A
dreidel, or sivivon in hebrew, is a four-sided spinning
top used in a "gambling" game on the holiday of Hanukkah.
Each letter symbolizes the portion of the coins (or candy,
peanuts, etc) that they player gives or receives when the
dreidel lands. The letters NUN, GIMMEL, HEY, and SHIN, together
stand for the phrase "A great miracle happened there."
Each
of Jordana Rene's dreidels - made for display and not actual
spinning - is created as a sculpture in honor of the miracle
of Hanukkah. Each draidel is sculpted from individual slabs
of clay which are joined to form a hollow center, and fired
through one of several unique firing methods, including
raku, saggar firing, opalescent lustres, and horsehair firing.
A
sampling the artists dreidels are illustrated below. Dreidels
can be ordered in various sizes, as well as custom color
combinations and styles.