Games

Dreidel

The dreidel is a four sided top. The dreidel game is probably the most popular game at Hanukkah. The four sides of a dreidel each show a different Hebrew character: נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hey), or ש (shin).

Tradition says that whenever the Greek-Syrians would burst into a home to see if they were discussing the Torah (a capital offense), the residents of the house would start spinning a top as if this were the pastime they were gathered to watch.

Later tradition said that each letter stands for one of the four major empires that sought to destroy the Jews, with nun representing Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom of Babylonia, gimel representing Gog and the kingdom of Greece, hey representing Haman and the kingdom of Persia, and shin representing Seir and the kingdom of Rome.

Others say the four letters simply represent the four German words nichts (nothing), ganz (all), halb (half), and stell ein (put in).

In any case, the game is played this way:

Everyone starts with an equal number of popcorn kernals (or pennies, candies, etc), then places one each into the kitty. The players take turns spinning the dreidel, following the rules (below) for the result. When only one object remains in the kitty, everyone adds one more to replenish it, and play continues. When a player has all the objects, (i.e. everyone else is broke), that person wins!

• “Nun” means nothing. (You win nothing, you lose nothing.)
• “Gimel” means ‘gantz’ or whole. (You take the whole kitty, leaving 1 object, while everyone else puts in 1 object.)
• “Hey” means ‘halb’ or half. (You win half of what’s in the kitty plus one if there is an odd number.)
• “Shin” means ‘shtel’ or put in. (You lose, and must put one object into the kitty.)

For those of you who don’t want to play with objects, the game may be played with points. On a piece of paper, keep track of how many points you get. Whoever reaches 100 points first wins!

Rebellion

The dedication of the temple during the time of the Maccabees was an act of rebellion against state-imposed idolatry. Of course, the original Hanukkah under Moses showed the same cleansing of the people from the state-imposed idolatry of Egypt. The rededication of the altar under Hezekiah was a deliberate rejection of the idolatry of his father, who had polluted the temple with idols. So it is quite appropriate to play a game of rebellion!

For two or more players.

The Object: To get all 52 cards.

Cards rank: from high to low: K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A; Ignore suits.

To Play:

1. Dealer shuffles cards and then deals out all of the cards, one at a time. Some players may have more cards than others.
2. At the same time, players turn over their top cards. Player with the highest card takes both and places them under his/her pile. If both cards are the same rank (two jacks, for example), there is a “rebellion.” Players call out, “Rebellion!” and place three cards in the center face-down and then one card face-up. The higher card takes all. If cards are the same rank, there is another “rebellion.” Repeat.
3. Player to get all 52 cards wins. For a faster game, the winner of three “rebellions” wins. If you run out of cards during a “rebellion,” you lose the game. If both players run out of cards at the same time, it’s a tie. If both players run out of cards during a “rebellion” but one player runs out of cards before the other, that player loses.