Written by: Erin Parfet

Dreidels

Most everyone in the world knows that the Jewish people play with dreidels during Chanukah. Dreidel is a Yiddish term, with “drei” meaning turn; sevivon is the Hebrew term for the same four-sided spinning top. The word sevivon was coined by Itamar Ben-Avi, the young son of Eliezer Ben Yeshua, who is believed to be the lexicographer of the modern Hebrew dictionary and editor of one of the first newspapers in Israel. Interestingly, the term sevivon did not exist until the 19th century, and there does not seem to be any record of other known terminology for the spinning top in Jewish history prior to this time. In such places as England or Ireland, a similar concept to the dreidel exists but goes by the name of “totum” or “teetotum.”

Dreidel games originally had nothing to do with Chanukah but were a simple game being played to distract Greek soldiers from the fact that the Jewish people were practicing their faith and discussing scripture at a time when such activities were outlawed in the Seleucid Empire under the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus IV, also known as Epiphanes. Learning the Torah and the Jewish faith was almost strictly by word of mouth during this era, as written texts were prohibited during this time of intense Jewish persecution.

When Greek soldiers or other government officials showed up at people’s homes to check on activities and obedience to the laws of the time, the Jewish people simply pulled out their spinning tops and told the soldiers they were playing an innocent game or perhaps even some type of gambling game. The winner of the game would win or lose part of a pot of coins, known as gelt in Yiddish. When the soldiers left, they resumed their technically illegal conversations about God and the Torah. The game has been passed down through the centuries by people throughout the world and in different languages.

(The Seleucid Empire was an ancient Greek empire that at one point included Jerusalem, and the Jews had revolted against the Seleucid Empire historically for killing Jewish people who refused to worship the Greek gods or participate in certain Hellenistic traditions that were antithetical to the free practice of Judaism.)

This uprising led by Judah Maccabee did result in victory yielding an independent state, the Hasomonean Jewish Kingdom, which lasted for some period of time before the Romans entered the picture; this interim period of time allowed the Second Temple in Jerusalem to be rededicated to God after being desiccated with Greek idols, dedications of pigs to the Greek god Zeus, and other debauchery by Antiochus IV and company.

There are some who used dreidels as part of gambling games, especially in Germany and German-speaking nations throughout 18th-century Europe. Others believe that while the narrative above may hold some water, modern dreidel playing has some roots in Christianity, that some Jews borrowed spinning tops from their Christian neighbors who played variations of the dreidel game at Christmastime, and that the roots of the dreidel may not even be entirely Jewish. The letters on the Germanic spinning tops differ from the letters of the sevivon, however, and were rather symbolic for the Latin words "nothing", "everything", "half", and "put in.”

In the United States, dreidels are often etched with one Hebrew letter on each side of the top: NunGimelHeyand Shin. These Hebrew letters comprise an acronym for Nes Gadol Haya Sham (“a great miracle happened there“). This comes in contrast to dreidels in Israel, where the shin is replaced with a pey on the sevivon, changing the acronym to Nes Gadol Haya Po (“a great miracle happened here"—given that the Chanukah miracle would have happened in Israel; hence ‘here’ rather than ‘there.”)

The miracle aspect referred to by the letters on the dreidel described in the Talmudic writings (Shabbat 21b) refers to the oil found in the Temple that miraculously lasted for eight days needed for consecration rights, rather than the one day originally expected. This miracle granted time for more oil to be generated, so the light could theoretically shine perpetually, or at least in a more ongoing manner. Thus, the following year, the priests of the time decided to have a festival celebrating the miracle of the oil, lasting eight times longer than expected.

This seems to be the most profound connection that rabbis have found between the Chanukah story and dreidels; there does not seem to be more to the story or anything from the Talmud that would suggest any more spiritual or profound explanations. Rabbis have attempted to find some more spiritual or Halachic explanations for the dreidel, but none seem to exist.

There is no mitzvah that a Jewish person is required or commanded to play with a dreidel at Chanukah; the only mitzvah related to the Festival of Lights includes candle lighting and reciting the Hallel, which is typically recited within the course of morning prayers. Yet, the dreidel game is a popular tradition within many Jewish communities.

Despite being a game of chance, dreidel playing has even become a competitive, quasi-professional “sport.” Major League Dreidel was founded in New York City and hosts various dreidel tournaments taking place on different nights throughout the Chanukah holiday season. Others have sought Guinness Book of World Records honorariums for spinning the most dreidels at one time.

Jewish-American and Brooklyn native Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman went to space in December 1993 to repair the Hubble Telescope during a time that overlapped with the Festival of Lights here on earthside. On his mission into space, he took with him many Jewish objects, including but not limited to a mezuzah (containing the message, “When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars which thou has ordained.”), a havdalah set, a kiddush cup, a menorah, and a dreidel. While lighting Chanukah candles would be difficult to achieve in outer space for safety reasons, Hoffman’s then-Texas-based synagogue secured permission with the Johnson Space Center for him to demonstrate the dreidel floating in air yet spinning in zero gravity for nearly an hour aboard the space shuttle Endeavor on national television. Hoffman is also the first astronaut to read the Torah from the stratosphere.

For those who believe in Yeshua, may we rejoice in the Chanukah miracles and the redemption of the Temple for the Children of God rather than the Temple continuing to be desecrated and dishonored by those who do not follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. May we rejoice that our Jewish brothers and sisters were able to reclaim opportunities to practice their faith openly and study scriptures without oppression. May we continue to advocate for those in the world who cannot practice their religion freely and continue to be lights in our own spheres of influence, even if spinning tops are no longer needed to accomplish these goals.

Hits: 1997

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