Hebrew Letters On The Dreidel

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No doubt you have heard of a Dreidel (Hebrew: Sevivon), and perhaps you have already used one. A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top, played with by adults and children alike during the festival of Hanukkah.

On each of the four sides of the dreidel, there is a different Hebrew letter. The letters are Nun, Gimel, Heh, Shin. By now you will be able to recognise these Hebrew letters, so you can already read the letters on the dreidel!

Originally, these Hebrew letters stood for the Yiddish words nite (nothing), halb (half), gants (all) and shteln (put). (Yiddish is a Jewish language which uses the same alphabet as Hebrew, even though it is not of Semitic origin). Games involving the dreidel can be played in various ways, all involving one of these four outcomes - for example, do nothing, take half, take all, or put something in.

 
However, these four letters also stand for the Hebrew sentence Nes Gadol Haya Sham (a great miracle happened there). The miracle is the one which occurred at Hanukkah, in which the oil that was used to light the menorah in the holy temple of Jerusalem after it had been cleansed miraculously lasted eight days, when there was only enough left to last one day. In Israel, however, the letter Shin is often replaced with the letter Pe which stands for the word Po (here), making the sentence more meaningful to Israel's birth as a nation. With this replacement word, the sentence becomes a great miracle happened here (in Israel).

Since Hebrew letters also stand for numbers, the four Hebrew letters on the dreidel add up to 358, which is the same numerical value as mashiach (messiah) in Hebrew. Therefore, many Jews associate the dreidel with hopes of the Messiah coming.

Alternatively, the Hebrew word nachash (snake) also adds up to 358. Since the serpent in the Hebrew Bible is a symbol for sin, the Gematria (numeric value) of the Dreidel can also be a symbol for both possible outcomes - either we follow the Messiah, or we follow sin! As life spins around and eventually comes to rest, it is up to us to make sure which one we follow!

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