The derkach is a Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 version of the rattle

Rattle (percussion)

A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...

.
The derkach is occasionally used in Ukrainian folk instrument orchestras, but is usually found as a child's toy. The derkach was made by taking a piece of rounded hard wood and cutting teeth into it. Another piece of wood is joined to this with a tongue. As this piece rotates around the rounded piece, the tongue makes a noise as it passes over the teeth.

A similar toy is commonly used in many Jewish communities on the festival of Purim

Purim

Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...

 as a noisemaker. In Yiddish

Yiddish language

Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...

 it is known as a gragger.

Sources

• Humeniuk, A. Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty, Kiev: Naukova dumka, 1967
• Mizynec, V. Ukrainian Folk Instruments, Melbourne: Bayda books, 1984 {english}
• Cherkasky, L. Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty, Tekhnika, Kiev, Ukraine, 2003 - 262 pages. ISBN 966-575-111-5