I called this article ‘The Victory of the dreidel’ because of an interesting fact about Chanukah.

The Chanukah story, in a nutshell, contains two parts.

First – The miraculous military victory of a few priests who never held a sword in their lives, against the mightiest undefeated army of ancient Greece.

For this we add special praises to the Chanukah services (Hallel and Al Ha’Nisim).

The second part is the single cruse of oil that miraculously lasted for eight days. This is why we light the Menorah for eight days and eat latkes and doughnuts that are fried in hot oil.

The two facts above are well known. So where does the dreidel come in?

One of the decrees of Antiochus, the King of Greece, commanded was to prohibit the Jewish study of Torah and Yiddishkeit.  Nothing is dearer to a Jewish mother more than her children’s education, so the kids hid in caves at the outskirts of Jerusalem to secretly continue their Jewish education. After all, they could deal with Antiochus, but no one wants to deal with an angry Jewish mother who expects her child to study! J In any case, when the Greek soldiers located their whereabouts and suspected the children’s true motives, the children hid their books and immediately took out a popular Greek game; it was a gambling game using a spinning top, otherwise known as the dreidel.

So, if we have the Menorah as a symbol of the reconstructed Jewish services in the Beth Mikdash, how come we don’t have any symbol to praise the military victory of the few priests against the mighty Greeks?!

Unfortunately, we are a nation well-experienced in war. I myself, as a young soldier, was involved in the 2006 Lebanese War as well as in a few combat operations in Gaza that protected Israel, our homeland.

In wars there are no winners! Although necessary for survival, wars are never a priority for Jews. Therefore, not even one of the Chanukah symbols is about the miraculous military victory because we don’t celebrate wars!

What do we celebrate? What are the symbols we’re proud of and maintain until today, over twenty centuries later? The olive oil and the Menorah! Both symbolize wisdom and spirituality. As Heinrich Heine said, “Jewish wisdom is ‘the portable homeland of the Jews’.”

The Greeks had it all. They ruled over most of the world, they were rich, they were admired, and they developed their empire. Today, not much remains. The Jews held the secret of how to be the real winners. The “secret” ingredient was, and still is, EDUCATION.

As the symbol of the younger generation’s connection to Judaism, the true victory belongs to the funny toy, to the dreidel. Endangering their lives, ‘wasting’ time with Jewish studies rather than using their time for more ‘beneficial activities’, such as training for battle, the Maccabees maintained their schools. Their children filled the numerous classrooms (or caves) to pour over their books and learn.

Today, over twenty centuries later, the Greek chapter is but a piece of history, while Judaism is a living heritage!

For the prosperity of our Jewish community, here in Halifax, I hope we will be able to establish a Jewish preschool this coming September. Thanks to the hard work of more than a few caring people who invested much time, effort and money. I would like to encourage anyone who agrees that this is the most important thing for the future of our community, to pick up the phone or send an email in order to offer advice, support, and help or just to say a good word to Neli Shpoker, Adam Conter or myself.

Shalom Ve Kol Tuv,    

Amram