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For centuries, Jews have enjoyed Hanukkah, and, more specifically, Hanukkah's own form of good-natured gambling, the Dreidel.
A Dreidel is a simple four-sided top used in a traditional game of chance, with the prize traditionally being gelt, or chocolate coins. While fun, Dreidel technology has remained largely stagnant over the centuries, hardly changing at all from the proverbial Dreidel "made out of clay" as referenced in the famous "Dreidel, Dreidel" song.
But with the coming of the late 20th century, things are changing. Starting with the creation of a specially weighted Teflon dreidel created by the University of Tel Aviv in 1967, which could spin at a minimum of 4500 rpm for over two entire months on one spin, a resurgence of Dreidel research and development has begun.
We at Blip's Judaic Technology division, in conjunction with the Van Gogh-Goghs, are proud to announce Dreidel 2000, the first true virtual dreidel available on the web.
Instructions
Hit the space bar to stop the dreidel spinning. Hit it again to spin the dreidel again.
The values of the characters on the faces of the dreidel are as follows:
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Gimel. Stands for the Hebrew word meaning "great." Which it is, since if the dreidel lands on this one, you get everything in the pot. |
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Hey. Stands for the Hebrew word meaning...either "miracle" or "was" or something. I can't remember. All the letters stand for the sentence "A great miracle happened there" but I honestly can't remember which is which, and I don't feel like calling my friend Jeremy, who does remember. Anyway, if the dreidel lands on this one, you get half of the pot. |
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Nun. I forgot which word this stands for, too, but if you land on this one, you get jack. Nothing. |
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Shin. Stands for the Hebrew word meaning "there." But it should stand for "screwed" because if you land on this, you have to put two of your winnings back in the pot. |
News Flash: Dreidel Values Explained
The aforementioned Jeremy just sent us the official, you-can-bet-on-it explanation of the dreidel values. Plus, he gets in some good jabs at Jason!
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