COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Daniel Pitrone coordinates NextGen: a youth group adjacent to Colorado Springs' Temple Shalom. He said it's an outlet for young adults to get together and learn the teachings of Torah.
"It's a nice bridge between the young Jewish group," he said. "This is more of a social group, and the... temple."
"We've done hikes, we've done bowling, we've helped prepare the second night of Seder," he added.
Since taking over the reigns a few years ago, Pitrone says his distribution list has grown from 50 people to more than 100.
"It's grown now to maybe about 130 people that I have contact information for," said Pitrone. "They know when they show up now they're going to know somebody."
According to Temple Shalom's Rabbi Jay Sherwood, that community growth can also be seen in his congregation's membership.
"The number has more than doubled when the synagogue had the two smaller synagogues merge together in 1971, about 100 families," said Rabbi Sherwood. "We're now at about 240 [families]."
Rabbi Sherwood said to figure out which people were Colorado Springs' first Jewish settlers, you have to go back to the 19th century.
"They first came as merchants in the late 1800s, a lot of the Jews that are involved in the community are coming for a variety of reasons," said Rabbi Sherwood.
One of those involved in curating that history: Greenberg Center For Learning and Tolerance Founders Paulette and David Greenberg.
"The Jewish community took us underneath their wings. We were the 125th member to join the temple," said Paulette. "You can't forget the past, and you can't forget what has happened."
In her display, which now sits at her home: books, exhibits, posters, and more, remembering Holocaust survivors and liberators who later dwelled in Colorado Springs.
The purpose of keeping this history: passing it on to the next generation. Something Pitrone said he keeps at the back of his mind often.
"I often think about it like this is that I owe it," he said. "My past generations gave it to me and kept it alive, even in the face of persecution. And I owe it to my kids and their kids to kind of keep it alive."
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