The Hanukkah Dreidel December 1, 2010 - December 9, 2010  Save as Bookmark  Send this Page to Friend. Hanukkah Home   Hanukkah Wallpapers   Hanukkah Greetings   Hanukkah Recipes   History of Hanukkah   Other Customs of Hanukkah   The Dreidel   The Eight Days of Hanukkah   The Menorah   A Dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. In America the letters stand for "A Great Miracle Happened There". In Israel the letters mean "A Miracle Happened Here".     The Dreidel game is played by giving each player a number of coins or candy pieces. Before spinning the dreidel, each player puts a fixed proportion of the amount of coins received into the "Kupah" or kitty. Each player in turn spins the dreidel. When the dreidel falls, it will fall on one of the 4 letters. According to the letter, the following will happen:     Nun - no win / no lose Gimmel - take all (from the kitty) Hey - take half (from the kitty) Shin or Peh - lose (what you deposited)     The game continues until players run out of 'funds' or agree to stop (anyone losing all funds is out of the game).     The dreidel game was popular when Antiochus ruled. Jewish people, struggling to keep their faith alive, would gathered together to study the Torah, outlawed by Antiochus. They would keep the dreidel near by so if soldiers appeared they could hide their scriptures and pretend to play with the dreidel. In Israel the dreidel is called a sivivon. The yiddish word "dreidel" is derived from the German word "drehen", or "turn".