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Chanukah: The traditions
The tradition of dreidels
The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a different Hebrew letter on each side telling the Chanukah message: a great miracle happened there. Each player places pennies, candy, raisins, M&Ms or nuts into the kitty.Players take turns spinning the dreidel.
“Nun” means nothing. You win nothing, you lose nothing.
“Gimel” means you take the whole kitty.
“Hay” means you win half of what’s in the kitty.
“Shin” means “put in.” You lose and must put one more into the kitty.
Chanukah: The history behind the holiday
Judea was then ruled by Antiochus, a Syrian king, who ordered everyone living in his kingdom, including the Jewish people, to reject their religion and worship Greek gods instead. Antiochus insisted that all Jews in his kingdom become Greek. When Jews resisted, Antiochus banned their holidays, burned their books and killed anyone who would not bow to the Greek gods.