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The Hebrew letters inscribed on a dreidel are a Nun, Gimel, Hey or Chai, and Shin. The letters form an acronym for the Hebrew saying Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, which can be translated to "a great miracle happened there," referring to the miracle which Hanukkah is centered around.

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SeraSmith

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3y ago
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12y ago

Many rabbis have tried to find a historical connection between the dreidel and the Hanukkah story.

One 19th century rabbi proposed that in Ancient times, Jews played with the dreidel in order to fool the Greeks if they were caught studying Torah, which had been outlawed.

The standard explanation is that the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin, which appear on the dreidel in the Diaspora, stand for nes gadol haya sham--"a great miracle happened there,"while in Israel the dreidel says nun, gimmel, hey, pey, which means "a great miracle happened here."

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12y ago

Many rabbis have tried to find a historical connection between the dreidel and the Hanukkah story.

One 19th century rabbi proposed that in Ancient times, Jews played with the dreidel in order to fool the Greeks if they were caught studying Torah, which had been outlawed.

The standard explanation is that the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin, which appear on the dreidel in the Diaspora, stand for nes gadol haya sham--"a great miracle happened there,"while in Israel the dreidel says nun, gimmel, hey, pey, which means "a great miracle happened here."

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12y ago

The dreidel, is a four-sided spinning top that children play with on Hanukkah. Each side is imprinted with a Hebrew letter. These letters are an acronym for the Hebrew words נס גדול היה שם (Nes Gadol Haya Sham, "A great miracle happened there"). In Israel נס גדול היה פה (Nes Gadol Haya Po, "A great miracle happened here"), referring to the miracle of the oil that took place in the Beit Hamikdash.

  • ×  (Nun)
  • ×’ (Gimel)
  • ×” (Hey)
  • ש (Shin)
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11y ago

hay means take half

nun means none

gimmel mean whole pot

shin means pay one

Answer:The letters form an acronym meaning "a great miracle happened there."
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13y ago

The 'signs' on the dreidel are four letters of the Hebrew alphabet. They're the consonants

for the sounds 'N', 'G', 'H', and 'SH'.

They form an acronym for the Hebrew statement "Nes Gadol Hayah Shahm" ... meaning

"A great miracle took place there", referring to the process and the events that the holiday

of Chanukah celebrates.

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9y ago

The Hebrew letters are an acronym.

Nun=neis (miracle)

Gimel=gadol (great)

Hei=hayah (was)

Shin=sham (there). "A great miracle happened there."

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Q: What do the Jewish dreidel symbols mean?
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