As Hanukkah nears its end, the good folks at Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, N.J., can breathe easily. Their world-record of 541 dreidels spinning simultaneously has withstood a challenge mounted by Sha’arei Am in Santa Monica, Calif.:

Take that, Tom Lehrer!

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

UPDATE: There appears to be some uncertainty as to exactly who holds the dreidel world record: Last year students at the University of Maryland spun a prodigious number of dreidels, Sports Illustrated reports, and back in 2003, we reported that “the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center at Indiana University broke the world record — previously held by Maryland — for the number of dreidels spun at once, when more than 500 students and members of the local community came out to spin 713 dreidels for 10 seconds.” It’s all very confusing, but don’t despair. We have crack a crack reporter on the case and will let you know more as soon as we know more.

UPDATE II: Here’s what we found out.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount