A CHANUKA GIFT

$54 | Feed a family for a month
$125 | Provide 10 winter quilts
$250 | Provide 10 winter coats
$650 | Feed a family for a year
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Games and Celebration

Here are the rules for the classic dredel game, as well as some creative twists that will add to your celebration.

***Classic Dreidel Rules***

Each player starts with 10 'coins' in his pot. (The coins are ususally chocolate filled gold foil 'coins')

At the beginning of each round each player places one coin in the pot in the middle.

Then going around in a circle, each player has a turn to spin the dreidel.

If the dreidel lands on Nun, � , the player does nothing.

If the dreidel lands on Gimmel, �’, the player gets the whole pot and a new round starts with each player putting another coin in the pot.

If the dreidel lands on Heh, �”, the player gets half of the pot (if the number of coins is odd, round up).

If the dreidel lands on Shin, ש, or Peh, פ, the player adds one of his/her coins to the pot.

The goal is to get as many coins as possible. A player who looses all of his coins is either out, or may 'borrow' coins from someone else to stay in on the fun.

***A Creative Alternative***

In a home with small children, the classic dreidel game may not keep their attention. My toddlers were more interested in eating the chocolate than playing the game :-)

We created our own version of dreidel with a large home made dreidel out of clicks. The kids built the dreidel themselves, and really look forward to the game. I then filled the hollow dreidel with lots of small gifts and toys: stickers, coloring books, dollar store jewelry and arts and crafts supplies.

Each kid on their turn spins the huge dreidel (It doesn't spin so well when it's full of prizes, but that doesn't bother them :-)

If the dreidel lands on Nun, � , the player does nothing.

If the dreidel lands on Gimmel, �’, the player gets to pick a prize from inside the dreidel.

If the dreidel lands on Heh, �”, the player tells the others a reason that s/he feels happy this chanuka, then picks a prize.

If the dreidel lands on Shin, ש, or Peh, פ, the player sings a chanuka song and then picks a prize.

This game is my kid's all time favorite. They wait for it weeks in advance and look forward to playing it each night of chanuka!

***The Gratitude Game***

Chanuka is a time of gratitude, a time when we acknowledge the many blessings in our lives. Our children look forward to special foods, gifts, dreidel games and celebration, but how can we foster a sense of gratitude?

This gratitude game is a big favorite in our family, we try to play it at least once a week.

On each turn, one person will share two expressions of gratitude, one to G-d, and one to another player. Then it becomes the turn of the player who was thanked to share two of his/her own expressions of gratitude.

For example:

Mother: "Thank you HaShem that I have the opportunity to celebrate this Chanukah in our new home together with the whole family. And Thank you Sarah for helping me to cook and set the table so that we could all enjoy the celebration together."

Sarah: "Thank you HaShem that the weather was nice today and I was able to go to the park with my friend. And thank you David for cleaning up your toys before me and my friend came home."

Now it's David's turn to continue the game. Keep on going until each family member has had at least one turn to thank and be thanked.

***Just Plain Silly***

Here's one more idea, just for fun. Even play 'pin the tail on the donkey'? Now you can play 'Pin the Gimmel on the Dreidel'!

Post a large drawing on a dreidel on the wall (or on another player). Blindfold one of the players, give them a large 'gimmel' �’ with some tape on the back and spin them around for a moment then challenge them to place the 'gimmel' on the dreidel!

For many more creative ideas and beautiful Chanuka crafts projects check out this beautiful blog by a Yad Eliezer supporter.

A Chanuka Gift

For many poor children in Israel, games and gifts on Chanuka are only a dream. When the family doesn't have food for basic expenses, even providing bread can be a daily struggle, gifts are simply out of the question.

This Chanuka include the poor of Israel in your celebration.

Chanuka should be a time of abundance. With eight nights of celebration, the festivities go on and on. Each night we add more light, more candles, more gifts and more tasty treats.

But for poor families in Israel, Chanuka can be a time of shame and sadness. Poor children go to school sometimes without even a sandwich for lunch only to hear about their friends new gifts, and their fun celebrations. At home they smell the tasty foods being cooked in their neighbor's homes, and hope that their parents will have enough money to at least bring home bread and margarine for dinner.

There are many thousands of children in Israel today who are living below the poverty line. Their basic needs for healthy food, proper clothing and other necessities are simply beyond their family's budget. Working with such children and their families can be heartbreaking, but it can also be very heartwarming when we see what a difference we are able to make in their lives.

Yad Eliezer steps into the breach for over 20,000 families each year providing a wide range of help and support and allowing families to break out of the cycle of poverty. We help families with food, clothing, blankets, medical support, job training and much more.

Our very low overhead costs (under 4%) and our excellent ratings on Charity Navigator have made Yad Eliezer the charity of choice for tens of thousands of donors.

This Chanuka we are raising money to help poor families make it through the winter by sending food boxes, blankets and coats to families in dire need. By teaming up with producers and wholesalers we are able to provide these essentials to families in need for less than it would cost them to buy the items themselves. That means that your donation goes further than it would if you gave money directly to the poor. A careful screening process insures that our help reaches those that need it most.

Please join us now and share the gifts of Chanuka.

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