Submitted by Shahar Geva on Thu, 09/22/2011 - 15:03
A dreidel is a four cornered spinning top used as a toy. The word Dreidel (aka dreidle) is originated in Yiddish (meaning “to turn).
Silver Dreidel from Germany – 19th century, Israel Museum Replica
Although spin tops are an internationally known toy, the Jewish spin top – the Dreidel (also Sevivon in Hebrew) was adopted by Jews around the world as a Hanukkah toy with the Hebrew letter Nun, Gimel, Heh, Poh that stands for Nes Gadol Haya Poh (“a big miracle took place here”, in Hebrew). Jews in the Diaspora use to replace the letter “peh” with “shin” –that the miracle happened there (in Israel, the holy land) and not here (the Diaspora).
Wooden Hanukkah Dreidel (sevivon) by Yair Emanuel
From old times to modern ones, designers were very creative in Dreidel designs and there are numerous designs out there – some are spontaneously and un-professionally and some were made by artisans. At Israel-catalo.com we collected a small but unique line of Dreidels – from wood dreidels to ceramic, bronze or pewter.
