Why we should ban playing dreidels

Or perhaps not. Here is the Aruch ha-Shulchan on the matter. He writes, in Orach Chaim Siman 670, Seif 9:

סימן תרע סעיף ט

ריבוי הסעודות שמרבין בהם – הם סעודות הרשות. שלא קבעום למשתה ושמחה כפורים, משום דגזירת המן היתה על הגופים: "להשמיד להרוג ולאבד" – לכך צריכין לשמח הגוף. אבל גזירות אנטיוכס היתה ביטול תורה ומצות. ואף שזה גרוע מגזירת הגוף, מכל מקום סוף סוף הם גזירות הנפש, לכך צריכין לשמח הנפש בהלל, ותודה, וזמירות, ושירות ותשבחות, ואין להגוף עניין בזה (ומתורץ קושית הט"ז סעיף קטן ג).מ

ומכל מקום יש אומרים שיש קצת מצוה להרבות בסעודות. חדא: דשמחת הנפש תלוי קצת גם כן בשמחת הגוף, כמושג בחוש. ועוד: לזכר חנוכת המשכן, שקבעום למשתה ושמחה. וגם יש לומר שירות ותשבחות בהסעודות, ואז וודאי הוי סעודת מצוה.

אבל השוחקים בקלפים – עונשן רב, ובעונותינו הרבים נתפשטה נגע צרעת הזה בבית ישראל. אוי לנו שעלתה בימינו כך, וכמה מיני עבירות תלויות בזה! והוא רחום יכפר עון. ומי שביכולתו לבטלה – שכרו מרובה מאד.

The increasing of festive meals which people increase, they are optional meals. For they {=Chazal} did not establish it {=Chanukkah} for parties and rejoicing, like Purim. For the decree of Haman was upon the bodies - "to obliterate, to kill, and to destroy" -- therefore, we are required to make the body rejoice. But the decrees of Antiochus was the nullification of Torah and Mitzvot. And even though this is worse than a decree against the body, still, at the end of the day, they were decrees against the soul. Therefore we are required to make the soul rejoice with Hallel, praise, Zemirot, Shirot veTishbachot, and the body has no connection to this. (And this answers the question of the Taz in seif katan 3.)

And still, there is to say that there is some amount of mitzvah to increase in festive meals. Firstly, that the rejoicing of the soul is somewhat connected as well in the rejoicing of the body, as is intuitively felt. And further, as a remembrance to the dedication of the Mishkan, which they established for festive meals and rejoicing. And also, there is to say Shirot and Tishbachot within those meals, and then certainly it will be a seudat mitzvah.

But those who play with cards -- their punishment is great, and in our great sins this disease of leprosy {of card-playing} in the House of Israel. Woe to us that such arises in our days! And how many types of sins are suspended from it! And He is merciful and forgives iniquity. And he who has in his ability to nullify this -- his reward is incredibly great.

The idea is that Chanukkah is not about fun. So favorable or unfavorable comparisons to Christmas, as occur on the Daily Show or South Park, are irrelevant. The point is the Hallel, and the praising of God. And physical rejoicing is only really relevant as a means to that end. So who cares how many presents you get, or if a Christmas tree is "cooler" than a menorah. The very comparison misses the point.

So too, playing with dreidel. It is an OK game, to entertain, especially kids. But if we turn dreidel into a card-game, played for high-stakes, then it is missing the point. If we make it into a game of poker, but played with dreidels, then it is certainly missing the point. And the Aruch HaShulchan would decry it.

And here is an article in the Jewish Week, about how an intermarried couple "fixed" the game of dreidel so that it is fun for adults, by adding elements of Texas Hold 'Em:

I’ve taken our ancestral Hebrew-adorned tops for many a spin.

But a full-fledged dreidel match, one in which competitors vie for the pot of gelt?
Let’s just say that the one time I tried it with a group of adults — back when my husband and I were 20-something, child-free and regular poker players — we were all bored well before the candles had burnt down low.

The simple parameters of take all, take half, take nothing or ante up may entertain small children like my daughters, who recently whiled away an afternoon doing the same 12-piece jigsaw puzzle over and over. But clearly dreidel is not much of an adult game.

So I was excited when I found out about No Limit Texas Dreidel, which entrepreneur Jennie Rivlin Roberts and her non-Jewish husband Webb Roberts dreamed up three years ago as they were driving from Florida to their home in Atlanta.

Their annual Chanukah party was coming up and Rivlin Roberts, now 37, recalls saying, “There really must be a way to make dreidel more fun.”

Since the two were poker enthusiasts, they livened up the traditional Gimel - Hey- Nun- Shin with elements of “No Limit Texas Hold ’Em.”

In the resulting product, players use multiple dreidels to create their best “hand” — a combination of communal and individual spins — and are then encouraged to bet.

And so on. See the whole article.

Note: This post is not intended halacha lemaaseh. Consult your local Orthodox rabbi.