After my first book, Hanukkah: A Counting Book in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish was published, I decided to develop a game that families could play that would complement the book and be as fun as a game of dreidel. I had no idea the tradition of playing cards on Hanukkah is over 500 years old!
A trilingual game was too complex so I scaled back to Eglish and Hebrew (with transliteration). What began as one game ended up as three and original rules gave way to Hanukkah-themed games everyone knows. “Hanukkah Go Fish” introduces the Hanukkah story through symbols, “Hanukkah Crazy 8’s” teaches numbers, and “Hanukkah Rummy” teaches colors.
Hanukkah Go Fish: 4 cards each of: Menorah, Candle, Gelt, Heroes, Shamash, Dreidel, Latke, Maccabees, Judah the Maccabee, Mattathias, Jelly Doughnut, Elephant, Antiochus
Hanukkah Rummy: 4 suits (1-2-3-4) of 11 Colors
Hanukkah Crazy 8’s: 52-card Deck! 4 suits (Candles, Dreidels, Stars, Gelt): 1 to 10, Jack, Queen, King
Hanukkah Handbook: Hanukkah Story, Dreidel Rules, Latke Recipe, Hebrew Language Basics
If you’re looking for a beautifully designed Hanukkah gift packed with Jewish tradition, consider “Hanukkah Card Games.” And, don’t forget to pick up a few copies of Hanukkah Coloring & Activity Book. Popular across the Jewish spectrum, secular to Orthodox, and great for interfaith families. No prior knowledge is necessary, but if you know a lot, the games and books are still fun.
Locally, you’ll find “Hanukkah Card Games” and Hanukkah Coloring & Activity Book at the Israel Book Shop, Kolbo, New England Mobile Book Fair, Shuki’s, Green Planet, and Brookline Booksmith. All Emily Sper products are available online.
For more information please visit http://www.emilysper.com.
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