Oh, Dreidel, I Made You Out Of Shells

Rabbi Zev Katz of Chabad on Wheels in Miami, likes to think out of the box.

His Chabad House office is an RV, which he drives around the trendy South Beach neighborhood he calls home and which he stops frequently to shmooze up fellow Jews, put on tefillin with the men and invite everyone over for Shabbat services or Shabbat dinner.

Last year, he asked local sculptor Roger Abramson to craft an oversize menorah out of seashells for his annual Menorah lighting on Lincoln Road. This year, the rabbi wanted something even more atypical. He wanted the “world’s largest” spinning dreidel, made out of seashells from the Miami beaches, to accompany the Menorah.

Abramson was up to the task and after two months and 20,000 shells, he unveiled the 10 foot tall dreidel at last Sunday’s Menorah lighting event.

The ”largest” designation is not official. Rabbi Katz and Abramson are still awaiting word from the Guinness Book of World Records on the record-breaking status of the dreidel.