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Dreidel

A great miracle
happened there.

Four letters, one spin, and a game most people play from a half-remembered childhood version. Here are the actual rules — including the one that catches out every Australian who has played in Israel.

Have a spin

A real dreidel, with the shin/pey switch.

You 10Them 10Pot 4
?

The four letters

נNunנִס — a miracleNothing. Pass the dreidel on.
גGimmelגָּדוֹל — greatTake the whole pot.
הHeyהָיָה — happenedTake half. An odd pot rounds up.
שShinשָׁם — therePut one in.

In Israel

Shin becomes פ — pey, for פֹּה, here. A great miracle happened here, because it did. Everything else about the game is identical, and a dreidel bought in Jerusalem will not work with a set bought in Bondi unless everyone agrees which letter is which before the first spin.

The four letters add up

נ ג ה ש = 50 + 3 + 5 + 300 = 358

Which is the gematria of מָשִׁיחַ — 40 + 300 + 10 + 8. A well-known Chassidic observation, and one you can check yourself on the gematria tool.

Battle dreidel

Last one spinning. It is how every child plays given a hard surface and two minutes, and it has no agreed rules anywhere — which is why every game ends in an argument. Here is a set that settles it.

  1. 1The ringA dinner plate, a tray, or a chalked circle about 30 cm across. A dreidel that leaves the ring is out, however long it was spinning.
  2. 2The launchEveryone spins on a count of three, inside the ring, from above the surface — no sliding a top along the table to gain time.
  3. 3Winning a roundLast one still spinning takes the round. If two stop within about a second of each other, both spin again — nobody has ever agreed a photo finish.
  4. 4The letter still countsThe winner's face is read as normal: gimmel takes the pot, hey takes half, shin puts one in, nun passes. The battle decides who reads their letter, not what it means.
  5. 5Best of fiveSingle rounds come down to the table, not the spin. Five rounds sorts out who can actually launch.
  6. 6One dreidel eachWeighted, oversized and metal tops beat wooden ones every time, so either everybody brings the same kind or everybody uses the host's set.

Before you buy a battle set

  • Weight wins. A heavier top spins longer, so a mixed set is not a contest. Buy four or six identical ones rather than one impressive one.
  • Metal tips chew tables. Play on a tray or a board. The good sets come with a ring for this reason.
  • Rip-cord launchers are a different game. They spin far longer than a finger launch, which is fine — but everyone has to be using one.
  • Small parts. Launcher tops come apart. Not for under-threes, whatever the box says.

We do not stock battle dreidels yet. When we do they will be listed with the weight, the tip material and whether the set is launcher-compatible, because those are the three things that decide whether a set is any good and nobody publishes them.

Chanukah and the moadim →

The other six games — including chess with a real engine — are on Play.