In Israel, what phrase is formed by the letters on a dreidel?

In Israel, the letters on a dreidel form the phrase “Nes Gadol Hayah Po,” meaning “A great miracle happened here.” The Hebrew phrase is נס גדול היה פה, with the final letter pe replacing the shin found on many dreidels outside Israel.

A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top traditionally used during Hanukkah. Its four Hebrew letters also serve as instructions for the game: nun means nothing, gimel means everything, hei means half, and shin generally means “put in.” The familiar phrase about a great miracle is a later interpretive reading of those letters.

Outside Israel, many dreidels read “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham,” meaning “A great miracle happened there.” The distinction reflects whether the miracle is described as occurring “here,” in the Land of Israel, or “there,” referring especially to Jerusalem and the Temple. Some Haredi communities in Israel continue using the shin version.