U.S. Postal Service Honors Hanukkah with New Dreidel Stamp

The U.S. Postal Service today released its ninth Hanukkah stamp, featuring a colorful digital illustration of a dreidel to honor the eight-day Jewish holiday observed by millions of people in the United States and around the world. A dedication ceremony was held at the Touro Synagogue. 

“The Postal Service takes immense pride in issuing stamps that celebrate the rich cultural traditions and shared history of the American people,” said Deputy General Counsel Carrie Rieger Brownlie. “With this new Hanukkah stamp, we are honored to highlight a story of resilience, hope and religious freedom that continues to inspire millions around the globe.”

Joining Brownlie for the ceremony were David Hammer, journalist and master of ceremonies; Dodd Loomis, executive director, New Orleans Film Society; and Kevin Wilkins, Adrien Genet and Katie Bauman Sr., congregational president, historian and rabbi, respectively, at Touro Synagogue.

Hanukkah’s origins lie in a struggle for religious liberty and human rights. It is a tale centered on the Maccabees, a small army of Jewish warriors fighting for the right of all Jews to practice their religion freely. Around 167 B.C., Antiochus IV Epiphanes, ruler of the Seleucid Empire, engaged in a brutal campaign to force Jews to convert to Greek polytheism. Epiphanes persecuted those who continued to practice Judaism and desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem. The outnumbered Maccabees revolted. Against all odds, the small army of Jewish warriors prevailed. 

During the rededication of the Temple — Hanukkah is the word for dedication — only enough sacramental oil remained to light the lamps for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days until fresh oil could be pressed.

Today the Festival of Lights is celebrated by lighting a nine-branched candelabra known as hanukkiah, singing holiday songs and eating traditional fried foods such as latkes and sufganiyot to commemorate the miracle of light.

The holiday also includes playing with a spinning top known as a dreidel, a Yiddish word meaning “to turn.” Each of the toy’s four sides commonly bears a Hebrew letter: nun, gimel, heh, and shin, representing the phrase “Nes gadol haya sham,” meaning “A great miracle happened there.” Instead of the letter shin, dreidels created in Israel use the letter peh for the word poe, meaning, “here.”

The Stamp Design

Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp with original artwork by illustrator Lisa Perrin, featuring a dark blue dreidel with rust-colored Hebrew letters set against a turquoise background. Framing the dreidel are decorative elements like flowers and foliage in light and dark orange, cream and shades of blue.

The Hanukkah stamp is being issued in panes of 20. As a Forever stamp it will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.