Allen Hittelman has shown incredible commitment to the Boulder Jewish community and has been involved in almost every Boulder Jewish organization.   We are proud to have him light the Menorah during this year’s Pearl St. Mall Chanukah celebration, which will be held on Tuesday night, December 11 at 5:30 pm.  We caught up with Allen long enough to ask him 4 Questions:

1-How many years have you lived in Boulder County?

I settled in Boulder one score and seventeen years ago.

2-Can you tell us what the early years were like in Boulder?

I arrived in Boulder during the early Jewish migration period (1975) in which the only Rabbi in town – Rabbi Weitzner – was employed at the University of Colorado’s Hillel House. The Boulder Jewish Fellowship, founded just a decade earlier, had just completed their new “barn-like” building on Baseline Road (now known as Congregation Har HaShem).

3-What different organizations have you volunteered for?

Most of my volunteer activities were associated with the local Jewish community, including:

• Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado
• Boulder Jewish Community Center
• Boulder Jewish Community Foundation
• Boulder Jewish Day School
• B’nai B’rith
• Menorah – Boulder Adult Jewish Education

I also became involved in local civic work, serving on a Boulder City commission which established a “Public Access TV” studio in the Dairy Center and spun-off the activity as a non-profit.

4-What is your favorite Chanukah memory?

On one of my many travels, Nancy and I found ourselves in San Francisco for Chanukah.  We decided to enjoy dinner on a rooftop restaurant overlooking Union Square. From our table we watched the Chabbad celebration in the square below.  The lighting of the menorah and holiday songs will remain etched in our memories.