August 1. It is the birthday of the two places where I have lived the longest — Colorado and Switzerland, two places I call home.
In 1291, three men met on a field in Switzerland to take an oath, committing to an alliance. A little over half a millennium later, 585 years to be exact, Colorado declared statehood, earning itself the moniker the Centennial state.
My ancestors came to Colorado for adventure, economic opportunity and to escape persecution. Together with so many other immigrants, they helped build this state through participation in synagogues, B’nai B’rith lodges, Jewish Family Service, network television, print journalism, medicine, law, the list goes on.
I continue to marvel at those people, my ancestors included, who took the risk of moving out west to a place with little infrastructure. They had to figure it out — and many of them did.
Today people jump out of planes to test their bravery. But in my book, there is nothing braver than uprooting oneself completely to create a new home in an unfamiliar land. Whether it was Charles Ingalls of the “Little House” stories, the homesteader prototype, or people like my great-grandmother, forced to flee her Lithuanian town after a pogrom, these people had guts.
For Jewish people — in Colorado, Switzerland or anywhere, including Israel —“home” is not a fixed place. Judaism is the home, which is why Jews can travel halfway across the world, step into a synagogue and feel at “home.”
But the physical location? Jews have had good and bad times everywhere they have lived. Among the bad times in Switzerland were hundreds of Jews burned at the stake.
Thankfully, in Colorado, the bad times have been minimal. Like many, I wonder: Are we on the cusp of a different era? As I hung my flag ahead of July 4, I had an uncomfortable question: Am I like those people in Germany who didn’t see what was going on? Only time will tell.
As I interact with Coloradans from across the state and from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, I still feel this is my home.
I’ve always loved this state’s “live and let live” attitude. Like my ancestors, most Coloradans came here to get away from somewhere else. That created camaraderie; one’s “tribe” didn’t matter much. What mattered was how one got along in the here and now.
On its150th, my wish is that Colorado remain the place it was when my ancestors encountered it — a place of adventure, opportunity and goodwill.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at shana@ijn.com.
© IJN 2026
