December 4 - Hanukkah

Hanukkah began tonight at sundown. Greetings to all who celebrate this holiday!

I didn't know any Jewish people while I was growing up, but I was always curious about the dreidel. (We learned the dreidel song in elementary school.) So today I looked up on wikipedia.org (the first place I go when learning something new) how to play.

It sounds like a very simple chance game. You spin the dreidel, and what you land on determines your fate. Each player begins with 10 or so coins (or other markers; some use the gold-foil-wrapped chocolate coins) and each places one coin in the pot/kitty. If the dreidel lands on "Nun" no coins change hands and the next player spins. When the dreidel lands on "Gimel" the player takes the whole pot. When landing on "Hey," the player takes half of the pot. The player puts one coin in the pot if they land on "Shin." Play continues until one player has all the coins (or the other players give up).

I would have to use real coins, or some non-edible marker, because I would eat any chocolate coins I had.

I hope that I related the game to you accurately. I welcome any corrections.