Maxie and the Draydel

Max saw his friend Sarah. She was sitting with some children playing some kind of game with an odd looking little top.

"Hi," Max said. "What are you playing? Can I play, too?"

"No, Maxie," said Sarah. "It is the first day of Chanukah, and we are playing draydel. This is a Jewish game, and you are a Catholic, so you can’t play with us."

Big tears sprang to Max’s eyes. Sarah had never refused to play with him before. He hung his head and sadly walked home. At home, Max asked his mom, "What’s a draydel? Sarah was playing with one but she said I couldn’t play because it was a Jewish game and I am a Catholic."

"I don’t know, Maxie," Mom said. "That isn’t like Sarah. She is your good friend. Never mind, maybe you can play with her tomorrow."

Sarah had seen the tears in Max’s eyes. She was sad. He was really her best friend. She didn’t feel like playing draydel anymore, so she went home, too.

At supper, Sarah just picked at her food. She felt bad because she knew she had hurt Max’s feelings. Finally her mother noticed that something was wrong and asked her about it.

"Oh, Mom, I hurt Maxie’s feelings. I told him he couldn’t play draydel with us because a draydel is a Jewish toy and Maxie is a Catholic. But I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He is my very best friend. He was the first one to welcome me to the neighborhood when we moved here from Russia last year. What should I do?" 

Sarah’s mom said, "The rabbi is coming to visit after supper. Rabbis are usually very wise. We will ask him what to do."

When the rabbi came to visit that evening, Sarah rushed up at once and asked him her question. The rabbi laughed. "Oh Sarah," he said, "do you remember what Chanukah is all about?"

"Well, said Sarah, it is the Feast of Lights. It reminds us when the menorah in the Holy Temple miraculously stayed lit for eight days, with very little oil. We tell the story every year when we light the Chanukah candles."

"Yes," said the rabbi, "Go on."

Sarah continued the story. "Well, more than two thousand years ago, Judea was ruled by a bad king from Syria who wouldn’t let the Jews worship their one God and made everyone bow down to all the Greek idols. An old priest took his five sons and a group of other Jews out into the country. Then, his son Judah the Maccabee began to lead the Jews in a fight against the Syrian army. After many battles, the Jews were able to re-capture the temple in Jerusalem. This was the temple that King Solomon had built which had been destroyed once and rebuilt by the prophets Ezra and Nechemiah. The temple was nearly ruined. They scrubbed and cleaned and repaired it, and finally Judah called all the people together to rededicate the temple. When it was time to re-light the Menorah, only one small jar of pure oil could be found. But the high Priest was so happy and full of faith to have the temple back, he lit the menorah. The next day, to everyone's surprise, the menorah was still burning brightly. The oil miraculously burned for eight days, until a new supply of oil could be brought. The Jews rejoiced, and thanked God for this favor. They continued to fight and finally they won."

"Well, Sarah, then why do we celebrate Chanukah even today?" asked the rabbi. Then he answered his own question. "We celebrate to remind us of this favor God gave, and in honor of religious freedom and the spirit of free thought. So, Sarah, here in America we are free to honor God with our Jewish celebrations and holidays just as Max is free to honor God with his own Catholic ones."

The rabbi continued, "There is a legend that the custom of playing with a draydel originated during the Greek-Syrian prohibition against the studying of the Torah during the time of the Maccabees. While the children were at their lessons, if an inspector came to see if they were obeying the law, the children would take out their draydels and spin them. All the inspector would see was a bunch of children playing with their tops. Originally the draydel was not connected with Chanukah in any way. The German Christians also had the custom of spinning a top on Christmas eve. The Germans borrowed the game from the Greeks and Romans. So you see, Sarah, Max may certainly play the draydel game with you."

Then Sarah and her family continued their celebration by lighting the special Chaunkah Menorah, the Chanukiah. They were happy to have the rabbi celebrate with them.

The next morning Sarah was up bright and early. She got a big bag and put some things in it. Then she ran all the way down the block to Max’s house. She rang the bell and when Max came to the door, she quickly said, "Oh Maxie, I am sorry I hurt your feelings yesterday. I talked to the rabbi last night and I was wrong to tell you that you couldn’t play the draydel game with us. May I come in and teach you how to play?"

"What’s a rabbi?" asked Max.

"A rabbi is like a teacher, and he is very wise," said Sarah. "The rabbi reminded me that one of the reasons we Jews celebrate Chanukah is to celebrate our religious freedom. That means that we are each free to worship God, even if we see him differently. And we can still be friends and play together even if we have different faiths! So come on and let me teach you how to play the draydel game."

The children sat on the floor and Sarah took her draydel out of her sack. She told Max that the Hebrew letters on the draydel, stand for the words "nes godal hayah sham" and mean "A Great Miracle Happened There. That means a miracle happened in the land of Israel." She told him the story of the Maccabees and the miracle of the menorah in the temple that stayed lit for eight days.

Then Sarah pulled 10 nuts out of her bag and gave them to Max. She took ten nuts for herself. Then she told him the rest of the rules.

Each player puts one of these into the middle, called the pot. The draydel is spun by one player at a time. Whether he wins or loses depends on which side of the draydel is up when it falls:

Nun means nisht or "nothing."  Player does nothing. 
Gimmel means gantz or "all."  Player takes everything in the pot. 
Heh means halb or "half."  Player takes half of what is in the pot. 
Shin means shtel or "put in."  Player adds two objects to the pot. 

When only one object or none is left in the pot, every player adds one. When an odd number of objects are in the pot, the player rolling heh, "half" takes half the total plus one. When one person has won everything the game is over. 

Finally, Sarah taught Max to sing a happy little draydel song. Together the children sang:

"I have a little draydel, I made it out of clay;
And when it's dry and ready, Then draydel I shall play.
O draydel, draydel, draydel, I made it out of clay;
O draydel, draydel, draydel. Now draydel I shall play."

"What else do you have in your sack?" asked Max.

Sarah pulled out some paper and scissors and paste and smilingly said, "Here is a pattern. We can make some paper draydels for decorations." 

So Max and Sarah cut and pasted and made lovely paper draydels for decorations. 

After Sarah went home, Max went in the kitchen where his mother was cooking supper. "Mom," he said, "I am glad Sarah is my friend. And I am glad we have religious freedom in America."

Then Max went and hung his paper draydel in his room to remind himself of his friendship with Sarah.