Dreidel
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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.
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 "Nichts" (nothing), hei stands for "Halb" (half), gimel for "ganz" (all), and shin for "steln" (put in). In Israel, instead of ש (Shin), the letter פ (Pe) is written to symbolize the location of the miracle — "פה" (Po – "here").
The Yiddish word "dreidel" comes from the German word "drehen" ("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.
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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 song of the holiday.
Lyrics of the Song
The first text is the more common Hebrew version with the accompanying English version:
Hebrew (Transliterated)
Sivivon, sov, sov, sov
Hanukkah, hu chag tov
Hanukkah, hu chag tov
Sivivon, sov, sov, sov!
Chag simcha hu la-am
Nes gadol haya sham
Nes gadol haya sham
Chag simcha hu la-am.
English
Dreidel, spin, spin, spin.
Hanukkah is a great holiday.
Hanukkah is a great holiday.
Dreidel, spin, spin, spin.
It is a celebration for our nation.
A great miracle happened there.
A great miracle happened there.
It is a celebration for our nation.
The More Well Known Lyrics
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!
Driedel, 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, where the above mentioned letters are replaced by braille symbols. An example of the braille dreidel is the dreidel in the picture, which was made by artist Marsha Plafkin and is included in the permanent collection of the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles and the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. In the children's book Jeremy's Dreidel, by the Canadian teacher Ellie Gellman, the main character makes a braille dreidel for his blind father.
See also
Trivia
- The 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."
