Game

• A children's game is played with the dreidel, in which each player puts something in the pot in the middle (the game is often played with pieces of candy) and spins the dreidel, taking or giving in more to the pot according to which letter comes up. In the game, the letters stand for Yiddish words.
  
  

Nun

• The letter nun stands for the Hebrew word "nes," meaning "miracle." In the game, it means "nisht" or "nothing." If this comes up, the person spinning does nothing.
  
  

Gimmel

• Gimmel stands for "gadol," meaning "great" or "large." For the player, it means "gantz," which is "everything." This player gets to take the whole pot for himself.
  
  

Heh

• Heh begins the word "hayah," meaning "it was" or "it happened." It also means "halb," or "half," and the player spinning this gets half of what is in the pot.
  
  

Shin

• The letter shin does not appear on the dreidel pictured above. It has three prongs facing upwards and looks something like a capital E on its back. It stands for the word "sham," meaning "there." In the game, it means "shtel," which means "put in." A player getting this has to put one of his pieces into the pot.
  
  

Peh

• Dreidels made in Israel, such as that shown above, use the letter peh to stand for "po," or "here," to signify that Israel is where the Chanukkah miracle happened. In the game, it counts as a shin.