What is the dreidel?

The dreidel is a spinning top with Hebrew letters on each of its four sides. It is a traditional game played during Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday. Each player starts with a pile of tokens, usually chocolate or gelt (foil-covered chocolate coins). They take turns spinning the dreidel and following the instruction on which letter is facing up after it stops spinning. The four letters represent the phrase "Nes Gadol Haya Sham", which means "A great miracle happened there" and refers to the miracle of the oil lasting for eight nights in the Temple. The game continues until one player has collected all of the tokens.