What do the Hebrew letters on a dreidel mean?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Hanukkah Lighting the menorah in celebration of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

The four Hebrew letters inscribed on a dreidel—nun, gimel, he, and shin—are an acronym for the phrase Nes gadol haya sham, which translates to "A great miracle happened there." This refers to the Hanukkah miracle, in which a small supply of oil lasted for eight days in the Temple of Jerusalem.1

In Israel, the letter shin is often replaced by the letter pe, standing for po, which means "here," changing the phrase to "A great miracle happened here".1

Beyond their symbolic meaning, the letters dictate the rules of the traditional game:
* Nun: The player does nothing.
* Gimel: The player takes everything from the pot.
* He: The player takes half of the pot.
* Shin: The player adds to the pot.1