Dreidel

A dreidel (Hebrew: סביבון, Sevivon) is a four-sided top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is used for a gambling game similar to Teetotum. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 647 KB)From . ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 647 KB)From . ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... erendir A top with sides marked in Braille A top, or spinning top, is a childrens toy that can be spun on an axis, balancing on a point. ... A Jewish holiday or Jewish Festival is a day or series of days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. ... Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) (‎), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday beginning on the 25th day of the month of Kislev, which may fall anytime from late November to late December. ... A teetotum is a form of top, used in various games of chance; the body is of polygonal shape, marked with letters or numbers, which decide the result of the game, according to the side which remains uppermost on the fall of the top after spinning. ...

Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet: נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (Hei), ש (Shin), which together form the acronym for "נס גדול היה שם" (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 ש (Shin), the letter פ (Pe) is written to symbolize the location of the miracle — "פה" (Po – "here"). → [Nun] is the 14th letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic alphabet (in abjadi order). ...   Gimmel is the third letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Syriac, Phoenician and Hebrew. ... He is the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician , Aramaic, Hebrew , Syriac and Arabic . Its sound value is a voiceless glottal fricative (). The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Epsilon, Etruscan , Latin E and Cyrillic Ye. ... Shin (also spelled Sin or Sheen) is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic (in abjadi order, 12th in modern order). ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... Pe is the seventeenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic alphabet (in abjadi order). ...

The Yiddish word "dreydl" comes from the word "dreyen" ("to turn"). The Hebrew word "sevivon" comes also from the root "sov" ("turn") and was invented by Itamar Ben-Avi (the son of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) when he was 5 years old. Before that, different terms were used by Hayyim Nahman Bialik in his poems.^{[citation needed]} While the only mandated mitzvot for Chanukah consist of lighting candles and saying the full hallel, there are numerous other customs that have come to be associated with Chanukah. Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ... Itamar Ben Avi (איתמר בן אבי) (1882-1943), born Ben-Zion Ben-Yehuda (בן ציון בן יהודה), son of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the reviver of the Hebrew Language. ... Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (Hebrew אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן־יְהוּדָה) (January 7, 1858 – December 16, 1922), was principally responsible for the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language from its previous state as a liturgical language. ... Hayyim Nahman Bialik (January 9, 1873–July 4, 1934), also commonly written as Chaim or Haim Nachman Bialik and in the Hebrew language as חיים נחמן ביאליק, was a Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew. ...

Dreidel Songs

There are many popular Hanukkah songs mentioning the dreidel. The Hebrew word for dreidel, Sevivon, is also the name of one of the most popular children's songs of the holiday. Dreidel A dreidel (Hebrew: סביבון, ) is a four-sided top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. ...

Lyrics of Sevivon

The first text is the more common Hebrew version with the accompanying English version:

Hebrew (Transliterated)

Sevivon, sov, sov, sov
Hanukkah, hu chaq tov
Sevivon, sov, sov, sov!
Hanukkah, hu chaq tov

Chag simcha hu la-am
Nes gadol haya sham (po)
Chag simcha hu la-am.
Nes gadol haya sham (po)

English

Dreidel, spin, spin, spin.
Hanukkah is a great holiday.
Dreidel, spin, spin, spin.
Hanukkah is a great holiday.

It is a celebration for our nation.
A great miracle happened there (here).
It is a celebration for our nation.
A great miracle happened there (here).

Lyrics of Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay.
When it's dry and ready, with dreidel I shall play.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made you out of clay.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, with dreidel I shall play.

It has a lovely body, with leg so short and thin.
When it gets all tired, it drops and then I win!
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, with leg so short and thin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, it drops and then I win!

My dreidel's always playful. It loves to dance and spin.
A happy game of dreidel, come play now let's begin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, it loves to dance and spin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. Come play now let's begin.

I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay.
When it's dry and ready, with dreidel I shall play.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made you out of clay.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, with dreidel I shall play.

Braille dreidel

A specific sort of dreidel is The Braille Dreidel by Art as Responsa, where the above mentioned letters are replaced by braille symbols. The book "Jeremy's Dreidel" by Ellie Gellman (1992) is a story about a young boy who makes a braille dreidel for his visually impaired father.

Trivia

• The Kinsey Sicks, an acapella drag queen quartet, sing a parody of the dreidel song, titled "Maidl, Maidl, Maidl," in their holiday show, titled "Oy Vey in a Manger."

• "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel", is featured on the South Park Christmas Album. It also is sung by Kyle in their first Christmas special.

• In The Simpsons episode Homer's Triple Bypass Homer asks Krusty's father Rabbi Krustofski for the money, he needs for his operation. But instead of the money he only gets a dreidel, which he then shows to Bart.

The Kinsey Sicks is, in their own words, Americas Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet. In other words, theyre basically a San Francisco-based a cappella group that started in 1993, consisting of four gay men who perform in drag. ... For other uses, see South Park (disambiguation). ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Homers Triple Bypass is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons fourth season, which originally aired on December 17, 1992. ...

See also

• Hanukkah games: Dreidel and gelt
• Chanukah music

In the 'Family Guy' Episode titled 'I Wish Upon a Weinstein,' a jewish person comes into the cartoon when an oversized dreidel falls from the sky and lands in the street Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) (‎), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday beginning on the 25th day of the month of Kislev, which may fall anytime from late November to late December. ... Chanukah music contains several songs associated with the festival of Chanukah. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Dreidels

• Why do we play with Dreidels on Chanukah?
• The Origin of the Dreidel
• The Braille Dreidel
• Just Dreidels a site centered around the dreidel
• Dreidel game