By Lily Yacobi and Diana Yacobi
Ness Gadol Hayah Sham
Shin Hey Nun Gimel
There are four words that capture the spirit of Chanukah. These words,”ness, gadol, hayah, and sham”, represent the story of Chanukah. Their first letters appear on the dreidel. Who knew that the dreidel could make the story so easy to tell!
Ness, or miracle, is represented by the letter nun. Ness refers to the little bit of oil found in the desecrated Temple which miraculously burned for eight days.
Gadol, or big, is represented on the dreidel by the letter gimel. Gadol means big or great, and refers to the great miracle of Jewish survival contained within the Chanukah story.
Hayah means was, but here refers to the miracle which was or took place. Hayah is represented by the letter hey.
Sham means there, pointing out that the great miracle took place in Jerusalem.
In America, we say, ness gadol hayah sham – A great miracle happened there. and show the letters nun-gimel-hay-sham on the dreidel.
Poh means here. In Israel, they say ness gadol hayah poh. A great miracle happened poh or here, represented by the letter pey.
The four letters also stand for Yiddish words denoting game instructions. Each player starts with a handful of tokens such as peanuts, pennies, raisins, M&M's, or foil-wrapped chocolate coins. Each player puts one token in the middle. Then each player spins the dreidel in turn and acts according to the letter left facing up when the dreidel falls:
Nun stands for "nisht" in Yiddish, which means "nothing." So do "nothing."
Gimel stands for "gants" and means "whole." Take or get the whole pot.
Hey stands for "halb" which means half. Take half the tokens.
Shin stands for "shtel" which means "put in." Add to the pot the amount of coins determined at the beginning of the game.
The game is over when one player has all the tokens. The best part of the dreidel game is the family time spent together.
Here are some ideas of how to play with the letters that tell the story of Chanukah.
(To learn more and to purchase The Aleph Bet Story go to www.sarahdavid.com)
Lily Yacobi
Lily Yacobi is the founder of Sarah and David Interactive, a Jewish educational media company specializing in Hebrew reading, writing and language. Lily founded the company in 2004 after spending several years tutoring tens of children (and their siblings and their parents) to prepare them for Bar/Bat Mitzvah. While having lunch with the mother of one of her students, Lily mentioned the idea of sharing her teaching method with children everywhere. The mother’s eyes lit up…and Lily knew she was on to something.
Diana Yacobi
Diana Yacobi co-founded of Sarah and David Interactive and has created the Sarah and David program for Hebrew reading, writing and language together with her daughter, Lily.
With a Master’s degree in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and years as educational director in synagogue schools, Diana’s world has been about creating curriculum, working with teachers and making Jewish education enjoyable for students. Over the years, helping students succeed with Hebrew reading became one of her passions, since students spend many years working on the process. Sarah and David was a natural extension of curricula she had piloted in her schools.
As a product of synagogue school education and later as a professional, Diana has published a number of articles on topics related to supplementary Jewish education. Her professional goals continue to be creating curricula, materials and techniques that will ensure the success of both teachers and students involved in the synagogue school system.
Currently Educational Director of the Religious School at Temple Emanu-el in Closter, New Jersey, she is a member of the Jewish Educators Assembly (JEA), The Network for Research in Jewish Education, and the Coalition for Advancement in Jewish Education (CAJE), and has served as a presenter at several CAJE conferences.
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