Chabad Opens in Whistler: A Spiritual Home in a Ski Capital
by Leibel Kahan – Lubavitch.com
As one of North America’s biggest and most visited ski destinations, Whistler, British Columbia, has long attracted those looking to take on its famous slopes. Now, a new presence is adding a different kind of lift to the mountains: Chabad of Whistler, the town’s first permanent Jewish center.
Whistler may be a resort town, but its Jewish footprint is far larger than its small population suggests. Over the last few years — especially post-COVID — families and retirees have relocated from Toronto and beyond, and a steady stream of young adults arrive each season to work in the ski industry. Roughly 200 Jewish families live in Whistler year-round, with another 500 spending the winter season there. Add to that the tens of thousands of Jews among the 3 million tourists who visit annually, and the need becomes clear.
Yet the nearest kosher options and established Jewish infrastructure remained two hours away in Vancouver. Along the Sea-to-Sky corridor — from Squamish to Whistler — there was simply no synagogue, no kosher, and no Jewish education, until now.
The new Chabad of Whistler is led by Rabbi Schneur and Bina Druk, who officially moved about two months ago, after spending the past year visiting periodically. “We came here, and we fell in love with the place,” the Rabbi Druk said. “The nature is beautiful, the community is really special, and the potential here is very, very big.”
Since they arrived, they’ve expanded the local Hebrew school started by Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld of Vancouver, and now run classes twice a week — Mondays in Whistler and Wednesdays in Squamish. Their days have been filled with the basics of building a Jewish community base: Shabbat meals, meeting local families, delivering challah, and holding their first Chanukah events. With winter tourism peaking, they’ve arranged menorahs to be placed where the foot traffic is heaviest — near some of the most popular mountains, in addition to hosting community events and a workshop where children built their own Menorahs.
“People come here to relax, to connect with themselves, to connect with nature,” Rabbi Druk explained. “It’s a very good atmosphere for someone to connect to their Jewish roots in ways they wouldn’t in the places they come from.”
Local resident Moshe Blank called Whistler his winter home for over two decades — before settling permanently nine years ago. “There are quite a number of Jews here — mostly non-observant — but until now there was no permanent Jewish infrastructure.” As an observant Jew, he used to make the trip to Vancouver or even as far as Ontario or Quebec for Shabbat and holidays. “They used to call me the ‘shliach’ to Whistler,” he joked, “but I’m not a rabbi.”
Seeing Chabad establish itself locally feels, he said, like something long overdue. “I’m so excited. As Chabad here expands and becomes known, we’re going to grow the Jewish community here — services, Torah classes, everything.”
With Whistler’s population swelling from under 15,000 residents to more than 100,000 people at a time in peak seasons, Blank believes the conditions are ideal for Jewish life to flourish. “G-d has blessed Whistler with physical beauty,” he said. “Now He has to bless it with spiritual beauty — and that’s why we have Chabad.”
