Word Prompt – DREIDEL – Yitzy Spinner

I’ve never felt more connected to a word prompt before… asking someone named Spinner to share thoughts about the word dreidel seems a little fortuitous, somehow perfect.

Is the dreidel just a toy? To some, possibly. But to those who know it’s supposed history, it’s a device that allowed the safe study of Torah in a time of persecution.

Regardless, it’s become a symbol that is known worldwide as a representation of the Chanukah story and its associated miracles. We see its image everywhere we turn at this time of year, from print publications to grocery store aisles, and you’ll even find them in giveaway bowls at your local stops.

At its most elemental point, though, the dreidel is a spinner. A Spinner. Me, writing about the dreidel? This might just be the culmination of centuries of my ancestors’ trajectory to this singular moment. My name. My history. My destiny. My very essence.