WHISTLER, B.C. — He goes by the nickname the Snowboarding Rabbi, but Chaim Shapiro, 27, says he’s been too busy trying to create Jewish programming in the alpine resort town of Whistler, B.C., to get in much time on the slopes over the past year-and-a-half.
Rabbi Chaim Shapiro with his wife Leah
The New York City native and Chabad emissary moved to British Columbia two years ago after marrying Vancouverite Leah Feigelstock, and the two were keen to create a vibrant Jewish centre in Whistler, two hours’ drive from their home in Vancouver.
“We decided it would be a unique and challenging experience,” said Rabbi Shapiro, who knows of 60 Jewish families that live in town full time and is in active contact with 30 of them.
But those numbers are bolstered significantly by his conservative estimate that up to 70,000 Jewish tourists descend on Whistler each year.
Rabbi Shapiro has organized après-ski prayers when a minyan was needed for someone to recite Kaddish, as well as Shabbatons, a mobile sukkah on the back of a truck, Chanukah parties and Rosh Hashanah services.
Last Chanukah, after the Municipality of Whistler declared that no public religious displays were allowed, he persuaded some 25 hotels and stores to display chanukiyot in their windows.
He also helped arrange for local grocery stores to start carrying Shabbat candles, challot and kosher food, and today you can even buy kosher wine at the local liquor store.
Rabbi Shapiro makes the two-hour commute to Whistler every week in winter, renting an apartment or staying at a hotel. His dream, however, is to buy a sizable house where he can host Jewish visitors, hold services and serve meals, and where he, Leah and their two children could also live.
He has a team helping him fundraise for the $2.3 million needed to make the dream a reality.
“There is such diversity in the Jewish people you can reach in Whistler,” he said.
“I wanted to try and use my snowboarding skills as a tool to reach some of those people – Whistler residents, staff and tourists. I believe Whistler is a place that speaks to Jewish people from all walks of life, and if you set up Jewish programming, they will come,” he added.
“The timing is great, because the whole world is talking about the Whistler Olympics [in 2010]. Our plan is to make Whistler a place where the Jewish world will come, too.”
Rabbi Shapiro is currently hard at work organizing a series of Shabbatons for the busy winter weekends. He also has Chanukah firmly on his radar, with a snow sculpture chanukiyah on Whistler Mountain and a live Jewish concert in the pipeline.
For more information, visit www.jewishwhistler.com.
