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The game of dreidel is most commonly played on Hanukkah, the festival of lights. Legend has it that Jews used dreidels
to fool the Greeks in the 19th Century–if they were caught studying Torah (an illegal activity), they would quickly pull out their dreidels and pretend to be playing the game instead.
The letters on the dreidel represent the story of Hanukkah, with the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hey, and shin standing
for nes gadol haya sham, or “a great miracle happened there.” In Israel, the shin is replaced with a pey to read nes gadol haya po, or “a great miracle happened here.”
To play the game, deal every player with 10 pieces of gelt–gelt can be the traditional gold coins made of chocolate, or
something else like nuts, candies, pennies, rocks, etc.
Before each turn, each player puts one piece of gelt into the
center. Each player takes a turn rolling the dreidel. If a player
lands on:
Nun: “Nu-nu-nu-none!” The player does nothing.
Gimmel: “Gimme, gimme, gimmel!” The player wins all pieces
of gelt that are in the center!
Hey: “Oh hey, half” The player takes half of the pieces of gelt
that are in the center. (If there’s an uneven number, you can
choose as a group whether to round up or down).
Shin: “Shin, shin, put one in!” The player puts a piece of gelt in
the center.
When a player runs out of gelt, they are out. The game ends
when one player wins all of the gelt!
Two Menorahs
Two menorahs are sitting in the window.
The first one says, “Wow, it’s getting hot with all these candles.”
The second one says, “Woah, a talking menorah!”
Gift Lists
Q: What’s the best Hanukkah gift for someone who has everything?
A: A burglar alarm.
Hanukkah Manners
It was just before Hanukkah and Miriam, a grandmother, was giving directions to her grown up grandson who was coming to visit with his wife for the first time since Miriam had moved to her new apartment.
“You come to the front door of the condominium complex. I am in apartment 3A.” Miriam told her grandson.
‘There’s a big panel at the door. Use your elbow to push button 3A and I will buzz you in. Come inside and the elevator is on your right. Get in the elevator and use your elbow to press the 3 button. When you get out, my apartment is on the left. Use your elbow to ring my doorbell and I’ll open the door for you.”
“Grandma, that sounds easy,” her grandson replied, “But why am I hitting all these buttons with my elbow.”
Miriam answered, “You’re coming to visit empty handed?”
I have a little dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it’s dry and ready
Then, dreidel I shall play
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it’s dry and ready
Then, dreidel I will play
It has a lovely body
With legs so short and thin
And when it gets all tired
It drops and I will win
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it’s dry and ready
Then, dreidel I will play
My dreidel is so playful
It loves to dance and spin
A happy game of dreidel
Come play now, let’s begin
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it’s dry and ready
Then, dreidel I will play
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