HELENA, Mont. – Montana's small Jewish population is scattered across a huge state that has more rodeos than rabbis, but one man is logging thousands of miles to seek out the faithful one doorway at a time.
Rabbi Chaim Bruk is looking to make sure each Jewish home has a mezuzah at its entrance — and that those already hanging are kosher. Mezuzahs are small parchments of handwritten biblical verses rolled into roughly 4-inch cases and fastened to door frames.
Montana's only orthodox rabbi sees the focus as a way of connecting Jews to their traditions. He says the mezuzahs are a reminder that God is the ultimate home protection in a state where many people believe that such security begins and ends with a gun.
