ב"ה
January 23, 2000 When the first flurries of winter snow begin to fall in the American North-East, the thoughts of many turn to downhill racing. With names like Smuggler's Notch, Suicide Six, Mad River Glen and Cochran, Vermont's ski resorts draw winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world to these renowned slopes. Still, Rabbi Yitzchok Raskin, who grew up in Casablanca, Morocco, did not come to Vermont for the ski Trails. He and his wife, Zeesy, opened the Chabad Center in Burlington in 1983 in order to enhance the love of Torah in the local Jewish community of 5,000. Talk about your dream Chabad House: The Burlington center's brand new building, standing on an acre and half of land, offers Torah classes and an outreach program at the University of Vermont, but that's not all. The center also includes guest rooms which permit weekend visitors to this recreational area to spend Shabbat at the Chabad House and still hit the slopes on Sunday morning. It also makes it easier for area schools and social organizations to participate in educational programs with the Raskins -- in the heart of ski country. "You can say we're the lift ticket for those seeking more involvement with Judaism," says Rabbi Raskin, understandably unable to resist sounding an altitude-related metaphor or two. "We are looking to bring those who are searching back up the hill, to new and loftier elevations..." |
