Dear Friend,
Here is a picture we took, from exactly 9 years ago.
Its me with our 3-year-old daughter, Tzivi, shopping at Costco for supplies to host our very first Rosh Hashanah in Puerto Vallarta.
It was a promising moment. We had just moved with our family, a few days earlier.
To a Country very different than home.
But we were idealistic and excited to start a new adventure.
To see what kind of community can be created.
It started with this shopping trip.
We’ve been doing this a long time.
That’s what it takes to host hundreds of meals . Boxes and boxes of supplies, hours of cooking, weeks of preparation. And it isn’t just me or Mushkie—it’s our whole family pitching in.
Click here to give to our High Holiday Appeal
Even a three-year-old who can barely see over the top of the shopping cart.
When I look at that picture now, I realize: the Shopping carts haven’t gotten any lighter. The effort hasn’t gotten any smaller.
But the impact has grown. The Shabbat and Holiday meals, the conversations around the table, the mitzvahs, the learning, the warmth—it’s all deeper, richer, more constant than it was ten years ago.
As we prepare for another marathon of meals and moments during the High Holidays and Sukkot, I need your help to make it possible.
Your gift to our High Holiday campaign will create smiles around the Holiday table, light in everyone's eyes, and strength in their hearts. It will give a chance for every Jew in Puerto Vallarta to experience Judaism in a way that is warm, welcoming, and alive.
Take a look at this picture, also taken 10 years ago.
In this picture, you see a group of Jewish women at our first Jewish women's circle in Los Tules.
I doubt that any of them could remember this specific moment.
But I know without a doubt that every single one of them deeply cherishes having a Jewish community in Puerto Vallarta thanks to people like you who make these moments happen.
Mushkie. Me. You.
All of us...and little Tzivi, behind that shopping cart full of Supplies.
Everyone is doing their part, small and large, to keep the lights on, food hot, and create an environment that is extraordinarily warm and welcoming.
Take a look at this picture, taken this past Monday at Ckids Hebrew School. Children learning about their heritage, their moms bonding not far from them.
I'm not sure if they will remember this 10 years from now.
But I know that they need to know there is a place where they can go to celebrate their Judaism.
During this High Holidays they will come to pray. To study. To eat. They will walk to Tashlich. They will enjoy a Rosh Hashana dinner with Brisket. They will hear the Shofar blasts. They will pray Kol Nidrei. They will break their fast. They will shake the lulav. They will eat in the Sukkah.
They will dance with the Torah.
And they will learn about themselves, where they came from, and how to do Jewish things while also working hard.
The impact you make on their lives is extraordinary and will last a very long time.
Over the past decade, expenses and the need for supplies have increased significantly.
That shopping cart in the first photo with me and Tzivi from 10 years ago?
We need 4 of those this year.
The High Holiday start is expensive.
But so worth it...especially when you look at what you've done, who you helped, and the difference we make in so many lives.
Take a look at this Jewish teen event, the first one ever in Puerto Vallarta
You think any of them will forget this moment? When they went bowling to spark the beginning of a Jewish teen network in Vallarta.
or what happened just yesterday, when the teens came together to cook warm meals for the home bound in our community for the holidays..
To tell you the truth, I wish I knew 10 years ago what I know now.
I would have encouraged more study. More prayer.
More moments.
And I would have asked more people to help.
We need to help others learn how to reach up and draw in. To build a Jewish community together.
And to help.
That’s the work we’re doing together.
And that’s why I’m asking you to give today.
Please make the most generous gift that you can.
With gratitude and blessings for a sweet new year,
Rabbi Shneur Hecht
Director - Chabad of Puerto Vallarta
