Delling Zing placed an advertisement about seven years ago in a free newspaper in Vail, Colo., offering free menorahs at his organic food market near the ski resorts.
He says he had about 18 menorahs that year, but after he exhausted those, he continued to get calls each year around Chanukah time. Fortunately, he had a dependable supplier in Rabbi Dovid Mintz, co-director of the Jewish Community Center-Chabad Vail with his wife, Doba.
“We have many people who come here for vacation, and if you are coming on vacation to ski, would you necessarily bring a menorah with you?” asks Zing rhetorically. Visitors come with their sports gear for winter break, but not necessarily their menorahs for Chanukah. He and the rabbi are there to help with that.
Mintz says he and others at Chabad distribute between 100 and 150 menorahs each year in Vail. In fact, the only thing more reliable than fresh powder on the slopes is Mintz and his menorahs.
“People who left their menorahs behind say, ‘OK, we won’t light this year; we’ll light next year,’ ” recounts Mintz. “We take that very seriously, and it’s our responsibility to make sure that even on vacation—and even more so when you are with your family—people can have this beautiful and special moment of lighting the menorah. In Vail, when here on vacation, it may be a time of leisure, but it’s also an opportune time to light the menorah together as a family.”
During the eight-night celebration, which starts the night of Dec. 24 and lasts through Jan. 1, Jews say the bessings and light the candles, adding another one each night. Chanukah, which in Hebrew means “dedication,” celebrates how the Maccabees expelled the Greeks from the Temple in Jerusalem, but only found enough pure oil there to light the Temple menorah for one day, but the oil miraculously lasted for eight days.
‘An Epic Chanukah’
Mintz organizes menorah-lightings and Chanukah celebrations each night at different locations in Vail Valley. For example, he and others gather around a 7-foot-tall menorah near the gondola at a lodge. The candle-holders are made from skis, with the base, also the shamash, resembling a snowboard.
This year, the first Chanukah event will be held after Shabbat on Dec. 24 at Chabad’s new $4.5 million center in Vail. There’s a family “Chanukah on Ice” afternoon out on Dec. 25. And “The Grand Chanukah Gelt Drop,” complete with latkes, doughnuts and music, will take place on Dec. 27 as part of the Riverwalk menorah-lighting.
“It will be an epic Chanukah,” affirms the rabbi, who moved with his wife to Colorado a decade ago from New York. He says it took “miracle after miracle” to be able to open the center.
At the celebrations, Mintz distributes the free menorahs, which are made out of thin aluminum and about 8 inches wide, along with candles, a dreidel and the Chanukah blessings written out on the box that contains all the items.
A Menorah of Their Own
Dina Cadavid, a musician, grew up attending a Jewish day school but had not been particularly involved in the Jewish community as an adult until meeting the Mintz family. Last year, in need of a menorah, she called Doba Mintz.
“She said to me, ‘I’ll have Dovid leave a box out for you,’ ” recalls Cadavid, who performs with her husband in a band called Evolution. The couple recently had a baby girl.
Dina Cadavid says she is “obsessed with Doba’s challah” and now regularly attends Jewish events.
“I think if it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t be doing too many Jewish things,” says the 34-year-old, who grew up in Wisconsin and moved to the Vail Valley area eight years ago.
Despite her close connection to the rabbi and his wife, Cadavid hasn’t called them this year for any Chanukah-related requests. “I finally bought a silver, non-disposable menorah,” she explains. “I just wanted to have more of a permanent, nicer one to have year by year.”
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