12-year-old Chayale Mendelsohn recently celebrated her bat mitzvah in her hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which is better known for wild elk and exhilarating skiing than parshah study and Shabbat candles. Vivacious and articulate, Chayale is a chip off the old block of her parents, Rabbi Zalman and Raizy Mendelsohn, who have directed Chabad of Wyoming since Chayale was an infant (she now has 5 younger siblings).
The bat mitzvah was somewhat of a statewide milestone, attracting guests from hundreds of miles around. After the event, Robin Levin from Lander, Wyoming, who drove three hours to attend, wrote that it “provided a foundation for a hopeful future, with leadership in the offing.”
Still on a high from the beautiful and spiritual celebration – the first of its kind ever celebrated in Wyoming – Chayale was more than happy to speak about the experience with Chabad.org.
Mazal tov, Chayala! What was the bat mitzvah like?
It was really beautiful. For most people here, this was the first time at a Chassidic bat mitzvah, so there was a lot of excitement.
I was surprised when three of my camp counselors flew from New York to be there, which was very special. My parents also arranged that a friend of mine came from Washington State. We are classmates at the Shluchim Online School, but it was so much fun to meet each other in person.
Did local friends attend as well?
Of course they did. There are a few Jewish kids here who I am friendly with, including a girl who is a little older than me. She had a bat mitzvah also, but mine was the first one with a fully catered kosher meal and all that.
Where did the kosher food come from?
It was cooked right here. My parents hired a chef and a mashgiach (kosher supervisor) who actually found his way back to Judaism here in Jackson Hole. He’s Israeli and came here to sell Dead Sea products here. He met my parents and was inspired to learn more about Judaism. Now he lives in Crown Heights and came back special to oversee the preparation for the bat mitzvah.
How do you get kosher food on a regular basis?
There are some things you can get in local stores, but not meat or chalav Yisrael dairy. The only chalav Yisrael item the stores carry is Klik chocolate from Israel. Everything else we bring ourselves.
Every few months we make an order and get two or three pallets of food on a truck. We keep it all in three chest freezers, one for dairy and the other two for meat and chicken. But we still run out sometimes and we just learn to do without the exact food we want when we want it.
Do you miss not being able to eat out in restaurants?
The truth is that homemade food is yummier, but restaurants sell things that my mother won’t make because it’s too big of a patchke.
What’s school like for you?
My siblings and I go to school online. We spend most of our day learning Judaic studies from the Shluchim Online School, and that’s where we socialize. We learn secular studies through an online program offered by our local public schools, but we work only with the teacher and don’t really know our classmates there.
Every winter, we visit our grandparents in Miami for a month. We go to school there and get a taste of what it’s like to live in a bigger community.
What special opportunities do you have that other children do not?
Living in a small, isolated community, we have the chance to be an example for other people, even adults. Last year, I studied for the Chidon competition with a 70-year-old woman. We both gained from the experience, and I even earned a plaque at the finals in New York.
What’s your family like?
I am the oldest, followed by Chani, Rochel, Nachi, Levi and Devorah Leah. We speak Hebrew with our mother, Yiddish with our father and English with everyone else. We have cousins in New York, Florida and Ottawa, whom we see sometimes.
What else do you do?
Living in Jackson Hole, of course I ski and skate. Sometimes our family goes skiing on Sundays. And in the summer, we enjoy the natural beauty of where we live.
How’s your skiing?
I can do the greens pretty well but am not yet ready for the blacks. I actually took the lift up once but chickened out and had to ride the lift back down.
What would you recommend to a visitor?
Of course they should visit Yellowstone National Park in the summer or go skiing on the Grand in the winter.
How involved are you in Chabad activities?
Smaller events take place in our home, which is also the Chabad House, so we know a lot about what’s going on and help out when we can, including set up.
Last year my little sister and I started and ran a kid’s Shabbat club that met once a month. We planned and ran the whole thing. We didn’t charge any money for it, but we asked parents to sponsor prizes. Our parents gave us permission to do it, but it’s entirely our project from start to finish.
When community events take place in your house, do you sometimes feel like you are giving up your space?
Big events are in a hotel or in a tent in the driveway, so it doesn’t get too crowded in the house, but when it does I can always go upstairs or downstairs for some privacy.
Do you ever feel like you are missing out?
Sometimes I do, but most of the time I’m really happy with our life here. I grew up this way, and cannot imagine doing anything different when I grow up.
