How to Play Dreidel: Rules, Letters and the Cheating Problem
The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top, the rules take thirty seconds to explain, and somewhere around the fourth round somebody will be accused of cheating. All three of those facts are part of the tradition.
The Four Letters
Each side carries one Hebrew letter:
- נ — nun
- ג — gimel
- ה — hey
- ש — shin
Together they stand for nes gadol haya sham: a great miracle happened there. The there is the Land of Israel, which tells you the phrase was written by Jews living somewhere else.
In Israel the shin is replaced by a פ, pey, for po — here. Same game, one letter changed, and a small argument settled about where you are standing.
The Rules
Everyone starts with the same number of coins, nuts, chocolate or whatever is on the table. Each player puts one in the pot, then takes turns spinning.
- Nun — nothing. Next player.
- Gimel — take the whole pot.
- Hey — take half. Round up if it is odd.
- Shin (or pey) — put one in.
When the pot is empty, everyone adds one again. When a player runs out, they are either out or someone lends them a coin, which is usually where the evening turns interesting.
The Cheating Problem
Nobody actually cheats at dreidel. There is no reliable way to. A spinning top does what it wants, and the physics do not care about your intentions.
The accusation persists anyway, and it persists for a good reason: gimel is disproportionately satisfying, and watching someone take the whole pot twice in a row produces a feeling that wants an explanation. Cheating is the explanation on offer.
This is a family game played mostly by children, for chocolate coins, in December. That it generates this much suspicion says something warm about it.
I Cheat At Dreidel, from our Hanukkah shirts and dreidel apparel. Printed to order, shipped worldwide.
Where the Game Came From
The usual story is that Jews studying Torah under Greek prohibition kept tops nearby, ready to switch to a game if soldiers appeared. It is a good story and historians are sceptical of it.
The likelier route is duller: a European gambling game with a four-sided teetotum, its letters N, G, H, S standing for German words in the same nothing-all-half-put-in pattern. Jewish communities adopted it and read the Hebrew phrase into the letters afterwards.
That does not make the tradition less real. Most traditions are reinterpretations of something borrowed.
A Note on the Spelling
You will see Hanukkah, Chanukah, Hanukah and Hannukah. None is more correct than the others.
The Hebrew begins with ח, chet, a sound English does not have. Every spelling is an attempt at the same word, and the variation is what happens when a language has to borrow a sound it lacks.
Don't Be Suspicious Dreidel, also from our Hanukkah collection.
Common Questions
What do the dreidel letters mean?
Nun, gimel, hey and shin, for nes gadol haya sham, a great miracle happened there. In Israel the shin becomes a pey, for po, here.
What are the dreidel rules?
Nun means nothing happens, gimel takes the whole pot, hey takes half, shin means you add one. Play with coins, nuts or chocolate.
Can you cheat at dreidel?
Not really. A weighted top would be detectable and the spin is chaotic anyway. The accusation is traditional, not technical.
Is Hanukkah or Chanukah correct?
Both. The Hebrew begins with chet, a sound with no English equivalent, so every transliteration is an approximation.
When is Hanukkah?
The dates move each year because the Jewish calendar is lunisolar. Our guide to Jewish holiday dates has the exact dates.
From the MoT Shop
We print Jewish and pro-Israel designs to order and ship across the United States and worldwide. Browse our Hanukkah shirts and dreidel apparel, our funny Jewish shirts, or read our guide to the menorah and chanukiah.
