for Hanukkah (the only traditional mitzvot are lighting candles and saying the full hallel), spinning the dreidel is a traditional game played during the holiday.[5]

Astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman spun a dreidel made by Israeli silversmith Gideon Hay for an hour in outer space.[6]

  1. ^ "Definition of DREIDEL". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  2. ^ "The Dreidel: More Than Just a Game". Archived from the original on 2021-01-24.
  3. ^ "Treasure Trove: David Matlow explains the significance of a rare 5-sided dreidel". The Canadian Jewish News. 2023-12-10.
  4. ^ "Diced dreidels". Jewish Standard. 2019-12-12.
  5. ^ Brooklyn Man Wins Dreidel Spinning Contest Archived May 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Dave Gordon. "Practicing Judaism in space - Jewish astronauts reflect upon their time in outer space". Community.[permanent dead link‍]


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