Dreidel
A Dreidel ( Trendl (Yiddish), draydel (English spelling), Hebrew סביבון sewiwon ), also known as Dreidl , is a top with four sides. It is not, as is often assumed, a prayer top, but a traditional toy that is turned by European-Jewish children during the eight-day festival of lights, Hanukkah . Each side of the dreidel shows a different Hebrew letter: נ ( Well ),ג ( Gimel ),ה ( Hey ),ש ( Schin ). Instead of the letter Shin , one also finds a in Israelפ ( Pe ). They stand for the sentence:
- נס גדול היה שם( Nes gadol haja sham , "A great miracle happened there.") Or
- נס גדול היה פה( Nes gadol haja po , "A great miracle happened here.")
Origin of the Dreidel
According to legend, the Seleucids forbade during their rule over Israel in the 2nd century BC. The Jews teaching and learning the Torah . Practicing the Jewish faith was punishable by imprisonment or death. The Jews who remained religious encouraged their children to study religious traditions despite the prohibition. When Syrian patrols showed up, the children quickly had the dreidel on hand and pretended to play with it. It was said that they only met to play. In this way the Dreidel contributed to the preservation of Judaism.
So much for the legend. In fact, the Dreidel is much younger: A German children's game from the 16th century lives on in the Dreidel. At that time the top was called Toton , it had the (Latin) letters P – N – J – F or A – R – J – F. In Pieter Brueghel's painting The Children's Games (1560) a girl holds up a toton in the lower left.
The Dreidel game
The game that children, according to legend, played with the dreidel back then is still mostly played for candy today during Hanukkah. The players take turns turning the dreidel. The side that faces up shows the profit:
- נWell = ( Yiddish נישט nisht , 'nothing') - You don't win, but you don't lose anything either.
- ג Gimel = (yidd. גאַנץ gants , 'whole', d. H. "Everything") - You win the entire cash box, then each player has to put another piece into the pot.
- ה He = (yidd. האַלב half ) - You win half of the cash register (rounded up). Sometimes it is required that if only one piece remains, each must add one.
- ש Schin = (yidd. שטעל אײן shtel ayn , ' hire ', d. H. "Insert [a piece]") - You have to put a piece in the till. Those who can no longer put anything in the till are eliminated.
The bet can be increased from one piece of Gelt [sic] to two. (see take-give-gyro-game )
Letters with spelling variants
Now
Gimel
Hey
Shin
Pe
Web links
- David Golinkin: The Surprising Origin of the Dreidel. Retrieved March 3, 2018 . (Information about the game on the same page)
- ELLIOTT AVEDON: Game: TEETOTUM. In: VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF GAMES. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013 .
- How to create equal opportunities in the Dreidelspiel