Dreidels are four-sided tops. One religious explanation for their origin goes back to when the Syrians and Greeks ruled the Holy Land and decreed the study of the Torah taboo. As the story goes, the Jews hid out in caves studying, but when the guards approached, they played the dreidel game to mislead them.
Each Hebrew letter on a side of the dreidel indicates an action: Nun-Nothing/Gimmel-Player gets the pot/Hey-Player gets half the pot/Shin-Player adds one to the pot.
Dreidel games always enlivened our Hanukkah dinners. Our family always gambled with peanuts and sang the song, “Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel.”
In New Mexico, dreidel images on gravestones of Mexican Catholics elicited curiosity about whether this symbol might indicate a hidden Jewish heritage. In part, this led to the creation of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies.
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