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The Adult Dreidel Game 
an idea for Hanukkah Depth and Fun

 by Rabbi Goldie Milgram, author of

Reclaiming Judaism as a Spiritual Practice, Meaning and Mitzvah, & Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah

A colleague of blessed memory, Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank, would look for special spiritual/Kabbalistic significance in words that are connected with each of the letters of the dreidel.  For example:

Shin:     Shafal      humility

Reb Goldie note:  Of course Reb Dovid would start with humility, he was a great teacher by example in this. On the letter "shin" we put into the pot of life. Intimacy comes with humility, where one's ego is not in the way and the Spirit of Connection often called by one of Judaism's names for God, "Shechinah" has room to flow between us and others.

Gimel:      Galgal      wheel

Reb Goldie note:   I once heard Dr. Louis Levitt described life as a "moving express train" onto which we land. We enter families in motion, "al galgalim", revolving and evolving, as we are, within the Great Unfolding. On gimel we get to have everything from the pot, which is how the Talmud suggests that we live in this body in this life:  "Those who do not enjoy every pleasure in this life, will be held accountable in the world to come."

Nun:     Nivdal     that which is separate

Reb Goldie note:   In Judaism to make "havdalah" [which is from the same root as nivdal] is to distinguish between that which is holy and that which is not yet holy. Separation often feels like the "nun" place, where one gets nothing from the pot, perhaps feeling like we have already given everything. From nivdal we can witness the connectedness of everything, it is like reaching the bottom of the pool and being able to appreciate the silence before pushing back up to engaged living.  Perhaps this is what my teacher Reb Zalman meant by emphasizing the words differently in a familiar prayer:   "EYIN keloheynu, EYIN kadoneinu..."  I hear the words as the resounding spaciousness of
All Beingness in potentia.

Hay:  Hiuli      that which is formless

Reb Goldie note:   This reminds us that we are pure potential, able to heal, grow, create, remember, innovate. On "hay" we get half the pot, revealing our role as co-creators of the future. Reb Dovid's notes [available from the bookstore at Elat Chayyim, see bibliography button] remind us that the Infinite Unity encompassing the birthing of galaxies is also present in our own lives - at births and deaths, in healings, acts of love, in the process of repairing relationships (teshuvah) and in even a single breath.  He quotes Reb Zalman's chant for remembering the Four Worlds of Jewish spiritual awareness:  "It is perfect, You are loved, all is clear, and I am holy."

It is possible to play dreidel with meaning in the following way:

Whichever letter the dreidel lands on, whosever turn it is
gets to look up a word beginning with that letter in a Hebrew Dictionary.
You get to teach the word you select to everyone.

The next time the dreidel lands on your letter, if it's not you who gets it
that person has to remember your word and define it.

Each night learn one new word for each letter.

In this version, everyone wins. 

If Hebrew is too new in your life, you can find words in your own most familiar language with the same sound as the letters on the dreidl. Hay-happiness, etc.
Fun to do with adults or children!

Blessings for a deep and joyous Hanukkah...love from Reb Goldie