dreidel

Hanukkah

dad joke

dreadlocks

trivia

is numerologically significant in that the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin in gematria equals 358, the numerical equivalent of mashiach (messiah).

Others figured out elaborate gematriot [numerological explanations based on the fact that every Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent] and word plays for the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin. For example, nun, gimmel, hey, shin in gematria equals 358, which is also the numerical equivalent of mashiach or Messiah!

is paradoxical in that dreidel, which is an excellent example of cultural assimilation, is used in order to celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah, which celebrates Jewish victory over cultural assimilation.

Thus the dreidel game represents an irony of Jewish history. In order to celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah, which celebrates our victory over cultural assimilation, we play the dreidel game, which is an excellent example of cultural assimilation! Of course, there is a world of difference between imitating non-Jewish games and worshiping idols, but the irony remains nonetheless.

is emblazoned with the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin which represent the four ancient kingdoms that tried to destroy the Jews (1) N = Nebuchadnetzar = Babylon; (2) H = Haman = Persia Madam (3) G = Gog = Greece (4) S = Seir = Rome.

is said to have been created as a way to secretly study Torah orally via the then-popular gambling game of top-spinning when the Greeks outlawed the study of Torah.

is the perfect Jewish game since it involves two of our loves - money and food.

is wrapped in the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin, which, in the Diaspora, means 'a great miracle happened there,'while in Israel the dreidel says nun, gimmel, hey, pey, which means 'a great miracle happened here".

dreidel, n.Trivia

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