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Derived from popular European games�of chance,�the spinning�of�a dreidel (Yiddish for spinning top) is�one of the favorite games�played by children�during Hanukkah.�The four letters inscribed on the dreidel, one on�each side,�form�an acronym�of�the phrase ��A great miracle occurred here,���alluding to the miracle of the Maccabees�� victory over Antiochus��s army and the reconsecration of the Temple in Jerusalem�(celebrated�on�Hanukkah).�Although made in the Bezalel School, this spinning top was�created for the Diaspora and therefore features the letter�shin�(for�sham, there) rather than�peh�(for�po��� here).�
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The�original item is in the�Alan and Riva Slifka Collection in the Israel Museum