Near freezing temperatures and gusty winds didn't keep the public Menorah Lighting put on by the Chabad of Spokane County from being a bright, warm event for the community.
While people often tell me Spokane is very Christian and conservative compared to Seattle, we found it incredibly open and inter-faith-friendly when compared to Oklahoma. The Jewish population is small in Spokane, but, we didn’t feel as ignored or treated with hostility as we did in other more conservative areas.
Unlike cities with larger Jewish populations, Spokane lacks a proper Judaica store. This means that when local Jews, or even non-Jewish Spokanites who are preternaturally fond of Judaism, want to purchase something that doesn’t just say “Jewish” but screams it, they must turn to the Internet.