Betting game, associated with Hanukkah. In third centruy BC persecuted Jews used the dreidel to preserve their religion, by studying and teaching covertly with the four sided top. Each side of the dreidel is enscribed with Hebrew letters: nun, gimel, hay, and shin--which represented the Yiddish words "nisht" (nothing), "gantz" (all), "halb" (half), and "shtel" (put in). Some traditions claim Jewish adults used the dreidel to pretend they were gambling when, in fact, they were discussing the Torah.