My Childhood Was a Lie and Dreidel Can Actually Be Fun to Play — Hanukkah

Growing up, we played a lot of dreidel in my house during Hanukkah, which is only surprising when you learn what we used as the pot: pennies. Pennies are not a great prize! If you're lucky enough to spin a Gimel (meaning "gantz" or "everything" and awarding you with the entire pot), you're still only winning, what, 30 cents? Sorry, but even to a 7-year-old that's not all that exciting.

Only when recently talking to my Jewish friends did I realize that kids got to play with other options in the pot. You can play with food! Did you know that? I'm guessing you did and that only my parents did not. (Or they did know but they didn't want my grubby fingers touching their favorite candies?) With 35 years of lost dreidel fun behind me, I have spent a lot of time this week thinking about what I could have been winning this whole time.

Here's a totally definitive list.

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