Did Sephardic Jews know about the dreidel?
Otzar Kol Minhagei Yeshurun 19:4
published in the late 19th /early 20th century
The Greek enacted decrees forbidding the learning and teaching of Torah. However the Sages of the time came up with an ingenious tactic. They devised the game of dreidel, so that if the Greek encountered Jews leaning Torah, the Jews would quickly take out their dreidels and pretend that they were playing the game. Therefore, the dreidel allowed the Jews to continue learning and teaching Torah right under the noses of the Greek. The custom of playing dreidel on Chanukah remained thereafter to commemorate the miracle that with the help of the dreidel, the Torah was saved from being completely forgotten from Israel.
published in the late 19th /early 20th century
The Greek enacted decrees forbidding the learning and teaching of Torah. However the Sages of the time came up with an ingenious tactic. They devised the game of dreidel, so that if the Greek encountered Jews leaning Torah, the Jews would quickly take out their dreidels and pretend that they were playing the game. Therefore, the dreidel allowed the Jews to continue learning and teaching Torah right under the noses of the Greek. The custom of playing dreidel on Chanukah remained thereafter to commemorate the miracle that with the help of the dreidel, the Torah was saved from being completely forgotten from Israel.
Historical Origins (from Rabbi David Schwartz, form wikipedia)
The actual historical origin of dreidels is the Irish/English Christmas game of Totum (meaning “All” in Latin) dating back to 1500 CE.
- By 1720 called “teetotum”
- Original letters - T - Totum (Take all), A - Aufer (Take from the pot), N - Nihil (Nothing), D - Depone (Put into the pot)
- By 1801 new letters - T = Take All, H = Half, P = Put down, N = Nothing
- German equivalent (now called “Trundl”) - G = Ganz (all), H = Halb (half), N = Nichts (Nothing), S = Stell ein (put in) [Letters look familiar?]
- Yiddish equivalent (now called “dreidel”, “a little spinning thing”, from German word “Drehen”, meaning “spin”) - G - Gants (all), H - Halb (half), N = Nit (not = nothing), S = Shtel Arayn (put in)
- Other regional names in use until the Holocaust - Goyrl (destiny) and Varfl (a little throw)
- Hebrew name - Sevivon (little spinner)
- Name coined by Itamar Ben-Avi, son of Eliezer Ben-Yehudah and first native-born Hebrew speaker (born 1882), when he was 5
The actual historical origin of dreidels is the Irish/English Christmas game of Totum (meaning “All” in Latin) dating back to 1500 CE.
- By 1720 called “teetotum”
- Original letters - T - Totum (Take all), A - Aufer (Take from the pot), N - Nihil (Nothing), D - Depone (Put into the pot)
- By 1801 new letters - T = Take All, H = Half, P = Put down, N = Nothing
- German equivalent (now called “Trundl”) - G = Ganz (all), H = Halb (half), N = Nichts (Nothing), S = Stell ein (put in) [Letters look familiar?]
- Yiddish equivalent (now called “dreidel”, “a little spinning thing”, from German word “Drehen”, meaning “spin”) - G - Gants (all), H - Halb (half), N = Nit (not = nothing), S = Shtel Arayn (put in)
- Other regional names in use until the Holocaust - Goyrl (destiny) and Varfl (a little throw)
- Hebrew name - Sevivon (little spinner)
- Name coined by Itamar Ben-Avi, son of Eliezer Ben-Yehudah and first native-born Hebrew speaker (born 1882), when he was 5
Rabbi Sharon Brous
The dreidel has become the ubiquitous symbol of Hanukkah, but I find it strangely telling that its practice turns Hanukkah into yet another Jewish holiday that forces us to consider that life is, in some ways, a game of chance. Gimmel - you're a star - you win it all! Heh - half the pot, not bad. Nun? Nada. You're trapped and stagnant, a spectator to the vicissitudes of other people's lives. But at least you're no shin - losing everything, in an instant and without warning. And while it takes a dexterous hand to spin like my nephew Joey, in dreidel there is zero correlation between spin acumen and outcome. Kind of like life, sometimes.
In a time of such widespread uncertainty and destabilization, the dreidel is compelling us to consider, even amidst our celebration: what sustains you when the shin hits the fan? The answer brought by Hanukkah is light, sweets and song. And the constant reminder not to give up - that every shin might be followed by a gimmel.
The dreidel has become the ubiquitous symbol of Hanukkah, but I find it strangely telling that its practice turns Hanukkah into yet another Jewish holiday that forces us to consider that life is, in some ways, a game of chance. Gimmel - you're a star - you win it all! Heh - half the pot, not bad. Nun? Nada. You're trapped and stagnant, a spectator to the vicissitudes of other people's lives. But at least you're no shin - losing everything, in an instant and without warning. And while it takes a dexterous hand to spin like my nephew Joey, in dreidel there is zero correlation between spin acumen and outcome. Kind of like life, sometimes.
In a time of such widespread uncertainty and destabilization, the dreidel is compelling us to consider, even amidst our celebration: what sustains you when the shin hits the fan? The answer brought by Hanukkah is light, sweets and song. And the constant reminder not to give up - that every shin might be followed by a gimmel.
דַּע כִּי כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ הוּא בְּחִינַת גַּלְגַּל הַחוֹזֵר שֶׁקּוֹרִין [סביבון] וְהַכּל חוֹזֵר חָלִילָה וְנִתְהַפֵּךְ מֵאָדָם מַלְאָךְ וּמִמַּלְאָךְ אָדָם וּמֵראשׁ רֶגֶל וּמֵרֶגֶל ראשׁ וְכֵן שְׁאָר כָּל הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם כֻּלָּם חוֹזְרִים חָלִילָה וּמִתְגַּלְגְּלִים וּמִתְהַפְּכִים מִזֶּה לָזֶה וּמִזֶּה לָזֶה מֵעֶלְיוֹן לְתַחְתּוֹן וּמִתַּחְתּוֹן לְעֶלְיוֹן כִּי בֶּאֱמֶת בְּהַשּׁרֶשׁ הַכּל אֶחָד כִּי יֵשׁ נִבְדָּלִים דְּהַיְנוּ מַלְאָכִים שֶׁהֵם נִבְדָּלִים לְגַמְרֵי מִן הַחֹמֶר וְיֵשׁ גַּלְגַּלִּים שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת חֹמֶר אֲבָל חָמְרָם זַךְ מְאד וְיֵשׁ עוֹלָם הַשָּׁפָל דְּהַיְנוּ זֶה הָעוֹלָם הַשָּׁפָל שֶׁהוּא חֹמֶר גָּמוּר וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁבְּוַדַּאי כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד מֵאֵלּוּ הַשְּׁלשָׁה הַנַּ"ל הוּא נִלְקָח מִמָּקוֹם מְיֻחָד אַף עַל פִּי כֵן בְּשׁרֶשׁ הַכּל שָׁם כֻּלּוֹ חַד
The Wisdom of Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav
A favorite subject of the philosophers is the order of creation.... They may ask why a star is worthy of being a star, or a constellation a constellation, while other things are consigned to a lower realm. ...The world is a rotating wheel. It is like a dreidel, where everything goes in cycles. Human becomes angel, and angel becomes human. Top becomes bottom, and bottom becomes top. Everything goes in cycles, revolving and alternating. All things interchange, one from another and one to another, lifting up the low and lowering the high. This is because all things have one root.
Crypto-Jews
All Jews who would not convert to Christianity were expelled by the Alhambra Decree from Spain in March, 1492 by Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. Five years later (1497), forced conversions in Portugal (where many Jews had fled) by King Manuel I due to political pressure for him to marry the daughter of the Spanish monarchs.
Crypto-Jews, or marranos, were Jews who, after forced conversion, continued to practice Judaism in secret. Under constant threat of inquisitorial surveillance and persecution, these individuals found clandestine ways to maintain their traditions and faith. The practice of crypto-Judaism involved discreet gestures and rituals, such as lighting candles on Friday nights (Shabbat), avoiding foods forbidden by Jewish law, or performing prayers in hidden locations.
The life of crypto-Jews was a constant struggle between assimilation and the preservation of their religious identity. The Inquisition, through denunciations and torture, investigated suspicions of Judaism, and many crypto-Jews were imprisoned, tortured, or even executed. Crypto-Jewish communities developed support networks and escape routes, enabling those who were discovered to flee to safer regions, such as the Ottoman Empire or the colonies in South America.
All Jews who would not convert to Christianity were expelled by the Alhambra Decree from Spain in March, 1492 by Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. Five years later (1497), forced conversions in Portugal (where many Jews had fled) by King Manuel I due to political pressure for him to marry the daughter of the Spanish monarchs.
Crypto-Jews, or marranos, were Jews who, after forced conversion, continued to practice Judaism in secret. Under constant threat of inquisitorial surveillance and persecution, these individuals found clandestine ways to maintain their traditions and faith. The practice of crypto-Judaism involved discreet gestures and rituals, such as lighting candles on Friday nights (Shabbat), avoiding foods forbidden by Jewish law, or performing prayers in hidden locations.
The life of crypto-Jews was a constant struggle between assimilation and the preservation of their religious identity. The Inquisition, through denunciations and torture, investigated suspicions of Judaism, and many crypto-Jews were imprisoned, tortured, or even executed. Crypto-Jewish communities developed support networks and escape routes, enabling those who were discovered to flee to safer regions, such as the Ottoman Empire or the colonies in South America.
Folklorist Judith Neulander also found that the dreidel does not exist in Sephardic culture -- it is an Ashkenazic object that postdates the Inquisition. What does exist, throughout Latin America, is the trompita, a wooden top that children play with regardless of their religion.
As it turned out, I could not locate a dreidel. The closest I could find was a Rapa-dreidel, a wooden, dreidel-like top with English letters. I contacted the store proprietor through the Internet. She informed me that children played with the Rapa during the holiday season and it had something to do with pretend gambling.
As it turned out, I could not locate a dreidel. The closest I could find was a Rapa-dreidel, a wooden, dreidel-like top with English letters. I contacted the store proprietor through the Internet. She informed me that children played with the Rapa during the holiday season and it had something to do with pretend gambling.
Rapa-dreidels Rabbi Eliyahu Safran
Really? “Which holiday?” I inquired.
“Christmas.”
Why, I asked, would they use a dreidel at Christmas?
She did not know but she did assure me that, “…Jewish also used to play this game.”
Intrigued, I pressed for more information. But she said that was all she knew. She could not explain to me why Portuguese children would take this wooden top, where the letters RTDP adorn the sides. She could not explain why children gambled on buttons, beans or candy or why the “R” (rapa – take all), or the “T” (take one) or the “D” (leave everything in) or the “P” or why the “rules” of Rapa were so much like the rules of the dreidel.
Really? “Which holiday?” I inquired.
“Christmas.”
Why, I asked, would they use a dreidel at Christmas?
She did not know but she did assure me that, “…Jewish also used to play this game.”
Intrigued, I pressed for more information. But she said that was all she knew. She could not explain to me why Portuguese children would take this wooden top, where the letters RTDP adorn the sides. She could not explain why children gambled on buttons, beans or candy or why the “R” (rapa – take all), or the “T” (take one) or the “D” (leave everything in) or the “P” or why the “rules” of Rapa were so much like the rules of the dreidel.
The Surprising Origin of the Dreidel by R' David Golkin
Thus the dreidel game represents an irony of Jewish history. In order to celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah, which celebrates our victory over cultural assimilation, we play the dreidel game, which is an excellent example of cultural assimilation! Of course, there is a world of difference between imitating non-Jewish games and worshiping idols, but the irony remains nonetheless.
Thus the dreidel game represents an irony of Jewish history. In order to celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah, which celebrates our victory over cultural assimilation, we play the dreidel game, which is an excellent example of cultural assimilation! Of course, there is a world of difference between imitating non-Jewish games and worshiping idols, but the irony remains nonetheless.