The exact origin of the dreidel game is uncertain; some scholars maintain that the game goes back to the era of Greek-Syrians, at which time Jews were prohibited from studying Torah (the most important document in Judaism which is revered as the inspired work of God). It is said that the dreidel was used as a decoy to fool the Syrians into thinking they were just playing a game, when in fact they were studying in groups. This is the most popular story of origin, as it is a reminder and celebration of religious freedom,



However, it's more likely that the actual source of the dreidel game is European. Many spinning top gambling games exist in various cultures throughout Europe, and it's likely the dreidel game was an adaptation of another gambling game, such as the German gambling game.

It is customary to play the dreidel game after lighting the Hanukah menorah; the game can be played with two or more participants, and normally takes place with all members of the household present - young and old - which helps to unite the family and strengthen Jewish identities.

The rules are simple; each player receives an equal amount of chocolate coins (known in Yiddish as 'gelt'). Then each player puts a token into the pot in the centre of the table. Players then take turns at spinning the dreidel and acting upon the result of the spin. The four possible outcomes are:

Nun - player gets nothing; Gimel (Jackpot) - player takes all the chocolate coins from the pot; Hay - player takes half the coins from the pot; Shin - player must put one of their chocolate coins into the pot. If a player runs out of chocolate coins, they are out of the game and the winner is the person left with the most tokens at the end.

Dreidels come in a variety of styles and colours, for example wooden dreidels, Israeli-style dreidels, plastic dreidels, dreidels that can be filled with chocolate, metallic dreidels and even dreidels made out of pure chocolate!

But if you really want to experience the true traditional dreidel game - you should make you own, just like the dreidel song says: "Dreidel dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay, and when it's dry and ready, oh dreidel I will play".