I just got my first dreidel courtesy of Chabad-Lubavitch, yippee!
What do the symbols mean?
2006-12-18 05:28:56 · 10 answers · asked by Bugmän 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Hanukkah
Nun - נ
Gimel - ג
Hei - ה
Shin - ש (in Israel Pei - פ)
2006-12-18 05:47:31 · answer #1 · answered by Sababa Slacker 1 · 16⤊ 1⤋
The Dreidel has four letters from the Hebrew alphabet, imprinted on each of its sides. In Israel the letters are Nun, Gimel, Hay, and Pay, which stands for Nais Gadol Hayah Poh -- a great miracle happened here. Outside of Israel the letters are Nun, Gimmel, Hay, and Shin, which stands for Nais Gadol Hayah Shahm -- a great miracle happened there.
The game is played by distributing to all participants either nuts, chocolates, or Chanukah Gelt (coins). Everyone places a coin in the middle and someone spins the Dreidel. If the Dreidel stops showing Nun, he neither wins nor loses. If Gimmel, he wins the entire pot. If Hay, he gets half the pot. If Shin, he must put one in the pot.
The game then continues with the next person taking his turn, and so on around the circle until someone has won everything. It is of course nice to distribute plenty of consolation prizes so that everyone can go home a winner!
2006-12-18 06:01:23 · answer #2 · answered by JudaismExpert 2 · 6⤊ 0⤋
A big miracle happened there - Nes Gadol Haya Sham
Nes - mirach
Gadol - big
Hayah - was/happened
Sham - there
Rules of Dreidel:
You can have as many players as you wish. You first start out with an equal amount given to all the players of anything you wish. Then, each player donates 1 item to the middle. You each take a turn spinning the dreidel, and you go as many times as you want over the rounds.
NUN, You take none from the middle.
GIMEL, You take everything from the pile.
HAY, You take half of the pile.
SHIN, You donate 1 item to the pile.
Happy Chanukah!
2006-12-18 09:27:37 · answer #3 · answered by Pancake Man 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Here's a guide to the symbols and the hebrew meanings:
http://content.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/d/dec04_unit_DreideGame.pdf
And I got this from an archived yahoo site(how ironic!) which translates the words as '" The four letters on the top are Shin, Hey, Gimel, and Nun -- they stand for the phrase, "Nes gadol hayah sham" which translates as, "A great miracle happened there." In Israel the dreidel is a bit different. Instead of the "Shin" there is a "Pay." With this change, the phrase means "Nes Gadol Hayah Po," which translates as, "A great miracle happened here."' -http://ask.yahoo.com/20001222.html
Have fun :)
2006-12-18 05:33:09 · answer #4 · answered by Gretchen 2 · 6⤊ 0⤋
First of chabad rocks. we just had a menorah car parade and that was a lot of fun. to the dredial
Most dredial's have a Nun נ, Gimel ג, Hey ה, and Shin ש. Which is the first letters of the sentance, 'Nes gadoel haya sham.' in english 'a great mircle happened there'
though if you have an israli dredial instead of a shin ש there is a peh פ. and sham becomes 'poeh' which means 'here'
2006-12-18 14:30:31 · answer #5 · answered by red sox! 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They are hebrew letters
Shin, Hey Gimel and Nun
Check out the site below!
2006-12-18 05:30:43 · answer #6 · answered by aronlove 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Shin - put one coin in
Hay - take half
Nun - take none
Gimmel - take the whole pot!
also, acronym stands for "a great miracle happened there"
2006-12-18 05:31:44 · answer #7 · answered by SmartAleck 5 · 9⤊ 0⤋
nun,gimel,hey,and shin
2006-12-18 17:22:28 · answer #8 · answered by Aaliyah G 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if you have one you ought to know , if you don't you don't need it .................google it
2006-12-18 05:31:06 · answer #9 · answered by cry baby gator 4 · 1⤊ 8⤋
Coke is steady but flat.
2006-12-18 05:30:12 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 18⤋