It’s not often that you get to combine your passions in one place. But Dina Jawetz, who graduated from Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School in June, has done just that. For the past five years, Dina has been baking magnificent confections for her charitable business, Cakes by Dina. By selling her beautifully themed cakes, she has raised more than $5,000 for pediatric cancer organizations.
As an avid ballet, tap and jazz dancer—and a Dance Head for Ma’ayanot’s Heartbeats production—Dina also loves Broadway musicals. “I saw Groundhog Day 10 times,” she said.
So when Dina heard that the cast of Groundhog Day was about to celebrate their 100th performance, she contacted the show’s house manager, Susan Sunday, and offered to bake a cake for their party. Dina got a resounding yes—and an invitation to join them!
At the celebration in New York on July 12, the crew gathered around Dina and her magnificent cake, which was a show in itself. At the center, Dina recreated a set from the play with a bed made of Rice Krispie treats, chocolate and fondant, next to a small groundhog poking its head up through the frosting. The scene is mounted on a cake that Dina designed to look like an alarm clock—a major prop in the production. To everyone’s delight, Dina pressed a button on the clock and the cake played music from the show!
To accomplish this sweet surprise, Dina carved a hole in the cake and inserted a small sound box with recorded music from the show. She also assembled electrical wires behind thin sugar paper to make the numbers on the alarm clock light up. It was enough to make any Ma’ayanot STEAM teacher glow with pride.
“It was a dream come true!” Dina said. “I loved hanging out with the cast.” After receiving rave reviews, she has decided to switch gears in her cake business to raise funds for Broadway Cares, which raises funds for HIV-related causes across America and helps actors with healthcare costs.
Dina will be attending Rutgers University in the fall and plans to double major in theater and anthropology. Bravo!
