Big Sky Blog

My Contemp. Issues teacher … said there was at least 80 people of the Jewish faith that live in Montana. Plus they have to bring in a Rabbi from a larger city (Spokane) to do anything.

Jen,

There may have been more Jews living in Montana in the latter part of the 19th Century C.E. than now!

It is estimated that there are about 800 Jews, mostly secular or very Reform, in Montana. A few communities (Billings and Great Falls) fly in a rabbinic student once-a-month from either Cincinnati or Los Angeles, respectively.

The closest kosher butcher and kosher delicatessen is in Calgary.

Until about 2 years ago, Montana may have been the only state without a rabbi living in the state, but that changed when a Reform rabbi from Chicago retired and is living in the Whitefish area.

Currently, there are “congregations” in:

Billings: Beth Aaron
Bozeman: Beth Shalom
Butte: B’nai Israel
Great Falls: Aitz Chaim
Kalispell: Bet Harim
Missoula: Har Shalom
Whitefish: Synagogue of the Northern Rockies

I sure could go for some good bagels…

David, have you tried Big Big Sky Bagel at 1229 10th Avenue South (406/453-5747)?

David… you need to go NYC to get that, silly.

One day, we’ll get a 1,000 of them!

c
A Bagel Is More Than A Jewish Donut
by
Richard Marcus

A bagel is more than a Jewish donut,
More than a roll with a hole.
More than a strange English muffin.
A bagel’s got bagely soul.

It is something a baby can teethe on.
The true home of cream cheese and lox.
A bagel is perfect on the bow of a boat,
To keep it from hitting the docks.

A bagel is comfort. A bagel’s a pal.
A bagel never forgets.
Bagels as hard as bricks and concrete
Make wonderful weapons and pets.

A bagel is kind.
A bagel’s well rounded.
A bagel is wholesome and neat.
I’ve seen bagel Boy Scouts on busses and subways
Graciously give up their seat.

A bagel’s profound, the Einstein of bread
The Shakespeare of flour inspired,
The Rolls Royce of noshing,
The Buick of Bulk,
And as chewy as one of its tires.

First given to Israelites fleeing from Egypt,
Who whined, “Enough with matzo, already.
Smoked salmon on manna;
That’s a pox on the lox!
Would it kill You to make something bready?”

Spam and Velveeta are sins on a bagel,
Eggs work, except sunnyside.
Chopped liver’s okay,
If you first toast the bagel,
If not it will squish out the side.

I once saw a man who was struck by a bagel,
It gave him such a zetz in the head.
Yet I heard him exclaim
“I would rather be maimed
By a bagel than be crippled by bread.”

But bagels today have gone to extremes,
Pizza, low carb; not to kvetch,
But vegan-schmaggegan, tofu jalapeno?!
For bagels that’s really a stretch.

Yet we must receive the grace from all bagels
Like warm, chewy halos we eat.
They fill us with passion, they fill us with joy,
Not to mention two pounds of wheat.

So when you’re worried or tired,
Outsourced or fired,
Caught in the grind and the crunch,
Stagger right into your neighborhood bagelry
And take a nice bagel to lunch.

c
Copyright, All Rights Richard Marcus 1975, 1999

7717 S.E. 36th Ave.
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 788-9967
rmarcus8@comcast.net

I am an orthodox affiliated Jew who lived in Great Falls, Montana a number of years ago. At the time, I was the only such Jew that I knew of in the Great Falls area. I knew a Jewish family in Ronan, Montana with three children. One of the children become Orthodox and today lives in the Chicago area.

I am very interested in hearing about the Synders.

Sam, the Snyders have their own web site:

http://www.frummt.org/

Hi Walter,

Thank you for your response. I have sent an e-mail to the address given on the website you mention. Hopefully, I will hear back from the Synders. It’s great to know there are some Orthodox Jews in Montana. On top of living in Montana, I was later on also living in North Dakota when Fargo had it’s last Orthodox Jewish service in the late 1990’s. It was sad. However, the community in Minneapolis has grown. Also, I had a wonderful time when I was in Boise last year and met the new Lubavitch rabbi there. I was impressed! I wonder if anybody I knew in Montana from the Jewish community is reading this website. If so, hi from Sam! And, again, Walter thank you so very much!

I’m a Jewish artist that used to live in Cut Bank, MT with my family. There were not too many options for Shabbat morning prayers; but we’re reform so we lived without too much concern for what we were missing (a sad statement, I know). I now live in Santa Fe with a wonderfully large congregation, but we still truly miss the far north and will one day return, despite our situation.

Enjoy reading other folks’ experience. And, as always, keep the faith!

Sam

Just to update everyone on the situation of the Jews in the Flathead Valley. Congregation Bet Harim has been here since the late 1980’s. We are a Reform Congregation of about 30 active families and currently have Shabbat services the first Friday of each month. We also offer children’s education and social events during the month and continue to bring in either a guest or student Rabbi to lead the High Holy day services. Our part-time rabbi and congregation member lives in Whitefish- he was the first and is the only Reform rabbi to reside in Montana. We welcome interfaith families and converts to our services. So we are here for you.

Walter I just wanted to thank you for posting the information regarding Bet Harim and the Jews in the Flathead Valley and invite you to join our congregation services if you are in the area.