games

Settling in at Waldman Library

Maiya Letourneau has been head librarian of the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library since last November. (photo from Maiya Letourneau)

Maiya Letourneau, head librarian of the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library in the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, has always wanted to work with books. “I grew up in Winnipeg,” she said. “My mom worked in a bookstore, and I always liked books.”

Letourneau received a bachelor’s degree in education before completing the two-year library program at the University of British Columbia last summer. Since November 2021, she has been head librarian at the Waldman.

“When I learned about the job at the JCC library, I was excited,” she told the Independent. “I often went to the JCC in Winnipeg as a child, and to work at the JCC in Vancouver felt like a great opportunity to reconnect. And to work with books was all I wanted.”

Before she started this job, Letourneau worked as a student librarian at UBC and as a teacher-librarian at the Vancouver School Board. “A teacher-librarian is a great job,” she said. “You teach the children how to use a library, both its paper and its digital resources. I worked with the elementary school children. We had story times often, and I taught them how to ask questions about the stories we read.”

Letourneau considers reading one of the highest needs and pleasures of any human being. “Not every school has a library,” she said, “but I think all schools should have one. It helps with students’ literacy rates. Reading helps kids down the road in their lives.”

Books have certainly defined her life. She reads a wide variety of genres and on a broad array of topics. She talks about books with shining eyes, like a person with a sweet tooth enjoying a selection of treats in a cake shop. “I’m reading a lot of the books from the Waldman Library. It is an amazing collection. I might not have a deep knowledge of Jewish literature yet, but I have a deep appreciation of it. It’s been great fun for me to read our books, to learn our collection.”

Her latest read was Gary Shteyngart’s Our Country Friends. “It was a bit humourous and very relatable,” she said. “The story was about COVID and the isolation we all experienced recently because of the pandemic. A wonderful novel.”

Passionate about her job, she not only wants to offer patrons the best books and movies but also to find great new material for the collection. “I often go to GoodReads to get a feel of what people are reading, but my main resource is the Jewish Book Council,” she said. “I regularly log into their website. Another resource is when people come in and ask about a book they want to read. Listening to our readers is paramount.”

Letourneau gives a lot of thought to improving everyone’s reading-related experience. “One of our programs involves authors visiting the library. Another is a monthly Jewish Book Club, led by the former head librarian, Helen Pinsky. We also have a grant for an iPad learning program – people could borrow an iPad from the library for several months, and our volunteers would teach them how to use those iPads to access the Waldman’s digital resources. We have over 600 digital books in our collection, and not all of them are duplicated in the paper format.”

Letourneau’s concern over library accessibility is profound. “During the pandemic, we were closed for several months,” she said. “Now, we are open, and more people are feeling comfortable coming to the library in-person again, but I want to do more, to bring books to the people, like bookmobiles. COVID taught us to look for ways to bring the books outside the library.”

One of the new ways to connect readers to books will be a cart the library ordered recently. “We are on the second floor of the JCC,” explained Letourneau. “Nobody is passing the library on the way to their meetings or the gym or the swimming pool. The library is not often a destination by itself, but our research suggests that people would be glad if the books came to them. We are going to have the library mobile book cart roaming around the JCC, in the atrium on the first floor or near the café. I’m sure it will increase our book circulation.”

She also initiated a major change at the Waldman: it is now free to access books, and not only for JCC members but for the general public as well.

“We have something they don’t,” she said, referring to most other libraries. “We offer Jewish authors and Jewish content the city public library might not have. It is especially important for newcomers to Canada. We have many Hebrew books and, when people just arrive from Israel, they want to read the language they know. Their children want the familiar language, as well, before they learn English. That’s why our Hebrew collection is so important.”

Letourneau is not alone in her dedicated work. She has the library’s volunteers to help her.

“The volunteers are the backbone of this library,” she stressed. “The credit goes to the previous librarians. They built such a great group of volunteers. Some of them, about 70%, are over 55, seniors who want to help for various reasons.

“Others are young students who want to learn how a library works. The Waldman is the best place for them. We are a small library and, here, they can learn every aspect and every task in a library, not just one activity, like shelving or front desk, which they might learn from a larger library.”

While many older and longtime users consider the library an access point to information, a quiet refuge and a serious place, she wants to add some new features to attract younger readers.

“I’d like to add a sense of playfulness for the kids,” she said. “Maybe some games, like Dungeons & Dragons. I’m thinking of ways to make the genre of fiction more visible on the shelves, too. There are some wonderful genres of books – fantasy and science fiction – by Jewish authors. Teenagers like those books.”

In general, Letourneau regards it as her duty to promote reading as much as possible and is willing to consider many possibilities of what a library can offer and be. “Whatever gets people reading,” she said with a smile.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

Seven decades of poker evolves

A screenshot of Morley’s Minyan playing poker. Top row, from left: Al Hornstein, Larry Moscovitz and Carolyn Aronson. Middle row, from left: Lyall Levy, Murray Atnikov (the night’s big winner) and Macey Morris. Bottom left is Tony Aronson. Missing are Steve Bernstein, Joel Finkelstein, Marshall Cramer and Irv Sirlin. (image from Carolyn Aronson)

In 1948 or 1949, a group of Jewish students at the University of British Columbia started a weekly poker game. While none of the original players remain, the regular game has continued, with a few interruptions, for more than 70 years. Now, children of some of the earliest members are joining – and the “young” card players are themselves middle aged.

Murray Atnikov, now 97, joined the poker game around 1960. He enjoys playing, but it’s the kibitzing that keeps him coming back.

“The company is very, very jovial, to say the least,” said Murray. “We have a good time.”

The march of time means the faces have changed, but the endurance of the game has been remarkable. It started out as a weekly event, though it went to biweekly when the Vancouver Canucks joined the National Hockey League in 1970. Since the pandemic began, they have played via an online poker platform.

“The continuity is something that amazes me,” said Murray.

Lyall Levy, a retired family doctor who is 85, joined the group in 1964. In those days, the games rotated among the players’ homes. The players were all men and the wives would outdo one another preparing refreshments.

“It would be like going to a high-end Jewish restaurant,” Lyall said. His daughter, Carolyn Aronson, recalls having extra-special lunches the day after poker nights.

Carolyn, now 60, broke the gender barrier when she became the first female to join the men’s game. She is one of four members who are a generation younger than the other players. Her husband, Tony Aronson, also plays. Joel Finkelstein joined the game when his father, Norty, passed away, and Larry Moscovitz took the place of his late father, Bill. The others range from 81 to Murray, at 97.

As the players (and their wives) got older, they moved the games to the Richmond Golf and Country Club, to which they hope to return as soon as the COVID situation makes it reasonable to do so. When some wives complained that the men were driving home on dark winter nights, they moved the games to the afternoon, followed by noshes in the restaurant.

The group never had a name or any formal structure, but after Morley Koffman, a Vancouver lawyer who was a founding player, passed away in 2015 at age 85, they dubbed themselves Morley’s Minyan in his honour.

The players and their families formed tight bonds. Morley, a meticulous record-keeper, would hold back some of the cash from the kitty each week to put toward an annual group golfing and eating excursion in Seattle with spouses.

“I think that appeased the wives because they got to go to Seattle and go shopping or whatever,” speculated Carolyn.

While her husband joined the game in person before the pandemic, she came in only after it went online.

“They’ve never said no girls but there’s never been a woman in the game before,” she laughed. She’s not sure she’ll be invited when they return to live games.

“When we go back to live, she will be there,” her husband insisted. “The other guys will want her there, trust me.”

Her father foresees some potential gender conflicts, though.

“The problem with adding women is, I can think of at least two others whose wives are better players than their husbands,” said Lyall. Another issue, he said, is that some wives may not know how much money their husbands have been losing all these years.

It’s a friendly game – for the most part. Lyall shared tales of sharp competitiveness, referring to some players as “archenemies.”

His daughter downplayed the sharp elbows, insisting it’s all fun and games.

“It’s all fun and games to watch them get at each other,” her father retorted. “There was a lot of hostility between one player and the next. I could tell you some stories.”

“They like ripping each other,” conceded Carolyn, “especially my dad and Murray, they’re old friends.”

When Murray makes a big raise, Lyall studies his opponent’s face.

“I can tell – when his lip starts to quiver, he’s bluffing,” Lyall said. This puts Lyall at a disadvantage in the online game, where faces are obscured and quivering lips are undetectable.

screenshot - Morley’s Minyan as their avatars playing on Pokerstars — Morley’s Minyan as their avatars playing on Pokerstars. *(image from Carolyn Aronson)*

The Aronsons used to jet off regularly to Vegas to play the game. When Lyall invited his son-in-law to join about four years ago, he warned him that the group takes things seriously.

Tony acknowledged, “When Lyall first invited me to join, he said to me, ‘Tony, you gotta think about whether you want to play.’ I said, ‘I can handle it.’”

But joining a group already (long) in progress involves some adjustments.

“I said, ‘What games do you play?’” Tony recalled. “He said, ‘It’s dealer’s choice. You can play any game you want.’ I said, ‘Oh good, that’s nice.’ The first game I arrived at, it came around to me and I said, ‘OK, we’ll play Omaha.’ ‘No, no. We don’t play Omaha.’ So I said, ‘OK, how about Three-card Monte?’ ‘Nope, we don’t play that.’ I said, ‘I thought it was dealer’s choice.’ They said, ‘It is. Seven or five card stud, whichever one you want.’”

The games are not penny ante, but nor are the pots nothing. A hundred or a couple of hundred bucks may be at stake but the bragging rights are the real jackpot.

Recently, Murray had a big win.

Carolyn said, “I heard my dad talking to him two days later and he said, ‘I’m still walking four feet above the ground.’ He’s phoning everybody he knows to say that he won at poker.”

For the longer-term players, these connections constitute decades-long friendships.

“Some of these people he’s maintained the relationships with them for 50, 60 years,” said Carolyn.

Added Tony: “For the younger generation – Larry and Joel and Carolyn and myself – it’s just been an amazing way to connect with these people in a way that we probably couldn’t have before and it feels good that, during COVID, we have been able to put them together and give them the joy of something that they love that they couldn’t do.”

“It’s always an entertaining evening,” Lyall said, “no matter whether you’ve won or lost.”

Grateful for ability to play

Six members of the 35th Street Gang, with the author second from the left in the back row. (photo from Cassandra Freeman)

Sheena and I don’t recall why we were trying to measure the house with a ball of string. We just remember me holding one end of the string, throwing the rest down from my bedroom, and her running all around the house with the rest of it till she got back to me. We were 8 years old and we were part of what we proudly called the 35th Street Gang.

At a recent reunion, 43 years later, seven of us mischievous women decided that playing was a powerful thing. It was about athletic activity, creativity, community building, trust – and simply some of the funnest times we’ve had.

Fairly early in our lives, “we seven” decided we owned the block. That’s why we called ourselves the 35th Street Gang. For some of us, a rite of initiation to the gang was to climb with hands and bare feet up to the very top of the pole and touch the signs that read 35th and Maple, then slide right back down again.

Kick the can was one of our favourite games. It was a combination of tag and hide-and-go-seek. I remember shivering with anticipation in a neighbour’s garage, hiding from the girl who was “it.” Of course, she found me before the others, and we raced down the short hill and around the corner, each of us trying to be the one who would kick the can first. I’m betting that we ran faster than we ever did in phys ed class. (Some adults still play this game I discovered, and you can search for them on meetup.com.)

Roller skates were all the rage in the early 1970s. They attached to the bottom of your sneakers with a metal key. I can still feel the vibration from the wheels going all the way through my body from the contact with the cement below. And just skating in the middle of the road wasn’t good enough for us. One of us, Louise, created a song we all sang and did the motions to while skating. It went like this: “Butterflies fly, and so do I, and I like it, so I don’t sit, I fly … so do I.”

The most daring kind of play we did was tobogganing. Daring because we slid down a severely slanted sidewalk covered with snow and ice. The year I was 8, winter was particularly cold. That did not deter us and neither did the teenage boys who threw ice balls at us on the way down. We were determined to have a good time.

We had a regular toboggan that fit three of us, a red slippery carpet, and a small round “flying saucer” one that would go round in circles as you went down. The bump we all made in the middle of the run was the most fun. We would fly off that thing so high it took a few seconds to come back down to earth again.

One time, I was sitting in the middle of the flying saucer and flew off that bump and started spinning in circles. I still remember that moment when I realized – too late – that I was going to hit the huge chestnut tree at the bottom of the run. And so I did. Thwack! My back hit that tree so hard it took all the breath out of me. Realizing a few seconds later that I was all in one piece, I got up and marched back up the hill and slid all the way down again on someone else’s toboggan.

We did all of these things running in and out of my parents’ house. As a result, all of my friends still know about all the Jewish holidays and what a kosher kitchen is. They would even march in on Passover with non-kosher-for-Passover popsicles to torment my poor older sister who was trying to keep the holiday. Today, they remember my parents, Joyce and Bernie, as being their second parents growing up. One of us, Madeleine, even says that she became a war crimes prosecutor because she learned about the Holocaust from spending so much time in our house. (See jewishindependent.ca/working-for-human-rights.)

When John Fraser became a member of Parliament, we used his election signs to build a huge maze in the Frasers’ front yard. We crawled around until our knees hurt. We had such a great time until we learned that he and his wife would be leaving for Ottawa with their three daughters. We said our sad goodbyes and waited for the time we would see them again.

Looking back, I am thankful I was involved in an old-fashioned kind of play that created lifelong friendships. Now, at our reunions, we become kids again and laugh our heads off for hours.

Cassandra Freeman is a freelance writer and teaches improv games for parties and performance.

Emerging from the shadows

Pepi Eirew (photo by Rob Gilbert)

I looked across the table and a boy stared back. I was 11 years old. “Yes! A girl!” he said, incredulous. “A boy,” I replied dryly. We shook hands and took our first moves.

Oddly, Ms. Janet England, my kindergarten teacher, taught the whole class to play chess on Tuesday mornings, because she felt that it was a wonderful game. More than that, she invited non-playing parents to come, too. So, I learned chess and it has been beside me ever since, like one of Phillip Pulman’s The Golden Compass daemons.

It is the best game to take on holiday, as, whatever the location, I can play beyond my years and without a shared language. I remember, when I was small, being in a tough park in New York. My parents wanted to leave, but then we saw some chessboards and, well, my parents’ worries about the surrounding drugs and darkness meant nothing – we just had to stay. Contrary to what is depicted in The Queen’s Gambit, that is the only drug-taking I have seen near the board; never in a tournament. Players know each other quite well, seeing each other at regular events, so anomalies in personality, behaviour or play would quickly be spotted.

I really hope that The Queen’s Gambit will spur many girls on to play more. What other game lets you play on an even footing, irrespective of size or age or language? Under one metre tall, I would approach grown men to play as we traveled. “Are you any good?” they’d invariably ask. I’d shrug and we’d have a good game.

I was selected to play for Canada Girls U18 two years ago, and then invited to the World Youth Championships. It is an amazing hobby, although one I confess I have hidden until fairly recently. I love the game and thinking things through. It is endlessly exciting. I was inspired by the Polgár sisters: grandmasters Susan and Judit and international master Sofia.

photo - Pepi Eirew at the 2015 Canadian Youth Chess Championships — Pepi Eirew at the 2015 Canadian Youth Chess Championships. *(photo by Gaby Eirew)*

I have played in tournaments that took me into a world of fancy halls and hotels. Some hotels are lovely and offer very reduced room rates, which doubled as our family holidays. Sometimes, I have taken Pesach seder plates with me during weeklong games! Sometimes, the choice of venues is odd, like the time we were part-sponsored to play the National Youth Chess Championships in the halls of a casino, from which I could not buy a Starbucks, as I was underage.

Games are intense and you lose all sense of time, although you are looking at the minutiae of time on the clocks; yours and theirs. Sometimes, I have played five days of 10-hour days of long games, only popping out to the sealed toilets area or to eat a spoonful of yogurt between matches. Other times, I go for long walks or swim in breaks, but, mostly, chess is a gorgeous thinking game and it’s not unusual for my siblings and I to play Bughouse and Crazyhouse, as we rest between significant games.

Six years ago, my brothers and I noticed that many chess-playing girls seemed to evaporate from major tournaments in their teens. At some youth tournaments, girls could win a prize just for turning up! We figured it was because of chess’s macho reputation and stone silent rooms. We sometimes saw kids attend with harsh parents or strict coaches. So, my brothers and I started the Chess Table, a jolly centrepiece at all-day girls’ tournaments, where we offer immediate, free supportive chess coaching, sponsored chocolate chess pieces and pizza, water and buckets of reassurance.

The Queen’s Gambit games are real games from real grandmaster tournaments (like Borat’s real Ivrit in his movies). Every tournament usually has a skittles room, where you meet the person you just played, go over the game or hang out; that is also real. It is a wonderful opportunity to analyze your moves and further understand the opponent’s approach.

I have found the chess community to be a mix of quiet, quirky, erudite people from all disciplines and backgrounds. It is a leveller. My Mr. Scheibel, Stephen Wright, is a wonderful chess tournament director and coach. He is incredibly knowledgeable about music, history and ancestry, too – a real Renaissance man.

What is lovely is that there is space for everyone in chess. It is not as sexy as portrayed in The Queen’s Gambit, but I applaud world champion Magnus Carlsen for being both a chess player and a fashion model, challenging all stereotypes. We play in comfortable clothing, as we want to focus entirely on the game. You dress as you would for an exam. I know that I like to move freely, kneel on the chair, and breathe well, so sports attire works. As ratings grow, so does confidence, which itself is appealing.

Chess has let me think about many things, steps ahead. It lets you focus on what you want the outcome of a project or relationship to be, and then let that inform your actions. It is maybe less good if you want a calm, switched-off brain. I don’t think out things on the ceiling, as the The Queen Gambit’s Beth Harmon does, but any plain surface is fine to think multiple moves through, and many good players can win against a whole room of people simultaneously.

I would like to go on the European Chess Train that Stephen told me about. It takes place each year, winding its way round Europe, with games all the way, so you can jump off and see the sights, get back on and play.

Beth might feel isolated and alone for much of the show. In chess nowadays, you can’t help but see the support in the community, from the coach who patiently explains something important or the doctor volunteer who gives up a week of holiday to be there, and the individuals who spend months planning and hosting tournaments. It is quite a community.

I look forward to there not being division between boys and girls sections in the junior tournaments, when we can all play as equals. I have not had a sponsor or stylist yet, but, then, I wore the same pair of boots for tournaments for 11 years!

Pepi Eirew, Disney scholar in animation at California Institute of the Arts, was invited to the World Youth Chess Championships, 2018-19, and she played U12 to U18 in Canadian Youth Chess Championships. She lives in Vancouver.

Bridge thriving at the JCCGV

There were 28 tables of four playing on June 7 at the annual bridge event honouring Marjorie Groberman. (photos by Cynthia Ramsay)

More than 100 people gathered to play bridge at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver on June 7 at a special annual event in honour of Marjorie Groberman, who passed away in 2011.

Leah Deslauriers is the former coordinator of JCC Seniors, which is now called Adults 55+ and headed by Lisa Quay.

“Marjorie Groberman was a driving force behind the JCC Seniors department for many years,” Deslauriers told the Independent. “She, along with some other ladies, started a duplicate bridge club at the JCC in 1995. When Marjorie passed away, [her daughter] Hildy Barnett and I created this event in her memory. We named the bridge club after Marjorie, as well.”

Barnett sponsors the meal and door prizes for the annual lunchtime event, and covers extras the club might need, said Deslauriers. For the lunch, “many players baked or brought dessert items for everyone.”

“There were 28 tables of four, so there were 112 people in attendance,” she said. “The club generally has up to 20 tables during regular play, so this was a very large event.”

The bridge club at the centre started in 1995 with four tables, explained Deslauriers. “Some of the original ladies, who still play today, subsidized the club so it would continue. The original club director was Connie Delisle, who taught many people how to play the game. Then Cathy Miller became director in 2006, when Connie had to retire. Cathy retired at the end of last year and the current director is Bryan Maksymetz, who is a Canadian bridge champion.”

Anyone who knows how to play duplicate bridge may attend. “It is very special,” said Deslauriers, “as many of its regular players are over 80, and many are over 90. I believe Ethel Bellows is the oldest player at the moment. Many of the players come 30 minutes before game time, to socialize over coffee and cookies, and it’s a very warm and friendly game, as far as bridge goes.”

The Marjorie Groberman Open Duplicate Bridge Club currently has more than 350 members, Quay told the Independent. Play takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. “The JCC also offers an array of bridge lessons for beginners on up, as well as practise opportunities for skill-building,” she said.

For more information, contact Quay at 604-257-5111, ext. 208.

Rejuvenation of mah jongg at the JCC

Melanie Samuels, left, and Pam Wolfman were the winners of this year’s mah jongg tournament at the JCC. (photo from JCC)

On any given day and evening across Vancouver, Jewish women are gathering in sets of four and playing mah jongg. But, until recently, only a small number considered the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver a place to play and learn the game. In December, however, the JCC began offering mah jongg tutorial classes – and more than two dozen women joined in. Friendships are being made around the table, and mah jongg is helping build a women’s social network.

This game has been passed from generation to generation, including renewed interest from younger players, some of whom remember their moms and grandmas playing the game but only now have the interest and time to learn it themselves. On Jan. 28, more than 50 women attended the first-ever mah jongg tournament at the JCC (at least the first in a very long time). The proceeds benefitted Orr Vancouver Israeli Dance School and Festival Ha’Rikud. Pam Wolfman and Melanie Samuels were the tournament winners.

So, how did this centuries-old Chinese game of tiles become such a fixture in the lives of Jewish women in North America? There is much speculation, but one fact is known: Jewish women created the National Mah Jongg League (NJML) in 1937 to create consistency in rules and hands. This stability helped the game survive and spread. Jewish organizations selling cards generate charitable donations to causes of their own choosing, a feature of the league that encourages the quest for new players. In Vancouver, local sales of the game cards generate needed funds for the food bank at Jewish Family Services.

Historically, Jewish women found mah jongg to be an inexpensive form of communal entertainment, particularly in the urban setting of New York, and the game’s popularity spread from friend to friend, mother to daughter, according to Anita Luu and Christi Cavellero’s book Mah Jongg: From Shanghai to Miami Beach. And now, younger women learning the game are getting a newfound understanding of why their mothers were so passionate about the game that they and their friends played for decades together.

Players of all levels are welcome to join Mah Jongg & Margaritas, on March 8, 7:30 p.m., at the centre. The no-admission event is underwritten by the Marion Seeklus Mah Jongg Fund, a newly established endowment for mah jongg programming at the JCC. To attend, contact Lisa Cohen Quay at 604-638-7283 or [email protected].

Dreidel’s lasting popularity

Dreidels from the author’s dreidel collection. Clockwise from the top left: a hand-painted dreidel with an open top; a hand-painted dreidel on a base; a felt dreidel; a hand-painted dreidel; and, in the centre, a tiny hand-painted glass dreidel. (photo by Barry Kaplan)

Dreidel is the most popular game for Chanukah. In Hanukkah: Eight Nights, Eight Lights, Malka Drucker writes that it evolved 2,000 years ago when the Chanukah story took place, at a time when Antiochus ruled over Judea in ancient Israel. “Groups of boys who had memorized the entire Torah would secretly study together until they heard the footsteps of the Syrian soldiers. Then they would quickly pull out spinning tops … and pretend to be playing games,” she writes.

Whether this is true or not, we do know that, by the Middle Ages, the game became more complicated, as rules were borrowed from a German gambling game. According to Encyclopedia Judaica, during the long nights of Chanukah, while the lights were burning, it became customary to pass the time by spinning tops and playing the ancient “put and take” game. This was in fulfilment of the commandment that the Chanukah lights should not be used for any utilitarian purpose – “they are only to be seen.”

While playing cards and other games has been prohibited by the rabbis over the years, as the games were considered frivolous because they took away from Torah study, the custom continued.

In medieval Germany, dice were used for the game, and they were inscribed with N, G, H and S. N stood for nichts, nothing; G stood for ganz, all; H was for halb, half; and S meant stell ein, put in. All players would hold an equal number of nuts, raisins or coins. Each player would put one in the middle, and the first player would spin the dice. Each letter stood for a move in the game – putting in or taking out nuts, raisins or coins, according to where the dice landed.

Later, boys carved tops or dreidels out of wood or poured hot lead into a form to make a spinning top. The letters were then changed to Hebrew and said to stand for the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hey and shin. The rabbis were less reluctant for boys to play with these tops because the letters were interpreted to stand for the phrase, “Nes gadol hayah sham,” “A great miracle happened there.”

photo - An assortment of plastic dreidels. The two larger tops have removable lids — An assortment of plastic dreidels. The two larger tops have removable lids. *(photo by Barry Kaplan)*

In modern Israel, the Hebrew letter shin is replaced by a peh, standing for poh, meaning here – “A great miracle happened here.”

The rabbis felt even more comfortable about the game when it was also realized that, when the Hebrew letters, which have numerical value, are added together, they total 358, the same number of letters as the word for Messiah. (Nun is 50, gimmel is three, hey is five and shin is 300.) The letters of the word Messiah or Mashiach in Hebrew are mem, which is 40, shin which is 300, yud which is 10 and chet which is eight. Since the Jews are still waiting for the Messiah, this would show the way for a miracle.

Another mystical interpretation of the Hebrew letters is described by Philip Goodman in The Hanukkah Anthology. He writes that nun stood for nefesh (Hebrew for soul); gimmel stood for guf (body); shin stood for sechal (mind); and hey stood for hakol (all), implying all the characteristics of humankind.

Among the most-sung Chanukah songs are those about the spinning top – dreidel, in Yiddish, and s’vivon, in Hebrew.

The origin of the song “I Have a Little Dreidel” – “I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay, and when it’s dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play!” – was the subject of an interesting article by Melanie Mitzman a few years ago in Hadassah Magazine. She wrote that Joshua Jacobson, a professor of music and Jewish studies at Northeastern University, explained that the song was originally in Yiddish and the opening line was “I made it out of lead.”

Samuel Goldfarb is said to have penned the English lyrics, and Goldfarb, a Jewish liturgical composer employed by the Bureau of Jewish Education of New York between 1925 and 1929, wrote the melody for the English version. Goldfarb’s granddaughter, Susan Wolfe, recalls telling her public school class that her grandfather had written “The Dreidel Song,” but they did not believe her.

The popular Hebrew song for this game is “S’vivon”: “S’vivon, sov, sov, sov. Chanukah hu chag tov,” “Spinning top, turn, turn, turn. Chanukah is a good holiday.”

As for dreidel games, here are the rules for three.

Put and take

On the sides of the dreidel are the four letters described above. To play the game, each player puts in one or more nuts or coins as agreed. A player spins the dreidel. If it falls on N, the player does nothing. If it falls on G, the player gets all. If it falls on H, the player takes half. If it falls on S, the player takes the whole pot. The next player takes their turn after each player once again contributes to the pot.

Endurance

All players spin the dreidel at a given signal. The player whose dreidel spins the longest is the winner.

Play for score or time

This game uses the fact that each Hebrew letter of the dreidel has a numerical value: N = 50, G = 3, H = 5 and S = 300. Players agree on a specific score to reach or time in which to play. Each player spins the dreidel. The scorekeeper credits each player with the numerical value of the letter on which his or her dreidel falls. The game continues until a player reaches the agreed-upon score or until the allotted time has passed, in which case the player with the most points wins.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, foreign correspondent, lecturer, food writer and book reviewer who lives in Jerusalem. She also does the restaurant features for janglo.net and leads walks in English in Jerusalem’s market.

רובים ללא שושנים בוונקובר

כוח גדול של משטרת ונקובר עצר ביום ראשון בלילה שני חשודים שבידם נמצאו חמישה רובים. (צילום: Roni Rachmani)

רובים ללא שושנים בוונקובר: המשטרה עצרה שני חשודים שבידם נמצאו חמישה רובים

כוח גדול של משטרת ונקובר עצר ביום ראשון בלילה שני חשודים שבידם נמצאו חמישה רובים. השניים נסעו במונית בשכונת ייל טאון ונעצרו על ידי השוטרים בצומת הרחובות הומר ודיווי, לעיני אזרחים נדהמים. כחמש עשרה ניידות הגיעו למקום במהירות וחסמו את המונית. החשודים הוצאו במהירות ללא אלימות והועברו בנפרד לשתי ניידות עצירים והובלו למעצר. נהג המונית הועבר לאחת הניידות ונחקר וכן נחקרה בחורה צעירה שעדיין לא ברור כיצד כי קשורה לפרשה. לפי הערכת אזרחים שנכחו במקום משטרת ונקובר קיבלה מידע מוקדם על החשודים עם הרובים שישבו במונית צהובה שנסעה בייל טאון. זה מסביר את כוח המשטרה גדול שהוזעק למקום והכיל למעלה מעשרים שוטרים, חלקם בלבוש אזרחי.

מתנתקים מהרשת וחוזרים לשחק באוף–ליין: נפתחים בתי קפה עבור משחקי חברה סביב שולחנות כמו פעם

טרנד חדש/ישן בקנדה: ציבור שלם של מבוגרים החליט שהגיע הזמן להתנתק מרשת האינטרנט לפחות למספר שעות בערבים. וזאת כדי להיפגש עם חברים למשחקי חברה בבתי קפה, ממש כמו בימים של פעם. מתברר שלרבים רבים נמאס כבר מההתחברות האינסופית למחשב ולסלולר, והם מבקשים לחזור קצת אחורה לימים יותר פשוטים וספונטניים בהם היו אנשים נפגשים לשיחות חולין או מתגודדים סביב שולחנות, ומשתתפים במשחקי לוח שונים. בין המשחקי הלוח: מונופול, מחשבת, דמקה, דיפלומטיה, הרמז, פוארטו ריקו, סיכון, שבץ נא, צוללות, קוורטו, שחמט ועוד רבים אחרים.

בעיר קלגרי שבמחוז השכן (אלבטרה) נפתחו כבר לפחות שלושה בתי קפה שמיועדים למי שמעוניין להיפגש עם חבריו למשחקי חברה באוף-ליין, בשעות הערב והלילה. המשחקים מתנהלים בליווי אוכל ושתייה קלה או חריפה שמתפרסמים בתפריטים מיוחדים. בכל בית קפה מוצבת ספרייה עשירה עם עשרות משחקי לוח שונים תוצרת צפון אמריקה או אירופה. תמורת כחמישה דולר האורחים יכולים לשחק במשחקי הלוח כמה זמן שהם רוצים. הצוות של בתי הקפה עוזר למשתתפים למצוא את המשחק המתאים להם ומסביר להם מה הוראותיו, פשוטות כמסובכות. בעלי בתי הקפה מציינים בסיפוק כי לקוחותיהם נראים מחויכים ורגועים לאחר סיימו לשחק ביחד עם חבריהם סביב השולחנות. ובקיצור: משחקי הלוח אין – והאינטרנט אאוט.

מה עושים כמאוד שרעבים ומסוממים ?חוטפים אוטובוס ומסיעים אותו הישר לסניף של טים הורטונס

דניאל פרירה (31) מטורונטו היה רעב מאוד ונתון להשפעת סמים קשים כך מתברר. אז מה הוא עשה? פשוט מאוד. פרירה חטף אוטובוס ציבורי, שלח מייד את כל הנוסעים החוצה ואילץ את הנהג המפוחד להסיעו הישר לבית קפה. שם פרירה עצר לאכול משהו קל, שתה קפה ולא שכח להתקשר למשטרה ולספר לשוטרים הנדהמים מה שעולל לאוטובוס ולנהג המסכן.”אני נמצא תחת השפעת סמים קשים. חטפתי אוטובוס שנמצא כרגע בחניון של טים הורטונס”, הודה פרירה בשיחת הטלפון שלו עם המשטרה.

בתחנת המשטרה המקומית קיבלו מידע מוקדם שצעיר חטף אוטובוס באיומי סכין חדה בשעות הלילה המאוחרות. הוא אילץ את הנהג לסטות ממסלולו הרגיל ולנהוג מהר מאוד לאחד מסניפי רשת טים הורנטוס. זאת תוך התעלמות מאורות הרמזורים האדומים ושלטי העצור שבדרך. השוטרים שהגיעו במהירות לקפה מצאו בחנייה את האוטובוס והנהג שלו שרעד מפחד. מתברר שהנהג לא נפגע וכן שלום לכל עובדי ולקוחות בית הקפה. כולם נשלחו החוצה עד שפרירה שישב בשקט ושתה קפה נעצר במהירות וללא התנגדות, והובל אחר כבוד למעצר. החוטף הרעב יואשם בחמישה סעיפים פליליים חמורים ובקרוב יעמוד למשפט.

Chanukah gifts aplenty

Shlomo and Hagar Yekutieli’s tablecloths feature many different designs, including Chanukah and other holiday motifs. (photo from shlomohagar.com)

As Chanukah appears on the horizon, our thoughts inevitably turn to two things: gifts, and fatty foods. If you’ve distributed all the socks, dreidels and menorahs in years past and are all out of ideas, rest assured, there’s more out there. Lots more.

Light it up

Most families are going to need Chanukah candles as the festival approaches, so a gift of decorative candles never has time to get stale. If your pet peeve is Chanukah candles that drip hard-to-remove wax all over your countertops, you’re not alone. A good alternative is Safed Candles’ dripless Chanukah candles at $9.95 for a box of 45 (traditionsjewishgifts.com). Another option: Rite Lite Judaica sells eco-friendly, hand-dipped multicolored beeswax Chanukah candles ($17.99) or regular hand-dipped candles at $15.04 without the eco-friendly label.

Decorate with it

Vancouver couple Shlomo and Hagar Yekutieli manufacture beautiful tablecloths decorated with Jewish motifs, among them menorah designs. Using 100 percent cotton fabric and a combination of vegetable and regular dye, the pair has been crafting cloths from their home for the past 26 years. They have designs for all the Jewish holidays, as well as waterproof sukkah hangings. Prices start at $35 and go up to $180 depending on the size of the table. For information, visit shlomohagar.com or call 604-603-4629.

Just for laughs

Cafepress.com is a website with a variety of cute gift ideas for Chanukah, some of them bordering on ridiculous. There are T-shirts that say “I Wanna be a Maccabee ($22+), baby clothes that ask “Got gelt?” and $23 baseball jerseys with the words “Blowing the shofar can get you only so far.”

Play it

Who needs Monopoly on Chanukah when you can play the Maccabee Adventure Game? (amazon.com, $29) In this board game, players must lead a band of Maccabees to find enough oil to light the menorah, trying to avoid the roaming remnants of the Seleucid Empire on the way. The game comes with instructions in Hebrew and English and offers around 45 minutes of entertainment for up to four players age 8 and older.

Read it

image - Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins book cover — Read about Hershel of Ostropol, who gives a Jewish village the gift of celebrating Chanukah by taking care of some nasty goblins that haunt the synagogue.

Chanukah is all about kids, so if you’re stuck for a gift for the special children in your circle, look no further than Eric Kimmel’s Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (Scholastic, 1990, scholastic.com, $3.71 paperback). In this story, Hershel of Ostropol gives a Jewish village the gift of celebrating Chanukah by taking care of a series of nasty goblins that haunt the old synagogue, blow out Chanukah candles, throw potato latkes on the floor and break dreidels.

Illustrated by the careful hand of Trina Shart Hyman, the goblins are mesmerizingly hideous and the story of their defeat is at once scary, defiant, courageous and humorous as they are shown to be cowards, easily fooled by Hershel’s tricks. This book is a must for any Jewish kids’ bookshelf, a text that gets pulled out year after year and captivates kids as young as 3 and as old as 8.

Make it

A great resource for Chanukah crafts for kids is Crafting Jewish by Rivky Koenig (Mesorah Publications, 2008, artscroll.com, $26.99). Featuring a chapter for each of the Jewish holidays, the Chanukah section has seven crafts and two recipes, as well as ideas for a doughnut and ice cream party where everyone makes his/her own dessert combinations. The crafts are varied and include creating a glowing glass menorah, making dreidel-stamped gift wrap, crafting clay dreidel charm jewelry and building a Chanukah tray made from a large picture frame. The activities are beautifully explained, with a list of needed items, an estimated duration for the craft and a picture on the opposite page showing the finished product as inspiration. If there’s a crafty kid in your house, this book will be well used.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.