In Hebrew, there is only one way to spell חנכה but in English, there appear to be too many variations to even count! Do you spell it with an ‘H’ or a ‘CH’? Two ‘N’s or two ‘K’s? When sending that holiday card in the mail or texting your Jewish friends this Festival of Lights, fear not.
There is no one correct way to spell Hanukka in English. Really! Since we are transliterating a Hebrew word, there are many different schools of thought about how to transcribe Hebrew words into Roman letters. When it comes to sounds that have no equivalents in the English language like the sound of the letters Het ח and Haf כ, it can be even more difficult. In some English transliterations, the letters ‘CH’ are used to mimic these sounds, in others the letter ‘H’ or even ‘H’ is used.
This year, why not try to use the Hebrew word? חנכה - It’s only four letters long and you will be sure to impress your friends!
חג חנוכה שמח! Happy Hanukka
Sevivon… The Dreidle
The dreidel, or spinning top, is a custom associated with the winter holiday of Hanukkah. In Hebrew, the word for this spinning top is sevivon סביבון. Ever wonder what the four letters on the dreidel are and what they mean?
Nun, נ
Gimmel, ג
Hey, ה
Shin, ש
We associate the 4 letters with the phrase: נס גדול היה שם’ ‘Nes Gadol Haya Sham’ ‘A Great Miracle Happened There’ - reminding us of the story of the small jar of oil, used by the Maccabees to light the Menorah in the Holy Temple, that miraculously burned for eight days instead of just one.
In Israel, the letters are a little bit different. Instead of the letter Shin ש which represents the word Sham שם ‘There’, Israeli dreidels have the letter Pey פ which represents the word Poh פה ‘Here’. Since the story of Hanukka took place in the Land of Israel, the phrase becomes נס גדול היה פה‘ Nes Gadol Haya Poh’ A Great Miracle Happened Here.’
When playing dreidle with gelt, the Yiddish word for money, the following rules apply.
Each player begins the game with an equal number of game pieces (about 10-15) such as pennies, chocolate coins, raisins, etc.
At each round, every participant puts one piece into the center ‘pot’. Every time the pot is empty or has only one game piece left, every player should place a piece in the pot.
For each turn, a player spins the dreidel. When it lands on the letter…
נ Nun, the player does nothing.
ג Gimmel, the player gets all the pieces in the pot.
ה Hey, the player takes half of the pieces in the pot.
ש Shin, they player must contribute a piece in the pot.
The winner of the round is the player that wins all of the pieces!
Now, if you want to get really into dreidle mode, try singing this classic Hanukka Dreidle song:
סֵבִיבוֹן סב סב סב
חנכּה הוא חג טוב
חנכּה הוא חג טוב
סֵבִיבוֹן סב סב סב
חַג שִׂמְחָה הוּא לַעָם
נֵס גָדוֹל הָיָה שָם
נֵס גָדוֹל הָיָה שָם
חַג שִׂמְחָה הוּא לַעָם
Sivivon, sov, sov, sov
Hanukkah, hu Hag tov
Hanukkah, hu Hag tov
Sivivon, sov, sov, sov!
Hag simHa hu la-am
Nes gadol haya sham
Nes gadol haya sham
Hag simHa hu la-am.
Dreidel, spin, spin, spin
Hanukkah is a great holiday.
Hanukkah is a great holiday.
Dreidel, spin, spin, spin.
A holiday of happiness it is for the nation.
A great miracle happened there.
A great miracle happened there.
A holiday of happiness it is for the nation.
