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The story of Chanukah, also known as the Festival of Lights, begins over 2,000 years ago, when the Jews were…
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Dreidel is a traditional Jewish game played during the eight-day holiday Hanukkah. Also known as sevivon in Modern Hebrew, dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a pointed base and Hebrew letters on each side. It is perhaps one of the most commonly associated customs with Hanukkah. But little do people know of its true origins and why Jewish people play it during the Festival of Light.
For those of you who don’t know, the story goes like this:
During the reign of the Antiochus IV, Jewish people couldn’t practice their religion freely. They weren’t allowed to study their holy book of Torah or anything else associated with it. Jewish children and adults who wanted to do so had to do it in secret, usually by going deep into the woods. But they were still afraid that the soldiers may find them. That’s how they came up with a clever solution in case Syrian soldiers came along. They would bring their dreidel with them and pretend they were playing a game instead!
How to Play and Where to Find Dreidels?...see more
Dreidel is a traditional Jewish game played during the eight-day holiday Hanukkah. Also known as sevivon in Modern Hebrew, dreidel…