Four-Part Series “Montana Chai” Celebrates Eighteen Years With Eye On Future

Eighteen years ago, Chavie and Rabbi Chaim Bruk began an adventure, establishing Chabad Lubavitch of Montana, in the Mountain West.

In Montana the connection between eighteen, Chai, and Jewish life is no longer symbolic but a fact of daily life. Thousands and thousands of Jews have found connection and a sense of home in Montana’s five Chabad Centers across the Treasure State. The Jewish community is not just living here, it is thriving, and the light of Judaism is reaching way beyond the Jewish community.

To be alive is to constantly grow. So, while the Bruk’s look back on the past eighteen years with tremendous pride and gratitude, they realize that they are only just beginning. So they kicked off this Chai celebration with, “Montana Chai,” a four part video series, produced by the talented Bentzi Avtzon and Yuvla Media, that tells the story of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana through four individuals and families that have become a part of our special community.

From Yehouda Abecassis who reached out to us as a young serviceman in Great Falls, to Kelly Gaisford and Neal Zandonella who needed Kosher supervision for their factory in Bozeman, to Dan Jobrack who bumped into the Chabad rabbi in Billings, to Howard Schweitzer and his story about giving directions for horseradish, these four stories capture the miracle of Jewish awakening in Big Sky Country.

Watch the Trailer:

When the Bruk’s came to Montana eighteen years ago, they quickly realized that in this state with so much empty space and full souls there would be lots of traveling between the connections we would make.

The first video, “At The Edge,” tells the story of Yehouda Abecassis, a young serviceman stationed in Great Falls, who reaches out to the Shluchim in its very early years. This leads to a life-changing kindness he receives from Meriam Nagel, a longtime resident of Montana.

This is a story about generosity, family and the power of the Jewish soul.

Watch “At the Edge”:

At Chabad we believe that the Treasure State is home to treasured souls, most of whom are not Jewish. All of us who live here are on an adventure and looking for connection, to our fellow man and to G-d.

The second video, “Illuminate,” tells the story of Kelly and Neal, a couple from the East Coast who first reached out to Chabad for Kosher supervision for their business. What begins as business quickly flourishes into a deeper relationship of meaning, family and prayer.

Watch “Illuminate”:

In the early years, Rabbi Chaim would drive hundreds of miles each month from small community to small community. For a class. A small event. A conversation.

Fast forward eighteen years, and Chabad has now welcomed their sixth (!) full time couple to staff our five Chabad locations across the state.

The third video, “Big Sky Limit,” tells the story of Dan, a Californian entrepreneur who moved to Billings for the quiet and the hunting but found, in the new Chabad House of Billings, a renewed connection to his Jewish roots.

This is a story about the individual souls that we encounter at Chabad each and every day.

Watch “Big Sky Limit”:

The Bruk’s have met Montana Jews in many ways and for all kinds of reasons. But never in all these sweet encounters was horseradish at the center of it. Until Rabbi Chaim’s encounter with Howard at an aisle in Albertsons.

In this fourth video, “Horseradish,” we learn about a “random” meeting that led to a reigniting of a Jewish soul later on in his life, and a special relationship that continues to deepen. All because of a bottle of horseradish.

Because in the Treasure State, even horseradish is sweet.

Watch “Horseradish”: