Intermountain

The Kosher Jackson Hole Grill, which will run until mid-August, opened earlier this summer of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center of Wyoming, directed by Rabbi Zalman and Raizy Mendelsohn.

It is lunchtime at Ramah in the Rockies, which is considered a sacred time for its camp director. Only a phone call from the supplier of a commercial vacuum cleaner can tear Rabbi Eliav Bock away from his campers. “We just got it, and it’s not the right thing,” says Bock.

Eight Coloradans have joined over 600 other young North Americans in the fight against anti-Semitism and in support of Israel. The year-long programs through StandWithUs aim to train student leaders to educate their schools and communities about Israel.

The rabbi replies speaks with US Air Force Chaplain Rabbi Alan Kahan: “My job is being able to connect with these soldiers and just check on them, to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re all in this together,’ I’m a friendly person who’s here to offer a listening ear and and offer whatever support I can, it’s impactful.”

It might be surprising to find out that — in his wife’s words — “Israel’s biggest cheerleader” lives in Idaho. Born in Montana, Moshe Herman moved as a child to Idaho with his father’s job for the Park, then later the Forest Service. When it comes to religion, he says he “didn’t grow up anything,” but in his early 20s he started exploring his Jewish heritage. 

The Ellis 
David Greene
 Post 344 of
 the Jewish
 War Veterans
 will meet on
 Memorial 
Day at the 
flagpole on 
the JCC lawn 
to read aloud
 the names of
 all known Jewish Coloradans who have served in the US Armed Forces and are no longer living.

Chabad of Colorado has a new leader. Since mid-2023, Rabbi Mendel Popack, who leads Chabad of Denver North with wife Estee, is the outreach organization’s new regional director for the Centennial state. Popack isn’t doing it alone, though. In a departure from the previous leadership structure, comprised of the founding and senior emissaries — the late Rabbi Yisroel Popack, Elka Popack and Rabbi Yisroel and Leah Engel — the regional director works together with a “Vaad Hashluchim,” a board comprised of five emissaries from across the state.

For a week in February, some 60 Jewish families in the Denver-Boulder area opened their homes to hundreds of teenage guests from every corner of the world. For a full two-plus weeks, a palpable and excited energy exploded in a WhatsApp group set up for hosts welcoming guests for BBYO’s Global Ambassadors week ahead of its annual International Convention, which this year took place in Denver.

As Benjamin Franklin famously observed, there is very little in life that is certain, aside from death and taxes. But while death is certain, it is also the ultimate mystery. It is also final, which is why many people tend to avoid the topic. There’s a fear that if one talks about death, one is inviting death. That kind of thinking is what the Jewish Assn. for Death Education (JADE) is trying to move past. “Talking about death won’t kill you,” jokes co-founder Susan Kramer.

The Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City, Utah is turning 100 years old. The centennial will be celebrated throughout 2025, starting with a lecture, “1925-2025: Progress & Positivity,” Thursday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m.