What happens when someone is born to a Jewish family, but that family does not practice? Is that person still Jewish? The answer is yes. And Olami’s Romeo-Adan Ventura knows first-hand what it’s like to be a “reconnecting Jew.” Thanks to Ventura’s curious nature, his willingness to explore and educate himself, and his own personal courage, he was able to find his true home within the Jewish community, even though it wasn’t a community he knew growing up.
Danielle Gyles did not grow up Jewish. In fact, she grew up in the small Colorado town of Pueblo, where there is not a large Jewish population. “I love my hometown,” Danielle explains, “But it’s definitely one of those small towns that people don’t really understand. It was a blue-collar town for a very long time, and when the mill went under a lot of people lost their jobs. For a long time the city was scrambling trying to figure out how to keep their citizens.”
2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and the isolation left so many feeling disconnected and without community. Stephen Shuman is just one of many Young Jewish Professionals who found themselves seeking more connection during the Pandemic and in the years that followed. Thankfully, he found a place and a home within the Olami community – one that will keep him connected, no matter where he moves in the future.
When Ethan Geller asked his family for help to go to New York to study at Yeshiva, he was met with a surprising suggestion. “You should go to Israel,” his father said. “I’m like, you’re joking,” Ethan responded to his father. What started as a surprising dream turned into a quick reality, and soon Ethan found himself studying in Israel at Aish in the Old City of Jerusalem.
So far, nearly half a dozen couples have met and been married thanks to Olami Denver Experience. One of those couples, who also provide a great deal of leadership throughout the Jewish community in Denver, is Kaila and Mendel Boxer – another couple who came together during one of Rabbi and Sara Wolfe’s fabulous Shabbos dinners.
The day of Andrew Markowitz’s Bar Mitzvah it snowed. It snowed so much that it grew into the biggest December snowstorm on record in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Perhaps that was just a little foreshadowing of the future that Andrew would be exploring many years later. Today, Andrew works in Meteorology, learning and growing in his field while also spending a great deal of his free time with Olami Denver Experience as both a participant and a leader. So both Judaism and weather became important aspects of his adult life.
When an internship brought Rebecca Daniel to Denver, she didn’t know what she’d be in for, who she’d meet or the incredible experiences she was about to embark upon. “I moved out here and I was looking for people to meet. I literally just Googled ‘young Jewish professionals Denver’ and Olami popped up,
Moshe Ohana grew up in Monsey, New York and went to school nearby in Binghamton. Many thousands of miles away, Rikki Wedgle was raised in Denver, but then ended up attending Syracuse University, which is about an hour from Binghamton. The two of them were so close, yet a world apart. Little did they know that their Beshert was just a train-ride away, and that they’d be meeting and connecting in Denver, thanks to Olami Denver Experience.
None of the expectations Brandon Fisher had for his twenties have panned out. “None of my expectations for my life have happened,” Fisher explains, “But instead, it’s so much better. I got rejected from 200 job offers but I prayed – I just wanted the one job offer.” And the one he got was in Vail, Colorado, which eventually brought him to Denver, where his journey really took off.
From weekly Shabbat programing to regular classes and on-going support, Lily Gross is a crucial part of Jewish life on the University of Denver campus. As the Director of Jewish Student Life at the University of Denver Hillel, she helps to create engagement in spaces where students can come together to create their own communities – rich with support, connection, education and Jewish identity. “We’re really working on creating events where students can explore the depths of Judaism and what that can mean to them,” she explains. “So that students can find different ways to incorporate Judaism into their lives today.”
If you’re a young, Jewish professional in their 20s or 30s, Alex Cowan wants you to know that there is a safe, welcoming community here
Rachel Trout’s Jewish Journey led her to a leadership position on the Board of Olami Denver Experience – one in which she helps to create and maintain a strong Jewish community of like-minded young professionals in Denver.
