Page 20 - Journal of Antiques and Collectibles December 2019
P. 20
Dreidel
A Hanukkah
Holiday Tradition
Rochard Limoge
Dreidel Trinket Box By Maxine Carter-Lome, Publisher Silver Dreidel
photo: Worthpoint
“I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay. Rabbi David Golinkin, President Emeritus of the Schechter Institute of
And when it’s dry and ready, Oh dreidel, I shall play.” Jewish Studies, once wrote, “Our Eastern European game of dreidel
(including the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin) is directly based on the
German equivalent of the totum game: N = Nichts = nothing; G = Ganz = all;
A dreidel or dreidl (known in Hebrew as a sevivon) is a four-sided ‘turn.’ The Hebrew word for dreidel, sevivon ( סביבון
H = Halb = half; and S = Stell ein = put in.”
spinning top and a beloved children’s game played during the
The word “dreidel” is a Yiddish word, originating from ‘drei,’ meaning
Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. A dreidel is typically made of wood,
), follows the same
plastic, or the proverbial clay from the popular children’s song. Each side of
, meaning ‘to turn.’ It
the dreidel is marked with a letter from the Jewish alphabet logic and comes from the Hebrew root, סבב
is said that the word sevivon and the game as we know it was
representing the words nun, gimel, hey, and shin. Each word created by the adolescent son of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the
connotes a different action to be taken: Nun: The player takes founder of Modern Hebrew.
nothing; Gimel: The player takes all; Hey: The player takes half; In addition to the more commonplace materials of wood
and Shin: The player puts in. Together nun, gimmel, hey and and plastic, dreidels can be made of glass, sterling silver,
shin translate to “a great miracle happened there.” ceramic, brass, ivory, and crystal, and are often given as gifts
Despite its association as a holiday tradition, Israeli collector
Rachel Bar-Lev shares that the dreidel is not Jewish in origin and and displayed as decoration or pieces of a collection.
Ask a collector ‘why dreidels?’ and most often the answer
its connection to Hanukkah is late, noting that archeologists have starts with their childhood and the story of miracles connect-
found multi-sided tops dating back to as early as 2000 BCE.
ed to the game, the holiday, and the tradition.
Dreidels come in all sizes and price points and can range
from fun and kitschy (“dreidelites” extend the concept to
anything dreidel-inspired) to pieces of fine art. As a relatively
modern game toy, collectors are mostly buying 20th century
“art dreidels” for the value of the material, craftsmanship,
and maker. While this may never be a “big money” collectibles
category, collecting and playing with dreidels is a fun way
to connect with our past and carry forward beloved
Noah’s Ark dreidel (above) family traditions.
made of porcelain and brass
covered by gold. Zvezdin’s Workshop
was founded by Russian-Israeli
ceramist and artist
Alexander Zvezdin
in Jerusalem in 1998.
Judaica Holocaust set of 10 relic condition ground-dug
WWII concentration camp dreidels
photo: 3reich-collector Silver Dreidel
Legend has it that when the ancient Greeks outlawed the
study of Torah, Jews would outsmart them by playing with
a spinning top—a popular gambling device—while learn- Dreidel is a popular family game played during the holidays
ing Torah orally. That way if the Greeks were out to arrest
renegade Torah scholars, they would find a group of sinful
“gamblers” instead and leave them alone. The story is, how- Ivory-bone dreidel
ever, nothing more than that, according to Jewish scholars.
Most scholars seem to agree that the dreidel is derived
from a 16th century Irish or English gambling game (left) Beautiful dreidel made of Murano
called “teetotum,” which was popular around glass handmade by a
Christmas time and played by men in bars and inns. Jewish glass artist from the
Ghetto Nuovo in Venice.
Like the game of dreidel, teetotum was played with
a four-sided top, each side bearing a letter corre-
sponding to the first letters of the Latin words for
“nothing,” “half,” “everything,” and “put in.” (right) Set of 5 artistic
Participants would ante up and the side up when dreidels made of resin and
the top stopped twirling would determine whether colorfully hand-decorated.
they won or lost. Over the centuries teetotum and Each dreidel has a
various appropriations of the game spread throughout matching decorative stand.
Europe and ultimately to America.
Journal of Antiques and Collectibles
18
A Hanukkah
Holiday Tradition
Rochard Limoge
Dreidel Trinket Box By Maxine Carter-Lome, Publisher Silver Dreidel
photo: Worthpoint
“I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay. Rabbi David Golinkin, President Emeritus of the Schechter Institute of
And when it’s dry and ready, Oh dreidel, I shall play.” Jewish Studies, once wrote, “Our Eastern European game of dreidel
(including the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin) is directly based on the
German equivalent of the totum game: N = Nichts = nothing; G = Ganz = all;
A dreidel or dreidl (known in Hebrew as a sevivon) is a four-sided ‘turn.’ The Hebrew word for dreidel, sevivon ( סביבון
H = Halb = half; and S = Stell ein = put in.”
spinning top and a beloved children’s game played during the
The word “dreidel” is a Yiddish word, originating from ‘drei,’ meaning
Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. A dreidel is typically made of wood,
), follows the same
plastic, or the proverbial clay from the popular children’s song. Each side of
, meaning ‘to turn.’ It
the dreidel is marked with a letter from the Jewish alphabet logic and comes from the Hebrew root, סבב
is said that the word sevivon and the game as we know it was
representing the words nun, gimel, hey, and shin. Each word created by the adolescent son of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the
connotes a different action to be taken: Nun: The player takes founder of Modern Hebrew.
nothing; Gimel: The player takes all; Hey: The player takes half; In addition to the more commonplace materials of wood
and Shin: The player puts in. Together nun, gimmel, hey and and plastic, dreidels can be made of glass, sterling silver,
shin translate to “a great miracle happened there.” ceramic, brass, ivory, and crystal, and are often given as gifts
Despite its association as a holiday tradition, Israeli collector
Rachel Bar-Lev shares that the dreidel is not Jewish in origin and and displayed as decoration or pieces of a collection.
Ask a collector ‘why dreidels?’ and most often the answer
its connection to Hanukkah is late, noting that archeologists have starts with their childhood and the story of miracles connect-
found multi-sided tops dating back to as early as 2000 BCE.
ed to the game, the holiday, and the tradition.
Dreidels come in all sizes and price points and can range
from fun and kitschy (“dreidelites” extend the concept to
anything dreidel-inspired) to pieces of fine art. As a relatively
modern game toy, collectors are mostly buying 20th century
“art dreidels” for the value of the material, craftsmanship,
and maker. While this may never be a “big money” collectibles
category, collecting and playing with dreidels is a fun way
to connect with our past and carry forward beloved
Noah’s Ark dreidel (above) family traditions.
made of porcelain and brass
covered by gold. Zvezdin’s Workshop
was founded by Russian-Israeli
ceramist and artist
Alexander Zvezdin
in Jerusalem in 1998.
Judaica Holocaust set of 10 relic condition ground-dug
WWII concentration camp dreidels
photo: 3reich-collector Silver Dreidel
Legend has it that when the ancient Greeks outlawed the
study of Torah, Jews would outsmart them by playing with
a spinning top—a popular gambling device—while learn- Dreidel is a popular family game played during the holidays
ing Torah orally. That way if the Greeks were out to arrest
renegade Torah scholars, they would find a group of sinful
“gamblers” instead and leave them alone. The story is, how- Ivory-bone dreidel
ever, nothing more than that, according to Jewish scholars.
Most scholars seem to agree that the dreidel is derived
from a 16th century Irish or English gambling game (left) Beautiful dreidel made of Murano
called “teetotum,” which was popular around glass handmade by a
Christmas time and played by men in bars and inns. Jewish glass artist from the
Ghetto Nuovo in Venice.
Like the game of dreidel, teetotum was played with
a four-sided top, each side bearing a letter corre-
sponding to the first letters of the Latin words for
“nothing,” “half,” “everything,” and “put in.” (right) Set of 5 artistic
Participants would ante up and the side up when dreidels made of resin and
the top stopped twirling would determine whether colorfully hand-decorated.
they won or lost. Over the centuries teetotum and Each dreidel has a
various appropriations of the game spread throughout matching decorative stand.
Europe and ultimately to America.
Journal of Antiques and Collectibles
18
