Let’s Play Dreidel!

Sivivon sov sov! Sivivon is the Hebrew word for the spinning top that goes “round and round”.Timeto play. Make a circle and find some friends or family, at least 3people for a fun game. Distribute coins, chocolates, or candies evenlyamong the players. My family always played with peanuts. Seven or Eightpieces each should do at the beginning.Each player contributes two coins to the middle of the circle.Spin the dreidel! And here’s what to do with each different letter:Nun – mean you get N-N-N-Nothin! Nothing happens, next player’s turn.Gimmel – means you say G-G-G-Gimmee! You get the whole pot of coins!Hey – means you take H-H-H-Half! Player takes 1/2 of the pot.Shin – Sh-Sh-Sh-Shoooot! Ya gotta put 1 coin back in the pot.Every time there is nothing left in the pot, each player must contribute 2 coins to get the next round started.A little more info on the dreidel..Didyou know that “dreidel” is the Yiddish word for it? And the letters oneach side of the dreidel stand for words in both Yiddish and Hebrew.The Yiddish words help you play the game, the Hebrew words tell thestory.To help understand the game, in Yiddish the letters stand for:

• Nun – “nisht” or nothing
• Gimmel – “gantz” or everything
• Hey – “halb” or half
• Shin – “shtel” or put in

To tell the story, in Hebrew the letters the stand for:Nes Gadol Haya Sham! A great miracle happened there.Listen to ShirLaLa Chanukah and follow along with the original Chanukah Comic to learn the rest of the exciting story.Why do we play dreidel? Some people say that it all started whenthe Jews were under Syrian rule and they weren’t allowed to studyTorah. When they saw the Syrians coming their way, they quickly hidtheir Jewish books and took out their dreidels to trick the soldiersinto thinking they were just playing a game.Good luck and happy spinning!

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Posted in Activities for home and classroom, Chanukah, Holidays