When Rabbi Sruli Fried, Regional Director of Chai Lifeline NJ/PA approached Gershon Stolovitz of Railing Mentch with the idea to create a menorah for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, he never imagined that it would become a piece fit for a museum!

“The menorah that we used in  the past broke, so we had to create a new one. Being that the hospital allows only Class A fire retardant materials, the idea of a metal menorah came to mind,” says Rabbi Fried. “The question only was, who can create an original piece that can grace the impressive atrium of this world class hospital?”

When they met a few weeks ago, Rabbi Fried mentioned the idea to Gershon, not knowing if he would have time to create anything at all before Chanukah.

To his surprise, no less than 10 days later, Rabbi Fried received a call from Gershon saying, “come over to my shop on Swathmore- it’s basically ready.”

“When I walked into the shop I was amazed beyond words! There in this large shop, amongst the metal and machines stood this magnificent modern menorah designed to perfection!”

Gershon says he did it for the children of CHOP and Chai Lifeline and although a lot of time and effort went into it, he enjoyed every moment. “I called my friend Moshe Schapira of Okeanos Aquascaping to design it. Moshe is so creative, he can design anything,” says Gershon. Together, they worked to create this one of a kind piece, to be displayed at a place where so many brave young warriors battle illness. May we see to it that this special menorah will be lit next year in Yerushalayim!

Special thanks to @okeanosgroup for the design and @railingmentch for the fabrication.

[TLS – Press Release]