How These Adventurous Students Brought Chanukah to 13,000-ft Peaks

by Mendel Scheiner – chabad.org

This year, a group of five Chabad Rabbinical students will embark on their most ambitious journey yet, bringing the light of Chanukah to Jews scattered across Colorado’s remote mountain communities.

“Chanukah in the Rockies” will expand to four towns during the eight-day holiday, adding Montrose and Durango to their existing route of Telluride and Crested Butte.

“We feel that this is where we can really make a difference,” says Yossi Hirsch, who spearheaded the initiative under the auspices of Chabad-Lubavitch of Aspen. “There are very few resources and many Jews waiting to celebrate Chanukah.”

Until now, their study schedules allowed them to come for only half of Chanukah. This year, they plan to spend the entire holiday in the Rockies.

The project began in 2022 when Hirsch, who had been volunteering at both Chabad of Aspen and Chabad of Vail, noticed something curious. Telluride and Crested Butte are major ski resorts drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists yearly, yet no one was serving their Jewish populations.

“I was sure there had to be Jews there,” says Hirsch.

His brother Mendy was traveling through the West Coast with a Mitzvah Tank, stopping in areas without Chabad emissaries. They decided to come to Colorado to test Yossi’s theory. In Telluride, 100 people attended the first public menorah-lighting. In Crested Butte, more than 100 tin menorahs were distributed for personal use.

“We had uncovered a remarkable hidden community,” Hirsch recalls.

“We feel that this is where we can really make a difference,” says Yossi Hirsch, who spearheaded the initiative.

The response and enthusiasm have grown each year. Last Chanukah, more than 50 Jews attended a Shabbat meal in Telluride, a three-course feast overlooking snow-covered peaks that lasted nearly four hours.

“The glow on people’s faces at the Shabbat meal was incredible,” says Hirsch. “Almost like it was giving them Jewish strength for the year.”

The team discovered not just tourists, but young Jews who had relocated to the mountains. “Kids who had grown up in larger Jewish communities and moved here looking for an alternative lifestyle,” says Hirsch. “Working in coffee shops, bars or as DJs to fund their chairlift tickets.”

The logistics are formidable. The closest Walmart is two hours away from some towns. The closest Chabad center is five hours away. The closest kosher market, seven hours. The team loaded a cargo van with everything needed—from kosher wine to menorahs, budgeting nearly $17,000 for the self-funded operation.

“We really had to plan this out,” says Hirsch. “You have to make a lot of food in kosher kitchens to pull together a whole Shabbat meal.”

The team loaded a cargo van with everything needed—from kosher wine to menorahs, budgeting nearly $17,000 for the self-funded operation.

The five 22-year-olds divide responsibilities: food, logistics, and promotion. They work under the guidance of Rabbi Mendel Mintz, who directs the Jewish Community Center—Chabad of Aspen along with his wife Lieba.

For Hirsch, the work is another way of expanding the Chanukah awareness campaign launched by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, back in 1973, and another way to reach people with the light of Chanukah, whether at home or in the town square.

“The message to these Jews is that no matter how far or high one may be, he or she is still a Jew,” says Hirsch, recalling lighting a menorah at 13,000 feet on a ski slope. “We’re on a mission to spread the light of Chanukah.”

If you would like to find out more, visit Hanukkahrockies.com