Is it a religious symbol? Is it just a game? It looks like a top, but not really, right?

These are all questions for a lot of Americans this time of year, as the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah nears — it begins Friday — and images of the dreidel start popping up.

Children are often seen spinning the cube-like top. Or maybe the words to a popular song — "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel; I made you out of clay" — filter into ears.

But as Jewish scholars and leaders will explain, there is more to this centuries-old symbol of the religion's Festival of Lights than just a game.

asap found rabbis and a university expert to explain the dreidel's significance. Call it short course: Dreidel 101.

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THE WORD

Dreidel

Sometimes seen spelled draydel or draidel.

The word itself — dreidel — is somewhat based on the German word "drehen" or "to spin," says Larry Roth, director of the Jewish Studies program at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa.

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THE HISTORY

"There is kind of a legend and folk tale that the game goes all the way back to the time of the Maccabees," Roth said. "Jewish children would play the game as a secret way of studying Torah. It would look like they're playing top instead of studying Torah."

Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, director of the Chabad Jewish Student Center at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, says that children and teachers would hide and study the Torah, pulling out the dreidel if a soldier were to approach.

"Even if they were hiding in the hills and studying, they still stood strong," Tiechtel said.

The dreidel has been around for centuries, he said. "It's something which was passed on from father to son."

Another history lesson? The dreidel is linked to a European gambling game, most likely German, based on a top, Roth said. "The Jews took the game and gave it a Jewish spin," Roth said.

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THE RULES

The dreidel game is played by splitting chocolate pieces, raisins or other treats among players. Players spin the top, which has a different Hebrew letter on each of its four sides. The Hebrew letters are nun, gimmel, shin and hay.

If the top lands on:

Nun — The player gets nothing.

Gimmel — The player gets the whole pot and wins.

Hay — The player gets half of the pot.

Shin — The player has to put two items in the pot.

Each of these Hebrew letters is represented in a special sentence — a kind of mnemonic device — "Nes gadol haya sham." The first letters of each word in the sentence correspond to the Hebrew letters on the dreidel. In English, the sentence means, "A great miracle happened there." It refers to the miracle of Hanukkah's Festival of Lights, or how the Jews believe a small amount of oil left in the temple lasted eight nights, Tiechtel said.

In Israel, dreidels are a bit different, Tiechtel said. Instead of "shin," the dreidels have the Hebrew letter "peh." That changes the mnemonic sentence to mean, "A great miracle happened here" — instead of "there" — because the miracle happened in the temple in Israel.

"Whenever we get an Israeli dreidel it is very exciting," Tiechtel said.

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THE SPIRITUAL SYMBOLISM

Hanukkah is about making the impossible become possible, Tiechtel said, and the dreidel represents that.

"We spin the dreidel and the fact that there's this stick on top of the dreidel is that there's always some kind of miracle that comes from above and can make the impossible happen," Tiechtel said. "God can turn the wheels of nature just like we spin the dreidel. Just like when you spin the dreidel you have no idea where it's going to land. It's all in God's hands."

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THE COMMUNITY SYMBOLISM

"It's a game that really is used as a way of bringing the children in," Roth said, "which is a very important part of Jewish culture."

There also is a tradition of not working while the Hanukkah candles on the menorah are lit, says Rabbi Yechiel Frank at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

"So (playing the dreidel) was kind of occupying the mind and not doing any work," Frank said.

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THE AMERICAN CULTURE

"Today the dreidel is the image of Hanukkah along with the menorah," Roth said. "It's become more so than the menorah."

People who aren't Jewish automatically associate the dreidel with Hanukkah, Roth said. Dreidels come in all sizes and colors, he said, and are made from different materials, like wood or silver. People buy them as collectibles and gifts, he said.

Spiritually, however, the dreidel doesn't go back as far as the menorah, Frank said.

"From all parts of the Hanukkah festival, the dreidel has the weakest roots," Frank said. "It's probably the newest tradition."

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Caryn Rousseau is asap's Midwest reporter, based in Kansas City, Mo.

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