During certain times of the year, shoppers at King Soopers in Greenwood Village are likely to encounter young men dressed in bright green tee-shirts somewhere i n the produce department. While examining their tomatoes or thumping their melons, shoppers may find themselves in a cordial conversation with these friendly men about an upcoming Jewish holiday, or about the abundance of kosher items at the grocery store.
And yes, these hip guys are rabbis, too. Rabbis of JOI — the Jewish Outreach Initiative. This is an arm of Aish Denver that takes Judaism outside the walls of that southeast outreach synagogue into places where unaffiliated and unengaged Jews may be.
JOI is the brainchild of Rabbi Yaakov Meyer. In 2011, he unveiled his vision to concentrate on Aish Denver’s mission as an outreach organization.
Hacham Hanania Cohen, wearing a loose white robe, black cap and phylacteries strapped to his forehead, opens his East Denver door on a snow-packed morning. It is the Fast of Esther.
“Take off your shoes if that makes you feel comfortable,” he suggests. “Otherwise, leave them on.” In the span of two minutes, the man with penetrating dark eyes and a trailing black beard eradicates awkward boundaries.
Hanania, 36, rejoins six-year-old Yehoyada, his eldest son. They bend over a siddur on a...
ONE would think that a full-time, professional posting to a place like Jackson, Wyoming would be a difficult thing for just about anybody to pull off.
The place is so notoriously gorgeous, with the spectacular Tetons towering over the town, with Yellowstone National Park just a few miles away, with fresh air and open skies and a laid-back Western lifestyle — all of it so picturesque and cool that even Coloradoans are envious.
For Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn, however, getting sent to work and liv...
Doron Kornbluth has a message for Jews considering cremation instead of burial — separate fact from fiction, place those results in the context of Jewish tradition and then make an informed choice.
Deciding between burial and cremation is extremely personal, Kornbluth told the IJN a few hours before addressing the subject last week at the HEA. “And I want people to make their own choice.
“But that private choice should be based on facts, tradition and lots of reflection. It’s not a min...
What a long strange trip it’s been for marijuana.
From “Reefer Madness” to Woodstock to legally-licensed medical dispensaries, marijuana has come a very long way.
While Mary Jane has yet to fully enter America’s cultural mainstream, there’s no question that it is edging closer to full social acceptance, especially in Colorado.
For several years already, it has been legal for Coloradans, under certain restrictions, to use, purchase, possess, sell and grow marijuana for medical reason...