Some dreidels (spinning tops)

I’m interested in the significance of the tops to Hanuka Moshe. And what do the symbols on the dreidels mean?

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

I am glad to see you enjoying the fruits of your labor. These are nice pieces. Everytime I see one of these turning posts it makes me regret not having a lathe in my shop.

Thanks for sharing.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Well, I’ll start from the easy part – the meaning of the symbols: these are hebrew letters and there two possibilities to put on the 4 sides of the dreidel נ ג ה פ and נ ג ה ש – I hope you can see the hebrew… they are both acronyms the first stands for “Ness Gadol Haya Po” (A miracle has happened here) and is used for driedels in Israel where the Hanuka miracle happened, and the other “Ness Gadol Haya Sham” (A miracle has happened there) used by jews in the diaspora.
Driedels are played as a game during Hanuka, this is a betting game where the dreidel is a sort of a die, each letter has a meaning concerning the win (or lose) of the person who spins נ (N) is nothing (from Yiddish – Nisht), ה (H) is half a win – take half the jackpot, פ (P) – pay – add to jackpot, ג (G) – good/get – takes all the jackpot.
Or even better than what I wrote, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreidel

From what I know the game isn’t really part of Hanuka tradition, but is a game adopted by jews in Europe from a popular betting game of the time, and the meanings (special letters) added on later. still it’s a fun game – we play every year on chocolate money and have a lot of fun eating it during and after the game :-)

-- I just talk a lot.... Moshe Eshel, Israel, http://www.nagaroot.com

Hey Scott, it’s never too late – go get a lathe! don’t worry lathes and accessories are also quite expensive :-( and you can never have enough…

-- I just talk a lot.... Moshe Eshel, Israel, http://www.nagaroot.com

Nice job Moshe. It looks like fun and it is a good way of utilizing all the small cut outs.

-- Zipsss

Thanks for the explanation Moshe. That’s interesting. Presumably, the walnut one with a bias would make for an interesting game!

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

Hi Stewart, actually my grandfather to whom I gave it as a present was quite happy since the bias was on the winning letter and everyone kept on wining (which is the best way to play) :-) but I was upset with my worksmanship which could have been better…
BTW the bias was I believe more to do with different mass distribution inside the wood than with centering correctly – but I never cut it and weighd so I’ll never know for sure.

-- I just talk a lot.... Moshe Eshel, Israel, http://www.nagaroot.com

Does anybody but me remember the Dreidel song?
Sherman, can you make a Dreidel?
Gle you brought this old toy up agian.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner