Photo: Jeff Dreifus.

“I grew up in Tennessee,” says Jeff Dreifus. “I used to joke that the only place I would ever leave Memphis for was a ski town.” Fast forward to July 2025, when he became the Senior Rabbi of Temple Har Shalom. He applied for the job, got it, and moved to Park City with his wife, Rachael Brill and their 2 young children. “It’s incredible to be part of a community with so many people that moved here to ski and be outdoors,” he says. “I’m a nature lover so it’s amazing to be here.”

Jeff worked for years as an investment banker, advising mergers and acquisitions. Then, he worked for an energy-efficient startup company. “I thought I wanted to be in clean-technology venture capital,” he says. “I was going to get my MBA and a masters in environmental policy. But as I was sitting in temple on Yom Kippur, which is our holiest day, I realized I had always wanted to be a rabbi. I didn’t want to wake up 30 years later not doing what I had always dreamed of doing. So, I listened. Every day I’m grateful that I followed that little voice.”

Just eight months later Jeff was in Jerusalem. He enrolled in rabbinical school, spent the first year in Israel, one year in Los Angeles, and the final three years in New York before ordination. Now, he’s got a few ideas about this new congregation. Temple Har Shalom is part of the Reform movement of Judaism, a more open and modern part of Judaism. “I need to spend a year or two learning the needs of this community,” he says. “We’re lucky, we’ve had incredible leadership who have built a thriving Jewish home here in the mountains. Part of what I want to do is build on that legacy.”

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For him, that starts with holiness in nature. “According to the Jewish tradition, being outdoors is a path to being with God,” he says. “I want to help people discover that love of nature, being in the mountains, communing with trees and animals is a Jewish act.”

Because many young families have moved here that aren’t formally affiliated with this Jewish community, he wants to help them build a Jewish life for themselves and their children. “One of the most surprising aspects of this new role is how many young people there are,” he says. “It’s wonderful to raise a family here, to give children a life in nature, to help them focus on the grandeur around us rather than on a small phone. It’s a tight knit but surprisingly large community.”

Because so many people in the congregation are new to Park City, it’s easy to make friends. “As a synagogue, we can help forge connections between people who are part of the community and strengthen ties between the young families, empty nesters, and everyone in between,” he says. “My priority is to create a flourishing life for Jews of all life stages.”

Many people who move here may be part of a community from wherever they came from before. So, they may feel like they don’t have to join the synagogue to feel Jewish. “But the opportunity to build a Jewish community that you didn’t inherit from your parents or grandparents is a powerful experience,” he says.

That includes creating relationships with people of the broader community and all faiths. “It’s a very difficult time to be a Jew anywhere in the world,” he says. “There is antisemitism, and the war with Hamas and Israel. Jews are a tiny percent of the population in America, maybe 2%. So, it’s important to build bridges with members of the interfaith community and civic leaders.”

In addition to the regular services, Temple Har Shalom has a social action committee focused on service projects that all people, regardless of faith, can participate in. They also offer ‘ski shul’ every Friday at Deer Valley Ski Resort, often attended by Jews from around the globe. “It is one of the only shabbat services on a mountainside in the world,” he says. “We are always looking for ways to partner with other people.”

As he gets to know his congregants, he often asks them to take him to their favorite place to fish, hike, ski, or bike. Then he asks them what nature means to them. “They tell me this trail is their holy place,” he says. “They come to this spot to reflect, find peace, and pray. I love getting to see what this beautiful place means to people.”

Natural beauty is something everyone who lives here can relate to. That connection to our environment, to the majesty of nature is something we all need to fight to protect. “Regardless of background or religion we need to focus on how to make the community stronger,” he says. “The concept of tikkun olam is translated as repair of the world. We believe we have a responsibility to help people, animals and the environment. In essence, to make the world a better place.”