Dear B’nai Shalom members, families, and friends:
For this month’s bulletin article, it was suggested to me that I present to you a couple recent questions that were posed to me together with the answers I shared with the questioners. I thought that could be an interesting topic for the shul so the following are those questions and responses from me:
One person asked the following:
I have a dreidel question for you. We play dreidel during Chanukah because the Jews used it to hide the fact that they were studying from the Syrian-Greeks, right? So, what letters were on the dreidels that they used? And what did they stand for? The letters that are on dreidels today don’t make sense, or at least what they stand for doesn’t make sense to me, because the great miracle of the oil hadn’t happened yet.
My answer to that question: Good question! You are right! There could NOT have been dreidels as we know them for the reasons you gave. The explanation is simple:
The Jews, in hiding the act of learning Torah, engaged in other activities such as archery and whatever board games they had at the time. It is possible that they even had games of chance that included a top (the forerunner to our dreidel of today) but, as you know and pointed out, the letters could not have been there at the time because they represent the miracles that occurred DURING the events of Chanukah.
FOLLOWING the establishment of the holiday, the use of the dreidel came into play with the letters depicting the four-word statements, adjusted for IN Israel and OUTSIDE of Israel, as you know.
But, aside from engaging in other activities when the Syrian Greeks came around, the actual dreidel could not have been there.
This ruse is similar to what occurred years earlier with the Romans which evolved into the holiday of Lag B’Omer. Then, the main activity recalled is the archery, which continues to be a major sport on Lag B’Omer in Israel. Here, not so much. Much more, softball.
The second questions asked of me was from a person who is in the 12-month aveilus (mourning) period for a parent. The question was:
A friend invited us to see the (Chicago) Blackhawks (NHL hockey team play). I’ve not been seeing lives shows (or movies in the theater). Is there an “exception” for sporting events? Although the team stinks, is it still considered a form of “public entertainment or amusement”? Okay or not to go?
My answer was: One COULD say that since they stink and there could be little pleasure derived from watching them play, you not only COULD go, but SHOULD go — how appropriate for aveilus! However, that is not the answer. Certainly you could look for (though I don’t think you would be doing so…) more strict opinions out there that might asser – forbid – attending sporting events, there really is no such issur – prohibition.
Many times I have commented that if Chazal (the previous generations’ rabbis and authorities) took MORE TIME and examined — and even looked to the future, they would have — NO DOUBT assured (forbidden) attendance at sporting events. But they didn’t. Good.
Sporting events have never been included in the list of in-person attendance-types of events that concerts, comedians, and singers have predominantly occupied. Of the four major sports (as a good American, I don’t even begin to count soccer as one of these…), hockey in America (as opposed to Canada) is at the bottom. I’m not so sure this even counts in the “figuring” of permission or not, but if sporting events were not EVEN CONSIDERED by the rabbis, hockey would not even have been anywhere in their galaxy. Long way to say: NO PROBLEM. I’d say “go and enjoy” but that seems to be counter intuitive and adverse to the very question you are asking.
I hope that by sharing these two questions and answers, I have further clarified curiosities of many of you on these two
areas and you have found this interesting and worthwhile.
With Torah blessings,
Rabbi Dr. Yaacov Dvorin