A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side.

It is used during Hanukkah to

play a popular children's game that involves spinning the dreidel and betting on which Hebrew letter
will be showing when the dreidel stops spinning. Children usually play for a pot of gelt, which are
chocolate coins covered in gold colored tin foil, but they can also play for candy, nuts, raisins
anything really!
Dreidel is a Yiddish word that comes from the German word "drehen," which means to turn. In
Hebrew the dreidel is called a "sevivon," which comes from the root "savov" and also means "to turn."

Origins of the Dreidel

A game similar to the dreidel game was popular during the rule of Antiochus. During this period Jews
were not free to openly practice their religion, so when they gathered to study Torah they would bring a
top with them. If soldiers appeared, they would quickly hide what they were studying and pretend to be
playing a gambling game with the top.

Meaning of the Hebrew Letters on a Dreidel

A dreidel has one Hebrew letter on each side. Outside of Israel, those letters are: ( Nun), ( Gimmel),
(Hay) and ( Shin), which stand for the Hebrew phrase "Nes Gadol Haya Sham." This phrase means "A
great miracle happened there [in Israel]."
After the State of Israel was founded in 1948 the Hebrew letters were changed for dreidels used in
Israel. They became: ( Nun), ( Gimmel), ( Hay) and ( Pey), which stand for the Hebrew phrase "Nes
Gadol Haya Po." This means "A great miracle happened here."
The miracle referred to in both versions of the Hebrew phrase is the miracle of the Hanukkah oil, which
lasted for eight days instead of one.

How to Play the Dreidel Game

Any number of people can play the dreidel game. At the beginning of the game each player is given an
equal number of gelt pieces or candy, usually 10-15.
At the beginning of each round, every player puts one piece into the center "pot." They then take turns
spinning the dreidel, with the following meanings assigned to each of the Hebrew letters:

Nun means "nichts," which means "nothing" in Yiddish. If the dreidel lands with a nun facing
up the spinner does nothing.
Gimmel means "ganz," which is Yiddish for "everything." If the dreidel lands with the gimmel
facing up the spinner gets everything in the pot.

Hey means "halb," which means "half" in Yiddish. If the dreidel lands with a hey facing up the
spinner gets half of the pot.

Shin means "shtel," which is Yiddish for "put in." Pey means "pay." If the dreidel lands with
either a shin or a pey facing up the player adds a game piece to the pot.

If a player runs out of game pieces they are "out."