My All-Nun Dreidl

My All-Nun Dreidl

Yesterday I went to the shuk to get all sorts of stuff we need for Chanukah when I noticed some pretty hand-painted dreidls that caught my eye. A bit pricey at a dollar and a half-a-piece. But, hey, for Chanukah you can splurge a little…So I got 4. And a bag of chocolate chips for a few evenings of candle-lit dreidl marathons.
Anyway, this morning my 7-year-old Yaakov called to me from the living room, “Eema! Why does this dreidl only have nuns on it?”
And Yaakov brought the dreidl to me for inspection, and sure enough, he was correct. I had spent a dollar and a half for a dreidl with all nuns.
Of course, being JewishMOM, my mind began waxing poetic, mentally preparing a post about a particular situation in my life, which seems to be completely lacking in gimmels or hehs. Nothing good about it, anyway I spin it.
But within that all-nun-dreidl situation in my life, which I would never have chosen for myself, I can still choose to react in the best possible way. I can choose to grow as a person, and strengthen my connection to Torah and Hashem. I can respond with kindness and acceptance and love (instead of resentment and frustration and jealousy of others whose dreidls, in addition to nuns, feature hehs and gimmels and shins/or pehs). And thusly, even with my all-nun dreidl, I can win the jackpot.
Yaakov, ever the practical one, brought me back from my poetic waxiness to the dreidl at hand. “Eema, you should bring this dreidl back to the store today!”
“Unless,” he added thoughtfully, “they sold you this one at a discount.”

Photo by Joshua Weisberg

3 comments

  1. dear chana jenny,
    when i saw the title of this piece, “my all-nun dreidel” i expected to read a listing of your “nuns”—all the wonderful Nissim that belong to you. I think that having an all-nun dreidel would be a reminder of how we should look at our lives: search for the miracles in your daily life and be thankful for them. miracles can be big and awesome, but they can also be small and regular. small daily miracles include: being able to stand and walk on our own, having a home, having good food to eat, having children (even if they are being difficult), having a spouse, being able to breathe without assistance….
    an all-nin dreidel is a reminder of all that and more…
    chag chanukah sameach!!

    • Mina Esther Gordon

      Tamar, that’s a great reframe!And as a person counts his miracles, he is opening the pipeline to more!

    • you are so right tamar! This occurred to me (unfortunately) after I’d already posted this. It’s a much better take on my all-nun dreidl!

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