I Am A Little Dreidel

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights is a joyous Jewish holiday. It celebrates the defeat of the Syrian Greeks by the Maccabees and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. Game-playing during the holiday is very popular. One favorite game is the dreidel game. The dreidel (Hanukkah spinning top) contains four sides. On each side is a Hebrew letter: nun, gimel, hay and shin. The letters stand for the Hebrew words nes gadol haya sham (a great miracle happened there), commemorating the miracle of the jug of oil that burned for eight days. If the dreidel falls on the nun, the player gets nothing. If it falls on the hay, the player gets half. If it falls on the shin the player must put up the amount agreed upon at the start of the game. If the player gets a gimel, the player takes the whole pot. A song favorite called I Have a Little Dreidel is often sung at Hanukkah time.