When is a dreidel not just a dreidel?

When Temple Sharey Tefilo Israel’s Seventh Grade students turn it into a beautiful means of raising funds for two local charitable foundations. The teens will be selling their handmade mosaic dreidels at ChanukahMania, this Sunday, December 18 from 9 -11:30 am. The dreidels will sell for $18 each.

The students have chosen two worthy local charities as the recipients of the proceeds of the sale.

First, the Nikhil Badlani Foundation, a local charity created in remembrance of 11-year-old Nikhil who was killed earlier this year in a car accident in South Orange. The Foundation's focus is to provide music instruction, support the West Orange Scholarship Fund, and educate locals about traffic safety.

The other charity is the Worldwide Orphans Foundation, the mission of which is to transform the lives of orphaned children and help them to become healthy, independent, productive members of their communities and the world.

The dreidels were made during a Kristallnacht remembrance (Kristallnacht is the "Night of Broken Glass" that signalled the beginning of the Holocaust).

"This was a creative way for our students to give honor to that night by creating beautiful artwork that would be used to benefit others," writes Mindy Schreff of TSTI.

Temple Sharey Tefilo Israel is located at 432 Scotland Road in South Orange. See their website for more information: www.tsti.org