Hanukkah Tradition Newsletter

This time of the year most people think of Christmas. One of the other holidays that falls in December is Hanukkah. There are many traditions of Hanukkah including eating jellied doughnuts baked in oil, lighting the Hanukkiyh, and spinning the dreidel. Most of us have heard of the dreidel song, but how do you play the game? In this article, I have included directions on how to play dreidel to give you a better understanding of the Jewish culture.

Dreidel instructions:

1. Each player is given an equal number of gelt pieces or candy, usually 10-15.
2. At the beginning of each round, every play puts one piece into the center of the "pot".
3. Then the players take turns spinning the dreidel.
4. If a player runs out of game pieces then they are out.

Meaning of dreidel sides - Nun means "nichts", which means "nothing" in Yiddish. If the dreidel lands with the nun facing up, the spinner does nothing. Gimmel means "ganz", which is Yiddish for "everything". Hey means "halb", which means "half", in Yiddish. Shin means "shtel", which is Yiddish for "put in". Pey means "pay".

The phrase on the dreidel means a great miracle happened here. This refers to the miracle of the Hannukkah oil lasting 8 days instead of one. In 168 BC, a temple was taken over near Jerusalem. The Jewish people went to the temple in effort to purify it. They were going to burn oil for eight days. When they arrived they realized they only had enough oil to burn for one day. They burned the oil and the oil actually burned for eight days. This was a miracle in their eyes. This miracle is why at Hannuka the Jewish people light the Menorah for eight days. I hope you learned something new about the Jewish culture. It is always important to expand you cultural horizons.

By: Rachael M.