Dreidel
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A dreidel is a four sided spinning top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is used for a form of the gambling game Teetotum (T-Totum). Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which together form the acronym for (Nes Gadol Haya Sham Ð ''a great miracle happened there''). These letters also form a mnemonic for the rules of a gambling game played with a dreidel: Nun stands for the Yiddish word nite (''nothing''), Hei stands for halb (''half''), Gimel for gants (''all''), and Shin for shteln (''put''). In Israel, the fourth side of most dreidels are inscribed with the letter (Pei), rendering the acronym, Nes Gadol Haya Po ''A great miracle happened here'' referring to the miracle occurring in the land of Israel. Some stores in Haredi neighbourhoods may sell the traditional dreidels.

Some Jewish commentators ascribe symbolic significance to the markings on the dreidel. One commentary, for example, connects the four letters with the four exiles to which the nation of Israel was historically subject Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

The Yiddish word ''dreydl'' comes from the word ''dreyen'' (''to turn''). The Hebrew word ''sevivon'' comes also from the root ''SBB'' (''to turn'') and was invented by Itamar Ben-Avi (the son of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) when he was 5 years old. Hayyim Nahman Bialik used a different word, ''kirkar'' (from the root ''KRKR'' - ''to spin''), in his poems, but it was not adopted into spoken Hebrew.

While not being mandated (mitzvah) for Hanukkah (the only mandated mitzvot are lighting candles and saying the full hallel), the Dreidel is a customary game played during the holiday and has become one of the symbols associated with Hanukkah.