L'Chaim (Fall)

When Myron Pollock had his Bar Mitzvah — officiated by the late, great Rabbi Daniel Goldberger of Beth Joseph and HEA — he originally intended to save his Bar Mitzvah money and, following the advice of his father, eventually buy a car with it. He changed his mind. “I’d always been interested in the drums, always,” Pollock told the Intermountain Jewish News earlier this month. He’d been learning from a neighbor friend, a drummer, how to beat the skins and had repeatedly requested to join his school band as a drummer. His parents weren’t too thrilled with the idea.

Sept. 11, 2001 was such an unprecedented event that a local foundation decided it deserved a museum of its own, a place that would tell the story of the event itself, and also explore how the event impacted humanity and what lessons could be gleaned from it. The latter goal is a central focus of the newly renovated permanent exhibition at the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab — The CELL — the museum that the Mizel Institute brought to life 16 years ago.

Marriage is one of Judaism’s highest ideals. Throughout the ages, Jews have sought help in finding their mates. Somewhere between Fiddler on the Roof’s Yenta and the computerized algorithms of JDate and Tinder, there was the gentle and intuitive matchmaking prowess of a Ruth Epstein. From 1981 to 2004, Epstein, through her matchmaking service, Introductions by Ruth, brought 104 couples to the chuppah.

This article was originally published in the 2017 L'Chaim© magazine supplement to the Rosh Hashanah edition. When Frank Goldman speaks of his grandfather and namesake, he invariably uses the affectionate nickname long used by his forebear’s loved ones — “Papa...

Tuesday, August 16, marked the first day of school at Denver Jewish Day School. It also marked the first day of Craig Halper’s 35th year at the school.

In mid-August, on the final day of Rabbi Bruce Dollin’s tenure as spiritual leader of the Hebrew Educational Alliance, the weather in Denver was rare for this hot and dry summer — cool and rainy — but the rabbi’s mood was anything but gloomy.

At the corner of Galena St. and Washington St. in downtown Butte, Montana, sits a three-story structure, one of the most historic places in the state.

The precise date of birth for the institution now known as Kavod Senior Life appears to have been lost in the mists of time.
Michael Klein, current president-CEO of the Denver Jewish community’s flagship senior residential community, smiles when he’s asked the question.
“No one really knows that,” he said in a recent interview with the Intermountain Jewish News. “There were a lot of moving pieces that were going on, but we know that it was 1971. We know it was 50 years ago, but when did the committee start doing things, when was the structure started and finished, when did the first person move in? “It’s a mystery.”
Regardless, Kavod is in the midst of celebrating its 50th anniversary during 2021 with a series of events and celebrations, headlined by the virtual fundraising event on Aug. 26, which featured the comedic duo the Sklar Brothers.
“Why did we pick this date?” Klein says. “It was a good time to do it. We decided that we’d celebrate the entire year — to make it a year of celebration.”

Dr. Wendy Berenbaum, one of the oldest and longest practicing female OB-GYNs in Denver, first envisioned a future in medicine — and specializing in women’s health — around the third or fourth grade.
“I grew up near BMH and went to Fallis Elementary School, which was across the street,” says Berenbaum, 63, a gynecologist in private practice at Mile High OB-GYN/Women’s Health Group at Rose Medical Center for 32 years. “My classmate’s mother was Dr. Louise Walker, one of the earliest gynecologists in Denver, and she came to talk to our class.”
Walker spoke to the group about performing surgery and delivering babies, which stunned and excited Berenbaum. “I had a male doctor,” she says, “but I thought, ‘Wow, it’s so cool that female doctors are doing this too.’”

ROSH HASHANAH EDITION 5781 L’CHAIM® MAGAZINE PAGE 13 There is a park in the West Denver neighborhood of Sun Valley, an urban oasis with sweeping lawns, a little stream and a popular recreation center with a swimming pool, weight room and...