Sheilah Kaufman: Hi! I am Sheilah Kaufman. Now that we have discussed the history of
Hanukkah- The Menorah, we are going to learn about how Hanukkah Gelt
and the Dreidel. How many of you know what Hanukkah Gelt really is?
We are used to seeing little packages of silver or gold foil wrapped coins
made of milk chocolate that are always eaten or given to the kids on
Hanukkah. But why?
Hanukkah Gelt is money and it's usually given to children and to friends at
Hanukkah in the form of silver or gold wrapped milk chocolate coins.
When Judas Maccabee returned to Jerusalem and the temple had been re-
dedicated, the first thing the Maccabee did was strike coins, the symbol of
a free people. To remember this, we give Hanukkah Gelt at Hanukkah
time. We also gamble with it using the Dreidel. What is a Dreidel? Well, a
Dreidel is a four-sided top, it can be made out of wood or plastic or tin or
silver and on each side is a Hebrew letter. The Hebrew letter stand for the
word Nes, Gadol, Haya, Sham, A Great Micracle Happened There.
According to legend, during the time of the Maccabees, Antiochus forbid
the study of Torah.
Nevertheless, the Jewish people gathered in small groups to secretly study
the Torah. A lookout always kept watch and if they saw soldiers
approaching, the students would pull off their Dreidels, put away the
Torah scrolls and pretend to be playing a gambling game by spinning the
Dreidel and putting money in or taking money out and how do you play
the Dreidel game, how do you win more nuts or candy or money. First
everybody antes up and then the first player spins. If N or Nun comes up,
you don't get anything. If a Gimmel or G comes up, you win the whole
pot. If Hey comes up, you get half and Shin, you have to put something
else into the pot making it grow.
Now that you know how to gamble with your Dreidel, have fun and good
luck but now we are going to learn about Latkes, the star of Hanukkah.
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