On Chanuka we have the famous custom to play dreidel. Where does the dreidel come from?
The Yevanim forbade Klal Yisrael to learn Torah. The Jewish children would gather in caves with their Rebbi and study Torah. When the Yevanim would appear the children hid their study books and they played dreidel.
True there weren’t computers in those days so they couldn’t play with gameboys. Most probably, monopoly, scrabble, connect 4, snakes and ladders and even chess didn’t quite exist yet either. But surely there were other games to play. What’s the story behind the dreidel? So much so, that we still play it till today?
On Chanuka we play dreidel. We spin it from the top and it spins quietly. On Purim we turn the gragger. We hold it from below; we turn it, and the louder the noise the better the gragger. Is this just a coincidence? Or is there something more behind it?
Let us take a look at Purim. Klal Yisrael took part at the banquet of Achashverosh. In Heaven was decreed against Klal Yisrael to be wiped out. Mordechai Hatzaddik aroused the Jews to do Teshuva. Klal Yisrael fasted, prayed, and wore sack cloth and ash. Mordechai gathered twenty two thousand children to study, daven and break open the gates in Heaven with their tears. And in the end their prayers and repentance made an impact and Hashem annulled the decree.
Let us take a look at Chanuka.
The Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 29 – 2, Midrash Tehillim 78) brings the Passuk in Parshas Vayeitze that Yaakov went to sleep and had the dream of the ladder touching the ground and the top reached the Heavens, and Malaachim were going up and down the ladder. Hashem showed the Malaachim of the different nations that would have power against Klal Yisrael. Hashem showed Yaakov the Malaach of Bavel (Babylon) going up seventy rungs and then went down. The Malaach of Madai going up 72 rungs and then went down, the Malaach of Yavan (referring to the Greek empire) going up 180 rungs and then went down. Then the Malaach of Edom went up and up and Yaakov didn’t see it go down. Yaakov became frightened that maybe Edom (the Roman exile we are in today) will never fall? Hashem told Yaakov, “don’t worry, even if the Malaach of Edom is next to me I will push him down.”
The explanation of the Midrash is as follows. Every empire that had power over Klal Yisrael was given a time limit how long they would have power, besides the present exile which depends on our Teshuva. But all the others Hashem had already decided up front how many years they would have power. From the time Alexander Mokdon (Alexander III known as Alexander the great of Macedon) won his battle until the victory of the Chashmonaim was 180 years, equivalent to the 180 steps the Malaach went up and then went back down.
Now we can understand the difference between the dreidel and the gragger. On Purim we turn the gragger from below and make a noise on top just like the miracle of Purim that Klal Yisrael down here made an uproar in Heaven with their prayers, tears and repentance and we turned the decree around.
On Chanuka the power of the Yevanim was over. Hashem made the miracle of saving us. So the powerful soldiers fell to the weak fasting Chashmonaim, the great army fell to the few Chashmonaim, the impure fell into the hands of the pure and the wicked fell into the hands of the Tzaddikim. So since the miracle was really from Hashem we play dreidel by spinning from on top and quietly.
However, even though the power of the Yevanim was over, Hashem wanted us to do our share. So when the Chashmonaim went to war, although they never stood a chance to win, but at least they did their part and Hashem finished the rest and brought us the miracle of Chanuka.
Before we answer the first question, let us take a look at this week’s Parsha.
Yosef had interpreted the dreams of the Royal butler and the Royal baker. Yosef asked the Royal butler to mention him to Pharaoh but he forgot. Two years later Pharaoh had the dreams and no one could explain them. Suddenly, the Royal butler remembered Yosef and told Pharaoh. Pharaoh called for Yosef who interpreted the dreams and Pharaoh was so impressed he made him the deputy king.
The Midrash in this week’s Parsha brings the Passuk that Hashem has an end to the darkness. Similarly there was a fixed time how long Yosef had to be in the darkness of jail. As soon as the time was up Pharaoh had the dreams.
In 1941 the Russians loaded about one hundred boys from the Novardok Yeshiva on to a train headed to Siberia. The journey took close to a month. The boys were devastated. Little did they know that the Russians had actually saved them from being killed by the German Nazis who invaded shortly after.
The boys comforted themselves that at least they were a group together and also that they had their Tefillin and their Seforim to study. As soon as the boys arrived in Siberia the Russians confiscated their books and their Tefillin and burned them all. The boys were devastated on the verge of despair.
But in Novardok despair didn’t exist. That same night after a hard day’s work they returned to their barracks, but they never went straight to sleep. Instead they gathered together to a meeting of encouragement. It was dangerous because at any moment the guards could enter and pity help if they were caught. There were boys who were guards watching that no one was approaching. Whoever wanted could speak but was limited to one and a half minutes.
Hershel Drogochiner spoke up and this is what he said.
The Passuk in Navi says, Hashem asks, why is Yaakov and Yisrael saying that my ways are hidden from Hashem? Don’t you know, if you never heard, that Hashem created the ends of the world, He is not weary or tired, there is no understanding to His wisdom.
Hershel asked, a person thinks that Hashem is looking away and hiding from him. What is the answer? That Hashem created the world? How does that comfort him?
The answer is as follows. When a person suffers it is twofold. The actual suffering itself, but worse still, not knowing when it will finish, if at all! Just like Hashem is eternal, maybe his suffering will be forever. To that, the Navi answers, Hashem created the world but he created the ends of the world as well, the world, everything on it and everything that happens on this world has limits and an end. All difficult times have an end too.
The boys felt a refresh of hope. And all the other boys who spoke followed on the same theme.
We all have difficult times but they have limits.
The world is a ball and a circle. It has no ends or corners. This implies to nature. Hashem created the world in a system that looks like nature, everything happens on its own and naturally. The Yevanim were experts in understanding the nature of the world. (That is why Yavan in Hebrew adds up to the same amount as ‘galgal’)
In Heaven there are squares not circles. That is why the flags of the Shevatim were square and not a circle similar to those of the Malaachim.
The dreidel has ends and corners. When we spin the dreidel we see a circle. This is to remind us that maybe in our eyes we see a circle of nature but it’s only fake and won’t last forever. Soon the dreidel slows down and stops and the circle is gone and we see the squares and the corners. Maybe we landed on a Shin and it costs us a penny but it’s not forever, soon it will finish and we will land on the Gimel and win the pot!
The dreidel and its build is very significant. It isn’t just another game. Its essence, the rules of the game and how it spins all have an important message for us.
The world spins like a circle. It looks like nature that will never change. But no, remember the dreidel. It doesn’t last forever. Our troubles and difficulties have a time limit set by Hashem and the moment the time arrives the dreidel will fall down showing us the square with corners and limits, just like Yosef when his moment came Pharaoh had his dreams, and similarly our salvation will arrive from nowhere we would have imagined.
The dreidel isn’t just a game! It gives us a lot to think about!
