INSIDE

Volume 50, Number 1 • Spring 2020/Aviv 5780 Food Relief for the B’nei Menashe Community in India Link Staff Report

Responding to Racism Last spring, representatives and Violence from the B’nei Menashe visit- ed our state to raise awareness pages 6-7 about this Jewish community’s deep roots in far northeastern India, and its journey to ali- ya in Israel. During the visit, a new Israeli non-profit organi- zation was formed. Degel Me- nashe (the flag of Menashe) is dedicated to helping the B’nei Menashe people fully integrate LIfe and Legacy into Israeli society, with all of the challenges that this entails. pages 8-10 Little did the founders realize that less than a year later, this organization would be crucial in providing urgent food relief for Rice distributed with physical distancing measures at Beit Shalom Synagogue, B. Vengnuom, Chura- the B’nei Menashe community chandpur, Manipur. remaining in India. Upon being alerted to near-starvation condi- tions, Degel Menashe jumped into action, and organized an elaborate system of food relief. On April 14, Sabra Minkus, president of the board of the Jewish Federation of New Helping Our Neighbors Mexico received word that 800 people, or a quarter of the B’nei page 24 Menashe Jewish community in the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram was on the brink of starvation. They left their villag- es several years ago in hopes of immigrating to Israel, but have been unable to do so. In the dis- tricts of Churachandpur, Imphal and Kangpokpi, they survived as minimum-wage day laborers. When India shut down for April and May due to Coro- navirus, the laborers had no source of income. Immediately, Minkus started a fundraising effort. With contributions from the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, Jewish Long Beach, Outside of a synagogue in an area near the Myanmar border. Entry to this region is restricted by the Scattered Among the Nations, Indian Army. In April and May, no COVID cases had been reported there. Congregants are holding prayer books funded by the Jewish Federation of New Mexico. This community had not encountered any other FOOD continued on page 14 Jews in 15 years.

Still inpiring students.

No matter what. sandiaprep.org 2 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S CORNER Vitality, Viability and Vision Bringing Passover By Rob Lennick, We have also in synagogues and communal to Isolated Seniors Executive Director provided sup- organizations is crucial. We have As the coronavirus virus Program (JCP) for logistical port to Navajo certainly demonstrated our vi- began to spread through the support. “After a few phone Shalom Dear nation for food tality as a community. Now, we U.S in March, most states calls and emails with Erin Friends, and hygiene need to ensure its viability. This issued stay-at-home orders. Tarica, the wonderful director First and fore- supplies and is more important than ever. Jews all over the world, of the Jewish Care Program, most, all of us at the B’nai Menashe You matter. Belonging matters. including those here in New we’d devised a plan,” Rimson Jewish Federation of communities in Membership matters. Especially Mexico, began to grapple with described what happened next. New Mexico hope India that were now. the reality that Passover would “It was clear to me that the that you and your on the verge of And, we are also exploring be celebrated very different- foundation could and should family and friends starvation. Our our vision for our future. We ly this year. Thrown into an help financially. Since we had are well, safe and community out- have recently begun a discussion uncertain situation, many Jews canceled our annual commu- healthy and have reach committee about racism and exclusion as had to get creative to ensure nity-wide LIFE & LEGACY managed to avoid contracting is developing alliances with it pertains to our own commu- that social distancing did not celebrations scheduled for the Covid-19. Across our Jewish community partners that will en- nity as well as in relation to turn into social isolation. For end of March in Albuquerque community we continue to able us to expand our support for communities of color. These some, there would be virtu- and early May in Santa Fe, we encourage social distancing, needs in our greater community. are complex issues. Our goal is al gatherings on FaceTime, could redirect some resources wearing masks in public when The JCC, congregations, orga- to acknowledge those areas in Google Meet, and Zoom; for to help underwrite the Seder around others, and consistent nizations and other Jewish gath- Jewish life where we may be others, smaller Seders with dinners.” washing of hands and antiseptic ering places and offices across excluding or alienating people just their immediate family Following the lead of the cleansing of surfaces. Thankful- our region will reopen in stages. and then address these issues. in shared quarantine. But for Jewish Community Founda- ly, our community continues to Please contact those groups And our further hope is that by some elderly members, finding tion, the Jewish Federation of be ahead of the curve in terms directly for information about first looking at how we as a Jew- community during this special New Mexico and the Jewish of mitigation of the impact of their respective plans and pro- ish community need to be more time proved particularly Care Program also decided to Covid-19. cess. We will continue to share inclusive, as a result, we will challenging. Those living in contribute funds. This allowed We should feel extremely guidance and direction from the be more empathetic and better facilities would not be allowed the community to expand the proud and inspired by the in- governor, public health officials listeners when we reach out to a visit by family members “Seders in a Box” beyond credible determination, creativ- and Jewish Federations of North communities of color that are or be able to eat with fellow the initial idea, to ensure that ity and productivity that have America regarding continuing experiencing their own, unique Jews. Similarly, those aging there were enough meals for been channeled into the multi- mitigation and safe reopening and horrific, grave and existen- in their homes would not have the older adults in need in tude of ways our community has protocols. In the meantime, we tial challenges – as captured in the ability to join others at both Santa Fe and Albuquer- pivoted to virtual gatherings and still encourage our commu- the public and senseless murder Seders and the idea of online que. After all, the plan aligned programs. The range of worship, nity to stay home as much as of George Floyd and others. participation was not feasible. beautifully with the Jewish educational, social, entertain- possible, especially if you have We are living in a very chal- Determined to lessen this Care Program’s dedication to ment, support group and so complicating risk factors. lenging time, which can feel isolation in a time of spiri- the well-being of the most vul- many other types of activities We convene a weekly meet- overwhelming. But, if we pause tual slavery, members of our nerable community members, being offered across the entirety ing with Jewish clergy and lay and reflect, it is possible to see Jewish community put their moving them from isolation to of our diverse community in dig- leaders representing our entire endless miraculous beams of heads together and collabo- connection. ital form is no less than extraor- community. This has become an creativity, activism, opportunity rated to ensure that everyone Within hours, JCP had iden- dinary. We have truly demon- essential part of our communi- and dignity all around us. Juda- had a meaningful Seder. On tified over 40 recipients, strated the compelling vitality of ty’s response to Covid-19 as we ism counsels hopeful realism. March 24, Erika Rimson, the including Holocaust survivors. our Jewish community. share information, challenges Let us be realistic and rational as executive director of the Jew- Jen Dennis, senior services We have also come together and opportunities, and work we deal with Covid-19, utilizing ish Community Foundation of manager, who took the lead to ensure that those impacted by together to collectively respond science and common sense. But, New Mexico, was contacted on recruiting volunteers and Covid-19 within our community to a range of issues created by let us also be hopeful, that the by Deborah Avren, the pres- coordinating the deliveries are being helped. Through the Covid-19 and plan for reopening proven and repeated resilience ident of HaMakom in Santa for the project, said “It was ongoing work of the Jewish Care and revitalizing in the coming of our community through- Fe. The congregation faced a blessing to be able to bring Program we are continuing to months. out history will again see us the dilemma of canceling a meaning, connection, and joy take care of the most vulnerable One of the issues we are through. community Seder, and, Avren to our clients for the holiday among us, the frail elderly, the discussing is belonging in the May we continue to work was especially concerned of Passover. This was truly homebound, the isolated and age of Covid-19 and afterwards. together to ensure the vitality about the many older adults special for all involved.” our Holocaust survivors. If you While we currently gather virtu- and viability of our communi- who counted on the communi- The positive response was know someone in need, let us ally, across all spatial boundar- ty as we also create together a ty Seder for their celebration. overwhelming. The adult son know by calling (505) 348-4451. ies, the former norms of mem- vision for the future that will be HaMakom suggested to Rim- of one senior, noting the dif- In addition, the federation has bership, joining, and affiliation, inclusive and compelling. son that the Gourmet-to-Go’s ficulties social distancing has set aside $100,000 and created which were driven by in-person Stay well. Stay safe. Check in “Seders in a Box” not reserved placed on his mother, raved, the Jewish Community Assis- activities may be questioned. on others. Venture out carefully. by congregants, go to those “Thanks so much. She really tance Fund (JCAF) to help those JFNM and the entire com- Wear your mask. Promote peace. in need. Rimson contacted experiencing direct financial munity will soon be promoting And together, we will continue Tarica at the Jewish Care challenges stemming from the message that membership go from strength to strength! SENIORS continued on page 15 Covid-19. As of today, the JCAF has already distributed about $20,000 in grants. We encourage Congratulations to ™ anyone experiencing a financial DESOTO PRODUCTIONS impact from Covid-19 who is my grandchildren ����� ������� living in a Jewish household J W Rebecca Minkus - Lawrence University CD & DVD Duplication or is/was employed within the On-disc Printing Jewish community to apply. For Ben Minkus - 8th grade Media Packaging Bosque School Graphic Design an application, please email: Tess Minkus - kindergarten JCAF@jewishnewmexico. Manzano Day School org. And, if you would like to Check us out: www.DeSotoProductions.com contribute to the JCAF, please Great job and we will Call: (505)410.3300 contact me at: rob@jewishnew- celebrate soon! Email: [email protected] mexico.org. Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 3

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ARMED PATROL – ARMED RESPONSE – K-9 SERVICES “ T H E R I G H T C O M P A N Y A T T H E R I G H T T I M E. ” w w w . i p s g l o b a l . c o m • 5 0 5 – 8 9 7 – 2 4 2 0 4 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The Risk of Coronavirus Complacency By Sara Koplik, editor 7. Avoid crowded places. of security. Although businesses are reopening, “the virus Individuals with higher levels of risk, especially has not changed even that much in terms of its ability to It’s been a long four months, with disruptions to almost those who are over age 60, have heart disease, diabetes, infect folks.” every aspect of daily life. All of us have been asked to auto-immune diseases or obesity must take extra precau- Despite this sobering news, we must keep hope alive. make sacrifices, and our definition of ‘front-line’ has gone tions, along with their household members. The Jewish The entire global scientific community is working on from the battlefield to the grocery store. It is abundantly community is significantly older than the general popula- solving the puzzle of Coronavirus, through new treat- clear that Coronavirus is not going away. Our patterns of tion; it is incumbent upon us to show even more caution. ments and testing strategies. In only a few months, so daily life will continue to be impacted. We must understand what risky behaviors are, and why much more is known. Still the question remains: When Coronavirus complacency and fatigue are great risks. they are dangerous. Sports stadiums and synagogues have will this end? There may be a vaccine, but it might not We can’t go back to the way things were before the virus, a similar, high level of risk, because individuals spend a arrive for quite some time. Another option could be but no one can stay at a heightened state of alert for a long long time together in a confined space. Simply put, the universal, rapid testing. Prof. Gabby Sarusi of Ben-Gurion period of time. Our community must learn new ways of longer an individual is in a confined space with another University has developed a breathalyzer test based on conducting daily tasks, and new ways to determine poten- person, the higher the risk. Most exposure comes from spectroscopy. In trial stage now, it has a 99% accuracy, tially dangerous behaviors. household members. This is why families must adhere with results in one minute. We can mitigate the danger by following a few simple to safety guidelines in a uniform manner. One person’s But for now, we have masks and social distance. Every- rules: behavior, knowing or unknowing, can endanger all family one can make a difference. 1. Always wear a mask or face shield in public. Public members. The Jewish people have a long history of mitigating means outside of your home. As much as we would wish otherwise, Coronavirus the risk of contagious diseases by following rigorous 2. Maintain social distance, by at least six feet. sets the timetable, we don’t. Dr. David Scrase, secretary cleanliness and dietary standards as set forth in the Torah. 3. Try to conduct as many activities as possible outside. of New Mexico’s Human Services Department said in Even Lag b’Omer celebrates the end of a plague afflicting 4. Wash your hands frequently. an interview with KRQE on June 17, “COVID-19 is not Rabbi Akiva’s students. Today, once again, we are called 5. Clean frequently touched surfaces on a daily basis. registered as either a Democrat or a Republican. It’s an upon to follow the highest standards of behavior, cleanli- 6. Stay home as much as you can, and certainly if you feel independent virus that has no political considerations ness, and consideration for our fellow human beings. unwell. whatsoever.” He cautioned against having a false sense Life is Fragile and Precious By Helene Fellen was no vaccine yet available for its that manifest themselves in the how healthcare can become more measles. I was at that time quar- kind of individuality that breeds equitable for the vast majority of It was the last day of April, antined in my own home, with a inequality, that we may lose the Americans. a cool springtime morning in sign to that effect on the outside window for transformation. I hope as we search for vac- Saginaw, Michigan. It was also of our front door. The mid-20th Albert Camus wrote about cines, we will let science guide my fifth birthday. I thought it was century offered less in the way suffering in his 1947 novel, the timing. Many Americans are excitement, but my parents real- of science to calm concerns. We The Plague. His narrator, Dr. fixated on the quick fix. Once ized I was feverish. Diagnosed have come to rely on science to Rieux holds fast to two opposing again, Americans need to chill, with measles and scarlet fever, relieve a good deal of our suffer- narratives. We must be forever to be capable of not rushing to so began my struggle to live. I ing. This pandemic has removed vigilant because like the poison get a cure with a click! My hope was so ill, I was in a coma for with any certainty our outcomes, of a virus, hatred and tyranny, is there will be sufficient respect two weeks. On Mother’s Day, my and the nation is scrambling for never fully disappears. However, and patience for a medical break- parents learned I had passed the answers. during times of despair, it is also through, and it must be driven crisis and would likely improve. During the years that followed, possible to turn away from hatred by science not the politics of the As I reflect on life during this I realized that I had not done, and and judgment and become more moment. experience of Covid-19; my likely could not do all the ordi- open to fairness and justice dis- I returned to elementary school nary things of a young girl post tributed more equally among our in my fourth year. I had been iso- WWII. There were long periods community, and the larger planet. lated from my peers, and it was of anxiety and despair for my This option, I believe offers the an uneven re-entry. I needed time family and for myself. Very early opportunity to be truly open to to catch up, to feel part of a larger on I began to think about death, joy and gratitude. community. Sometimes I felt left and the urgency of daily life. I After World War II and my out, often alone. There seemed knew I was skating on thin ice, child illness abetted, it felt that to be so much to grasp, and I and being alive was a precious, America truly flourished and had not learned some childhood and perhaps fragile gift. showed strength and leadership basics. I had never learned to illness at barely five years of age There was a lot to appreciate on the world stage. It did so for ride a bike or skate with a friend. was my plague, and it went on to about how America developed some time, but now this dark Understanding and kindness from change my life. Rheumatic fever and prospered after the war. We pandemic has exposed the fault others went a long way toward followed this illness and most had come together as a nation, lines. restoring my faith in myself, my of my school years were spent not without mistakes, but there Doctors, nurses and front-line community, and the larger world. in bed, with a home teacher. was more to admire in our spirit workers are risking their own I have many precious memories Of course, I was too young to then to criticize. The plague of lives, but we have not had a and feel the gratitude of those look back at who I was before 2020 has ignited my memory of public health system in place, and loving and patient fellow human my illness, but there is no doubt childhood illness and isolation. have been scrambling to meet beings along the way. that this illness changed me, and The question that haunts me at needs of overrun hospitals with The philosopher Baruch Spi- changed the lives of those who this time of insecurity and unrest Covid-19 patients. Some doctors noza said, “All things excellent cared for me. is; how will we come out of this and hospitals have become are as difficult as they are rare.” In 1943, antibiotics were not extraordinary occurrence? Have profit-seeking firms. The system May our beloved country come available for home use, and there we become so entrenched in hab- must look at where we are, and together to find common purpose. Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 5

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VISTALIVINGCARE.COM 6 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 Op-Ed: Under Our The Jewish Federation of New Mexico Current System, There Responds to Racism and Violence in America June 4, 2020 filtrated the gatherings of hundreds urgency demanded of us, and we will Is No Health Security of thousands of citizens across our not allow the usual public amnesia in On behalf of the entire Jewish land who are peacefully demanding a the face of these atrocities to blur our By Dana Schultz Millen, PhD, MPH and community of New Mexico and more just society. resolve to grow and act. Troy Weeldreyer, MPH Southern Colorado, the Jewish Fed- These words are important; howev- We will do this in the spirit ex- Members of the New Mexico Public Health Assocation Board eration of New Mexico expresses our er, we aspire to more than just words. pressed by Dr. Martin Luther King, sorrow for the death of George Floyd We are ready to learn, listen, reflect, Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Hes- The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted and accelerated the and extends our deepest condolences discuss, and act together to create a chel who walked side by side as inequities of our nation, particularly in connection with health to his family and friends. We register society where every citizen of our friends and allies at the march in Sel- care delivery. Concerns about rising drug costs, increasing our utter disgust at his public, cruel country - no matter their race, ethnici- ma, Alabama in 1964. out-of-pocket costs, huge deductibles, and inflated hospital bills and senseless murder at the hands of ty, religion, sexual preference, ability, Dr. King said: “The ultimate mea- (and hospitals suing those who are unable to pay) were already police. or political point of view - is guaran- sure of a man is not where he stands well-recognized problems, now brought into sharp relief by the We forcefully condemn the past teed equal rights before the law. Most in moments of comfort and conve- pandemic. Added to this mix is concern about how many of the and ongoing acts of racist violence importantly, we will work to create a nience, but where he stands at times newly unemployed will lose their coverage and whether those perpetrated against Black people and social and economic culture in which of challenge and controversy.” who still have insurance will be able to afford the bills should other people of color by unbridled we overcome unconscious bias, ha- In these times of challenge and they or a family member become ill. law enforcement personnel across bitual “othering” behavior, fear, overt controversy, we in the Jewish com- In New Mexico, 491 people have died from COVID-19, our nation, and the systemic racism racism and violence. munity stand with our hearts, souls and almost 12,000 people have tested positive. Unfortunately, and intolerance that plague our soci- We will not be bystanders! Spe- and might ready to help repair the this virus is far from over. According to the latest figures, there ety. We stand together with the Black cifically, we will listen to the voices breach, to defend the oppressed and are a staggering 36.5 million Americans out of work, with that community and all minorities who are and experiences of the Black com- to commit our lives to ending injus- number likely to rise as the virus continues to wreak havoc upon the victims of hate. We firmly stand munity and other people of color. We tice. our economy and shutters small and large businesses alike. In against all manifestations of white will support organizations that work Rabbi Heschel taught: “How many New Mexico, over 141,000 people have filed for unemployment supremacist racism, ideology and to help the Black community and all disasters do we have to go through in since the outbreak began. With the loss of their jobs, most of the systemic marginalization of all people of color fight racism. We will order to realize that all of humanity these workers also lost their health insurance benefits—during a non-white citizens. We feel empathy encourage people to exercise their has a stake in the liberty of one per- pandemic that threatens both short- and long-term physical and for your suffering, as we know from freedom of speech and assembly to son; whenever one person is offend- mental well-being. our own history the tragic impact of bring about change. We will educate ed, we are all hurt. What begins as There is a growing realization that those who have employer systemic hatred, racism and violence. ourselves and share what we learn inequality of some inevitably ends as coverage simply cannot count on it. Under our current system, However, we humbly respect and with others, even if it means having inequality of all.” there is no health security. want to understand the unique and hard conversations. We will explore It is to this necessity, the end of COVID-19 has made it abundantly clear that we must work existential gravity of your plight and and confront our own biases. We will inequality that we commit ourselves now to implement a health insurance system that is not tied to experience. call out racism when we see it online, as a Jewish community and offer to employment and that provides coverage for all New Mexicans. We celebrate the non-violent ex- in public, at home and in our social work with all people to achieve this A priority area of the New Mexico Public Health Association pression of resistance through free circles. We will extend our empathy ethereal hope and turn it into reality. (NMPHA) is universal access to health care, in which every per- speech, free assembly, and the ex- to all victims of hate. son in New Mexico is entitled to quality, comprehensive health ercising of First Amendment rights We acknowledge that this is a com- Sabra Minkus, president care as a human right, regardless of income, geographic location, across our country; and we decry plex problem that requires hard con- Rabbi Dr. Robert B. Lennick, or immigration status. all acts of violence and destruction versations and an earnest commit- executive director As such, the NMPHA supports and endorses the proposed by those that have malevolently in- ment to act together. We realize the Jewish Federation of New Mexico New Mexico Health Security Act, a home-grown solution that will ensure all New Mexicans have comprehensive health care coverage by setting up our own plan in our state. The health Black Lives Kaddish security plan would include freedom of choice of providers, even across state lines, and a benefit package that would be as Creator of life, source of compassion. Your breath remains the source of our spirit, even as too many of us cry out that we cannot comprehensive as the services offered to state employees, with breathe. Lovingly created in your image, the color of our bodies has imperiled our lives. fair premiums based on income (with caps). This plan would Black lives are commodified yet devalued, imitated but feared, exhibited but not seen. mean that health insurance coverage would remain consistent, Black lives have been pursued by hatred, abandoned by indifference and betrayed by complacency. even if individuals lose or change jobs. Black lives have been lost to the violence of the vigilante, the cruelty of the marketplace and the silence of the comfortable. While public health measures like social distancing have We understand that Black lives are sacred, inherently valuable, and irreplaceable. slowly worked to flatten the curve of new cases in New Mexico, We know that to oppress the body of the human, is to break the heart of the divine. there is no set timeline for when we can all return to normal. We yearn for the day when the bent will stand straight. What has become clear, however, is that our health is closely We pray that the hearts our country will soften to the pain endured for centuries. intertwined with that of our neighbors. We will do all we must to bind up the wounds, to heal the shattered hearts, to break the yoke of oppression. Everyone is safer when all New Mexicans have affordable As the beauty of the heavens is revealed to us each day, may each day reveal to us the beauty of our common humanity. Amen. access to comprehensive health care. More can be found at JewishMultiracialNetwork.org This pandemic has underscored the serious shortcomings of the private insurance system, and of tying insurance to em- ployment. These are systemic problems, and the best way to The Link is a community newspaper, address them is by enacting a systemic solution that guarantees published since 1971 as a service by the affordable coverage and enables savings to be invested in health Jewish Federation of New Mexico. It focuses on Jewish life in New Mexico, and infrastructure. The time has come for us to set up our own health is committed to seeing Jewish life thrive. plan in New Mexico, which ensures true health security. The Publisher: Rob Lennick, executive director Production: Christine Carter, Envision Graphics opinions of The New Mexico Jewish Link, nor of its publisher, NMPHA calls upon the state legislature to prioritize the passage Jewish Federation of New Mexico (JFNM), 821-3214 Wire service: Jewish Telegraphic Agency the Jewish Federation of New Mexico. These serve as a forum Address: The New Mexico Jewish Link for the New Mexico Jewish community and The Link strongly of the NM Health Security Act in the 2021 legislative session. Editor: Sara Koplik, Ph.D. 5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE, Abq, NM 87109 urges submissions. Send submissions via e-mail to sarakoplik@ Editorial Board: Marvin Gottlieb, Ph.D., unmhillel.org or via post to Ron Duncan Hart, Ph.D., Submissions: The New Mexico Jewish Link, For more information on the Health Security Act: Sabra Minkus, Sarah Newman Letters to the editor, articles, or other information to be 5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109. https://www.nmhealthsecurity.org (Health Security for considered for publication must be sent with return address and The New Mexico Jewish Link is published quarterly. Contributors: Helene Fellen, Justin Wiemer, Paula Aragon, phone number and signed by the author. E-mail submissions Postmaster: Send address changes to New Mexico Campaign) Paul Citrin, MIranda Jacobson, Dana Schultz Millen, Troy are preferred. The editor reserves the right to edit or deny JFNM, 5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87109. http://www.nmpha.org (New Mexico Public Health Asso- Weeldreyer, Catherine Joy, Jessica Corley, Batya Podos, Diane publication to submissions. Materials sent to The Link will not All letters, readers’ forums, opinion pieces and Joy Schmidt, Phyllis Wolf, Helen Horwitz, Jorgie Winsbery, Eli be saved or returned unless accompanied by self-addressed, advertisements solely reflect the opinions of the authors ciation) Follick, Sybil Kaplan, Tarrie Burnett, Gail Rubin stamped envelope. All letters, readers forums and opinion and not the opinions of the New Mexico Jewish Link. pieces solely reflect the opinions of the authors and not the Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 7 Grappling with the History of Slavery and Oppression in New Mexico By Sara Koplik, editor As has been widely discussed in it still exacted terrible consequenc- ery in 1829, in 1836, 25% of the years passed before the territory the news recently, in 1598, Juan de es – particularly for women. Pueb- non-Mexican population in Tex- was accepted into the union. This is a tumultuous time for our Oñate, accompanied by 129 sol- lo people still had to provide raw as was illegally imported Black The experience of facing so nation. As we confront a public diers, arrived and started the first materials and perform work on a slaves. In contrast, New Mexico many obstacles over almost five health crisis, we are also facing a permanent Spanish settlements. weekly basis. Men worked in the had no need for slaves of African decades meant that the New Mexi- reckoning about race, police vio- Eight months after arrival, 70 fields and constructing buildings, descent, as it had a developed sys- can Constitution clearly articulated lence and brutality. This impacts all Spanish soldiers attacked Acoma while women provided domestic tem for the enslavement of indige- the rights of Spanish speakers and of us, and as New Mexican Jews, it Pueblo and killed at least 800 peo- labor and prepared food. nous peoples. Indeed, it was a net former citizens of Mexico, includ- is incumbent upon us to learn more ple. Eighty men and 500 women In 1707, 14 Pueblo governors exporter of human beings for cen- ing voting rights and jury duty for about the long history of oppres- and children were taken prisoner. complained that women were be- turies. all citizens regardless of “religion, sion and slavery in our state that All individuals over age 12 were ing raped while working in Santa By the 18th century, the settled race, language or color, or inability preceded the current moment. enslaved for 20 years. All men over Fe. Children born of rape were population could be divided into to speak read or write the English The United States of Ameri- 25 had a foot cut off. Children were often placed on the doorstep of four groups: nobility (15-20 fam- or Spanish languages.” ca was founded upon two great distributed as servants to monaster- the local mission. They were then ilies), landed peasants of mestizo There is so much more I want crimes or genocides – that of Af- ies and Spanish households. raised as Catholic and servants, and origin, Genizaros and slaves, and to share with you about the his- rican slavery and the destruction By 1630, Santa Fe’s population called hijos de la iglesia – children Pueblo peoples. tory of New Mexico. We need to of the indigenous people. Without was quite lopsided. It was based of the church. Perhaps as many as In 1846, New Mexico was occu- learn more about how one-third an understanding of the dynamics upon forced labor, consisting of ten percent of all people living in pied by the American army. The of the 9,000 Navajos who started of the decimations of Native and 250 Spaniards and 700 Indian and Spanish towns were born from rape issues of land tenure, self-gover- the Long Walk in 1863 died from African peoples, the pieces of the Mestizo slaves and servants. In between 1700-1846. nance, cultural preservation, and pneumonia, dysentery, exposure puzzle which comprise our nation 1633, “Fray Estevan de Perea com- While slavery took a different autonomy that had heretofore been and starvation. How school seg- are incomplete. plained that Indian children were form here, it was also very brutal. the concern of indigenous people, regation was strongly opposed We often think of New Mexi- being snatched from their parents In 1776 Taos, girls aged 12-20 sold now passed to all formerly Mexi- by the Hispano community. We co as a place which did not allow ‘as if they were yearling calves or for two horses, as they often bore can nationals. For some, the pros- know that one of Congregation Al- chattel slavery of the type found in colts … and placed in permanent children in captivity. In contrast to pect of American conquest was bert’s rabbis was bundled off on a the southeastern part of the USA. slavery.’” the slavery found in the southern too much of a burden, and they train when he dared to protest the This does not mean that slavery Oñate’s soldiers soon gained states, these babies were not en- returned to the part of Mexico that lynching of a black man in the late did not occur here. In fact, slavery noble titles, lands, and received slaved. Boys and young men, on remained autonomous. l920s. New Mexico had two Jap- was quite widespread for about 250 tribute from the Native peoples the other hand, were sold for just The 1848 Treaty of Guada- anese internment camps with res- years, from the earliest days of the who became vassals through the one horse. They were considered lupe-Hidalgo guaranteed some idents from many other states, but Spanish conquest until the Ameri- encomienda system. This was a troublesome, as they could run rights to Mexicans who chose to as far as our towns, only Clovis can one. So many of the apparent Spanish feudal system adapted away, rebel, slaughter livestock, remain in the northern half of their voted to intern its Japanese resi- conundrums that comprise New to indigenous people in the new etc. As such, the males were sent country after it was conquered by dents. I want to mention how my Mexico can be illuminated through world. The Spanish also took land, south into places like the mines the United States. Theoretically, neighborhood in central Albuquer- a careful examination of this very and required forced labor. In return of Chihuahua. This shifted the re- Spanish land grants should have que had a covenant that prevented painful past. for this tribute, the Spanish provid- gion’s gender distribution. For been guaranteed, oftentimes, they those “descended from any Afri- New Mexico was a part of the ed military order and the teachings every five women in New Mexico, were not. can or Oriental races” from living Spanish empire between 1598 and of Catholicism. Clearly, this was a there were only four men. New American officials often there until 1964, and we could 1821. It then became a part of Mex- system much like the conditions of It is estimated that approximate- looked down upon the local pop- keep going on and on. ico until 1848. It was occupied by serfs in Europe during the Middle ly one-third of New Mexico’s pop- ulation. In 1870, Territorial Gov- The more we acknowledge and the U.S. Army for five years, and Ages. ulation in the late 18th century was ernor William Pile expressed his learn about the pain of other com- then became a U.S. territory. State- This system caused wide- Genizaro. They were those hijos contempt for people he should munities, the more empathy and hood followed in 1912. Most of spread hunger. The native popula- de la iglesia, born of rape, pris- have been serving. He wrote: wisdom I hope we will gain. Deep our history under European domi- tion plummeted through disease, oners of war, or slaves purchased “here exists the most school-less, listening and thoughtful conversa- nance came under the Spanish. The drought and famine. In 1636, one- from Plains Indians. They had a ignorant, poverty-stricken people tions are the first steps to lasting Spanish practices of running a col- third of the Indian population died liminal status, and were not fully speaking a civilized, though for- change and hopefully less hatred. ony, and their cultural and religious in a smallpox epidemic. By 1670, it part of either the European or Na- eign language, within the bound- There is so much to discuss and so beliefs are crucial to understanding is estimated that only 17,000 native tive spheres. Genizaro communi- aries of the United States.” Fears much more to learn. I encourage what happened here. people were alive in New Mexico, ties lived on the edge of Spanish of a large non-white, Catholic, all of you to seek out the past and We really don’t know how many or 21% of the population when settlements, notably in Belen and Spanish-speaking population pro- reflect upon it, for its echoes shape people lived here before the Span- Onate arrived 72 years earlier. Abiquiu. foundly impacted New Mexico’s us still. ish arrived. It was probably a very In August 1680, the only suc- While Mexico abolished slav- journey to statehood. Forty-six large number. One estimate is per- cessful indigenous revolt in the haps as many as a quarter of a mil- New World occurred in right here. lion settled peoples lived in New Popé, a religious leader from Oh- Mexico and eastern Arizona at the kay Owingeh organized the upris- beginning of the 1500s. ing. The Spanish were forced to In 1995, I had the honor of at- withdraw to El Paso. Twelve years tending an anthropology class at later, they returned, led by Diego UNM conducted by the esteemed de Vargas. Some of the Native pop- Professor Alfonso Ortiz. He esti- ulation fought against this re-con- mated that perhaps 90% of native quest. Seventy men were executed, peoples died from diseases (like and 400 women and children en- “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. smallpox, measles, influenza, and slaved. Many Pueblo peoples fled, Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” – Elie Wiesel even the common cold) transmitted joining the Navajo and Apaches. through indirect contact with Euro- When the Spanish returned, the peans. Before the Spanish arrived encomienda system was replaced If you have experienced or witnessed an incident of bias, hatred or bigotry, in person, their diseases arrived by the repartimiento system, which please report it to www.adl.org/reportincident first, decimating communities. endured until 1786. While this was Perhaps 80,000 Pueblo people re- a reform and somewhat of an im- mountainstates.adl.org mained by 1598. provement from the encomiendas, 8 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 L’Chaim New Mexico – To Our Jewish Future We honor those who have made endowment legacy commitments or gifts to sustain a vibrant Jewish community for generations to come. LIFE & LEGACYTM is a partnership between the Jewish Community Foundation of NM and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation working TOGETHER with these local organizations: Congregation Albert · Congregation B’nai Israel · Congregation Nahalat Shalom · HaMakom · Jewish Care Program JCC of Greater Albuquerque · Jewish Federation of New Mexico · New Mexico Jewish Historical Society · Temple Beth Shalom The Abeles Foundation, Kathy & Rick Abeles Elynn & Martin Finston Nunzio M. LaCarrubba Marjorie Rogers Lisa G. Adelman Linda & Martin Fisher Steven A. Rogers Carolee & Harold Albert Suzanne Breslauer & Norman Flax Bernice & Hesh* Langner Robert Rubenstein Dorothy Corner Amsden Harold Folley SylviaMichelle & RichardLaflamme-Childs LaPan Laurie & Harvey Ruskin Rabbis Jenny & Neil Amswych The Joseph C. & Esther Foster Foundation Margery Lazar Ahava Broock & Howie Sagrans Deborah Avren Doris Francis-Erhard Charna Lefton Naomi Sandweiss Nikihanna Baptiste Hazzan Cindy Freedman Linda Lefton Ellen J. Satz Carole Beckhoff* Talia Freedman Frances Levine Misha Sauceda-Halliday Julia & Lance Bell Carla Freeman* Norma Libman Jane & Arnold Schamban* Rimson Bernstein Family Debra Wechter Friedman & Howard Friedman Laurie & Angela Lindendill Mark Schechter Rhea Bertelli Myra Segal & Tom Friedmann Mina Jo & Michael Linver In memory of David A. Schnitzer* Melissa Binder Ronnie Chavez & Andrew Gans Leslie & Chip Livingston Barry Schrager Paula & David Blacher Sonya Priestly & Art Gardenswartz Cynthia & David London Paula Schwartz Nancy & Cliff Blaugrund Shirley & Harold* Gardenswartz Cindy & Neil Lyon Paula & Mel Schwartz Billie Parker & Gay Block Rabbi Dov Gartenberg Jess Fulton & Emet Ma’ayan Meryl Manning Segel & Ron Segel Jamie Blosser Sheila Gershen Ruth Ma’ayan Deborah S. Seligman Lori & Bryan Bobrick Elliot Gerson Kathleen Kahn Mahon, MD & William P.J. Mahon Joan Shandler Tania & Wayne Bobrick Linda Schoen Giddings & Daryl Giddings Gabrielle Maisels Colin Shaw Eva & Edward Borins Edward H. Goff Iris S. Weinstein & Steven P. Margulin, CPA, CFP Danielle & Bob Shelley Yael McKeever & Rabbi Deborah Brin Linda A. Goff Josie Lopez & Alan, Anila & Sydney Marks Judith & Martin Sherman Marcelle Grant & Alan Brody Beth Goldman Nancy Koenigsberg & Dan Matthews Beverly & Rabbi Jack Shlachter Hardin Brothers Ellen Goldstein Marina Efroymson & Eric Maxon Patricia & David Shulman Judy Brown Larissa Myaskovsky & Russell Goldstein Rachmana Rivqa aka Claudia B. Meyers Leora Jaeger-Siegel & Malcolm Siegel, Ph.D. Meredith & Michael Brown Gary Goodman Dorothea Migliori Atma Wiseman & Joy Silver Christine & Harvey Buchalter Len Goodman Drs. Karen & Phil Milstein Ann & David Simon Helene Silverblatt & Robert Buser & Family Gail & Marvin Gottlieb Sabra Minkus Elisa & Toby Simon Charles Buxbaum Jean & Bob Gough Beth* & Steve Moise Rosalie & Stuart Simon Diane D. Buxbaum Havi & Dave Graeber Ruth Shore Mondlick Rae Lee Siporin Patricia Carlton Marcia Greenbaum Jenny & Jason Moran Vivian & George Skadron Emma & Bob Casey Paul Greenbaum Janice & Marshall Moranz Paul R. Sklar Nori Yonack & Robert Choate Helen Grevey Ann Morrison Robert Spitz Diane & Alan Chodorow Pearl Gross* Shirley Morrison Marilyn & Stanley Stark Rabbi Paul & Susan Citrin Barbara & Philip Gudwin Rabbi Ben Morrow* Steve Stearns Rachel Cogent Karen & Richard Hammer Andy Moss* Robin & Scott Steinberg Cantor Beth Cohen Margaret Elliston & Fred Harris Riette Mugleston Wendy Steinberg Stuart Cohen Gloria Abella Ballen & Ron Duncan Hart Jennie L. Negin Thomas W. Strain, MD Richard Cook Betty Lee & Dr. Keith Harvie Pat & Dan Newman Marcia Torobin Rhonda Manthei & Jessica Corley Terry Lee Heller Sarah R. Newman Drew Tulchin Meta Hirschl & Bob Davis Jay Hertz Diane Palley Deborah Tyroler Lynn McKelvey & Glenn Dickter Jessica Herzstein Janice & Stuart Paster Brenda & Ken Warner Sandra & David Dietz Ethel Hess Diana & Jeffrey Paul Wells Family Fund Melissa K. Drolet Eileen Grevey Hillson & David Hillson K.R. Perlow Nicole & Jim Werkmeister Madeline Dunn Mindi Horwitch Batya Podos Sarah J. Winger Eleanor Edelstein Tova Indritz Marci & Kevin Powers Carolyn & Aaron Wolf Andy Edwards Randee B. Kaiser & David S. Janik Shelly & Gary Prant Phyllis & David Wolf Mimi Efroymson Judith Kaiser Noel Pugach Margaret B. Yonack Steven G. Farber Debra Terri Kane Anna Rayne-Levi Judith Zabel Halley S. Faust Rabbi Min Kantrowitz Sidney P. Redner Paula & Jerold Zieselman Sunny Sonnenschein & Stuart Feen Susan Jo Keller Sandra P. & Clifford E. Richardson Anonymous (36) Cynthia Feiden-Warsh Lisa Kennicott Arlene* & Ira Rimson Margrethe & William Feldman Bo Keppel Deborah Weinberg & Lou Ringe *Of Blessed Memory Joanne & Art Fine Joan E. Robins

Shelley & Herb Koffler All of us, regardless of age, wealth or affiliation have the ability to give a legacy gift that will last forever. A gift that perpetuates the Jewish traditions & values you cherish. A gift that supports the programs and organizations of special importance to you.

How can YOU join us and help assure Jewish tomorrows in New Mexico?

Contact a participating organization or: Erika Rimson, Executive Director, Jewish Community Foundation of NM [email protected] · 505.348.4472 www.jcfnm.org/legacy Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico is a beneficiary agency of Jewish Federation of New Mexico Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 9 Studying in an Israeli Beit Midrash: The Foundation for a Lifetime of Jewish Learning By Justin Wiemer Now that we’re back in the United States, the Jewish community. I know that our Israel Justin Wiemer and his wife Annabella live I wanted to share three things I observed experience will be immeasurably formative in Santa Fe. Justin received a scholarship My wife and I have always dreamt of while studying in Israel. as my wife and I begin our marriage, home, to help him participate in an Israel learning studying in Israel. But with a new marriage First: when you think you’re being buried, and family. Thank you again to the Jewish adventure. Israel Experience Scholarships and career keeping us in New Mexico, we you’re actually being planted. Usually, going Federation, Jewish Community Foundation are administered by the Jewish Community hadn’t expected that participating in a Jew- through a hardship of any kind is not easy. of New Mexico, and the generosity from Foundation of NM. For information on ish learning program could be on the hori- But I’m so grateful my wife and I saw ours the Jewish community for the scholarship to eligibility requirements and applications zon. But last September, man plans and G-d as an opportunity for something better. What make this trip possible. visit www.jcfnm.org/grants or contact Erika laughs – I suddenly found myself between had been a distant dream became reality Rimson, (505)348-4472 or [email protected]. Mjobs. It was a blessing in disguise. within two weeks. Now, I can reflect back Growing up in Milwaukee, we kept and see this experience has truly planted kosher and attended services, but my my love of Torah learning. We don’t know Community Collaborates to Assure Jewish family’s participation in a small Orthodox what twists life will take, but we need to be community inspired us to become more receptive to blessings in disguise. Tomorrows – Over $5 Million in Endowment observant. I only went to public schools, but Second: it’s not about the view but the always sought permission to take off for the climb. The program took us on a tiyul, a hike Commitments Raised holidays and skipped the cafeteria lunches. I of Ein Gedi Nature Reserve near the Dead Individuals and families throughout our community are partnering with local organi- was able to balance my faith and education Sea. What really sticks in my mind aren’t the zations to assure our Jewish future. New Mexico’s LIFE & LEGACY participants are well; I have fond memories of constructing scenic overlooks – which were beautiful – helping build endowments to support the programs and causes about which they are a pop-up sukkah every day in my public but the group bonding along the way and the most passionate. The four-year LIFE & LEGACY program reached the halfway mark high school’s courtyard so that I could eat contortions we had to make to get through on March 31, 2020, achieving several milestones: Over 240 donors committed to make throughout Sukkot. the difficult parts of the trail. In Talmud a legacy (endowment) gift to one or more local Jewish organizations. Commitments I attended college at Boston University learning, it would be easy to pick up an En- reflect an estimated total value of $5.3 million with over $275,000 realized-to-date. where I actively participated at the Hillel: glish translation (our teachers recommended Each of the participating organizations, through conversations with their donors and making frequent minyans, being a kosher the Koren edition), but I loved that Shapell’s supporters, secured another 18 legacy commitments, for a total of 36, and will receive meal plan regular, and finding lifelong teaches students to struggle through, use a $5,000 incentive grant again this year. The organizations will use their incentive friends among like-minded peers. I quickly dictionaries for hard words, and really drill grants for whatever current needs they identify. learned that most of my fellow Jewish fresh- down into the logic behind what something Rich Grainger, JCC’s director of development and special events and JCC legacy man were older; until university, I had never means. Our mornings would begin with four team member shared, “It is a comfort for our LIFE & LEGACY partners to know that heard that students took a gap year after high hours of Talmud learning, and most of that in uncertain times, funds will be available to not only sustain the JCC, but to provide school to go to Israel. While my own knowl- time was reviewing what we’d read. One of future support to address unexpected challenges and take advantage of opportunities to edge grew tremendously throughout those my classmates told me they learned more in grow the organization. Our donors recognize that by making an endowment gift, their four years – especially surrounded by peers two weeks than they had in a year of Gema- personal connection and positive experiences within the walls of their JCC will contin- from robust Jewish communities – I always ra classes back in the US. ue and be shared by others well into the future.” felt that I had missed a significant opportu- Third: learning is better with a partner. LIFE & LEGACY promotes after-lifetime giving to benefit Jewish organizations. nity for personal and spiritual development My wife and I were incredibly fortunate that The nationwide program, launched by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, emphasizes by not studying in Israel. After graduation, Shapell’s has a program for couples. They stewardship and formalization of legacy gifts and promotes collaboration that strength- I spent four years working in Austin, Texas offered joint classes weekly and most of our ens our entire community. Nine Jewish organizations (seven in Albuquerque and two in followed by two years in Santa Fe. In this teachers were the same. In the evenings, we Santa Fe) are participating in the program at no cost. LIFE & LEGACY NM is funded time, I occasionally studied online or with a would explore Jerusalem for new restaurants by the Grinspoon Foundation, the Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico and rabbi, but didn’t spend a significant amount to try, while comparing notes on what we’d the Jewish Federation of New Mexico. of time learning about my heritage. learned. The trip also doubled as a honey- All of us, regardless of age, wealth or affiliation, have the ability to make a legacy When faced with the question of what to moon, so we took the time to explore the gift that will last forever. Contact Erika Rimson, 505.348.4472, [email protected] to do next, my wife and I immediately realized Kotel, Old City, Tel Aviv, Netanya, Caesaria, learn more. we could take the once-in-a-lifetime window and Tzfat. Even though I had a study partner of opportunity to study in Israel together. in my program, this experience only under- Made possible by the incredible support scored that my wife is my learning partner, from the Jewish Federation and Jewish chevrusa, for life. Helping Improve Lives: Immigrant & Refugee Community Foundation of New Mexico, We are so grateful for the opportunity to we found Shapell’s in Jerusalem. For three study in Israel before starting our next chap- Assistance Fund months we participated in their couples’ ter. The core Hebrew and Torah skills we’ve Donors to the Jewish Community Foundation’s Immigrant and Refugee Assistance program hosted by Shapell’s two schools: gained there have built the foundation for a Fund succeeded once again in supporting a Jewish community response to the welfare Darche Noam and Midreshet Rachel v’Cha- lifetime of learning as well as a strong desire and safety needs of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Albuquerque and New ya. to continue to be leaders and give back to Mexico. The foundation awarded grants totaling $16,000 to five non-profit agencies in Albuquerque. Grants were made to: New Mexico Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice for volun- teer training to support families and individuals who are seeking asylum; El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos for workers’ rights workshops and advocacy; New Mexico Asian Family Center for 2020 census workshops and outreach; La Plaza de Encuentro for an ESL citizenship course; and New Mexico Immigrant Law Center for coordination of volunteers and pro-bono attorneys. The grants were awarded at the end of February. The foundation reached out to all of the grantees in May offering flexibility in how the organizations use the funding based on the pandemic’s impact on their operations. The Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico continues to accept donations to the Immigrant and Refugee Assistance Fund and hopes to provide additional grants in 2021. If you would like to donate to the fund, contact Erika Rimson, (505) 348-4472, [email protected]. You can donate online via the donate now link on top of the founda- tion’s home page, jcfnm.org. Justin and Annabella Wiemer in Israel 10 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 DONOR SPOTLIGHTS Dorothy Corner merchants were not the first Jim & Nicole Jews to set foot in New Mexico, Werkmeister Amsden as I learned through the histor- New Mexico history took on ical society’s publications and The JCC is our a new and relevant meaning for conferences. Crypto-Jews fleeing second home. It’s me after I joined the New Mex- the Inquisition in Mexico City where our children ico Jewish Historical Society settled along the Rio Grande in went to nursery and started learning about how the 1600s. In recent years, their school and where Jewish history intertwines with heritage has started coming to they went to camp. New Mexico history. Having a light. This is history unfolding It’s where we cel- new, Jewish perspective made before our very eyes. ebrate Jewish holi- impersonal state history come It’s astonishing how much the days as a family; it’s alive for me. New Mexico Jewish Histori- where we’ve made Over the years, I’ve learned cal Society has accomplished lifelong friends, and about Jewish merchant fami- since it was established in 1985. My association with the New it’s where our kids lies from Germany who settled NMJHS has led the way docu- Mexico Jewish Historical Soci- have learned what it throughout New Mexico in the menting Jewish presence and in- ety over the years has deepened is to be Jewish. Our late 1800s and were accepted fluence in New Mexico from the my appreciation of their unique legacy gift will help into the social fabric of the terri- very beginning of Spanish colo- mission within the Jewish com- ensure that our chil- tory’s small towns and growing nization. It’s been a fascinating munity and in a wider context as dren’s children have cities. Their stories have been learning experience for me and well. The LIFE & LEGACY en- the same life-en- preserved by NMJHS members countless other society members dowment development initiative, riching experiences as videotaped interviews with as we read its award-winning which was established two years that we have all had descendants and published in quarterly newsletter, Legacy, and ago, is the perfect vehicle for as part of the JCC anthologies. attend its programs and confer- making an endowment gift now community. Intriguingly, European Jewish ences. or in your estate planning. Kindness Has No Boundaries: Supporting Healthcare Workers By Paula Aragon sonnel for their ongoing selfless service to times. Showing kindness to two different are. the community. industries for the greater good of human- For them it is important they honor Kindness goes a long way, and this “The emergency department appreciates ity. the patients who are at the facility all the holds true for the members of Congrega- the community support that is demonstrat- Melissa Drolet, president of CBI Sister- time, the veterans, as well as the incred- tion B’nai Israel Sisterhood Tikkun Olam ed with this donation as we all navigate hood, shared the vision of Congregation ible frontline healthcare workers. They Project, who provided 20 hot meals to the through this challenging time. The staff President Ellen Satz to support medical were honored to provide these nourishing Raymond G. Murphy Medical Center’s appreciates the delicious food that was workers on the frontlines during this meals. emergency department, which was catered provided by Sharon’s Gourmet to Go COVID crisis. In combination with the small catering by Sharon’s Gourmet to Go. catering. The kind gesture really brightens “We decided to provide lunch once a business that is trying to survive, to the The money for the meals was funded by their day,” said Dr. Gurujot Khalsa, ER, week for as long as we can afford it. We amazing healthcare workers at the VA, an anonymous donation for weekly meals chief of emergency medicine. want to acknowledge all they are doing. and to a religious community’s outreach between April 30 and May 20. The donor But this is only part of the story. Showing up to work every day is such program, it is an amazing unification of wished to acknowledge and thank this CBI Sisterhood also wanted to help a a heroic effort, so we wanted to thank humanity and caring for the brothers and group of heroic front-line healthcare per- small local business through these trying them,” said Drolet. sisters of this community. Another member stated there is so much “If we don’t look out for each other, attention paid to the major medical centers then who is going to look out for us?” a downtown, but so often our veterans are member stated. passed over or are an afterthought, and Paula Aragon is a public affairs officer certainly those at the VA medical center at the New Mexico VA Health Care System

Incentive Grants Awarded in the Time of CoronaVirus

From left to right, Deborah Albrycht of the Jewish Federation, Claudia Bloom of the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society and Shelly Prant, executive director of the JCC each hold a $5,000 LIFE&LEGACY incentive grant check. Under normal circumstances, the checks would have been awarded at the Jewish community annual meeting, but as that didn’t hap- pening this year, Erika Rimson of the Jewish Community Foundation presented the checks to the other communal organizations whose offices are found on the campus of the Jewish Community Center during their weekly mail pickup at the post office. Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 11

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IRVING AND EDITH FRIEDMAN ACADEMY OF JEWISH LEARNING Call 505-266-0155

Summer Musical Events CBI EVENTS & SERVICES bnaiisrael-nm.org/musical-events To Be Continuned... Monthly on 1st Wednesdays at 7pm - Hearing A Centennial Men's Voices on Zoom Wednesdays 6pm - Exploring Jewish Prayer and Spirituality on Zoom Celebration Fridays 4pm - Blessing Our Children on Zoom Fridays 6pm - Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Services - Chai & חי ,on Zoom & Live Stream Hike Shabbat Morning Services at 10:30am on Zoom & Live Stream August 2nd Saturday 8:45pm - Themed Virtual Havdalah in the Morning Service on Zoom FreeVirtual Concert Weekly Minyan - Mon & Thu at 7:30am on Zoom Specific Time & Location TBA Sunday 10am - Weekly Torah Study with Rabbi bnaiisrael-nm.org/hike100th w/ Rabbi Josh Warshawsky Gartenberg on Zoom JULY 19TH @ 7PM All Zoom events/services requires registration. LIVE STREAM & ZOOM bnaiisrael-nm.org/live 12 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780

A Bridge to Israel Naturally By Rabbi Paul J. Citrin a generalization, it does raise the our connection to enjoying and landscape. SPNI has created is a resource for bird migration. question of how we bridge the preserving our love of the land outstanding maps and guides for Israel is the flyway and stopping One of the heated and ongoing divide between the Jewish com- of Israel, even from our great the national trail system. point for hundreds of bird species discussions in the Jewish media munity here and in Israel. distance. • Fighting environmentally and millions of birds annually. has been about the widening gap Personally, I begin by affirm- The vehicle for our nature harmful plans and initiatives of Arab citizens of Israel partici- between North American Jewry ing the need for a sovereign bridge to Israel is the Society for the government, the army and pate in the work of SPNI as well, and Israeli Jews. Jews in Israel Jewish state, and its crucial pres- the Protection of Nature in Israel business. This includes efforts to as they share a love for the land. focus heavily on the issue of ence for all of world Jewry. The (SPNI), and the U.S. support preserve ecologically endangered Jordanians work with SPNI on security because of aggressive Jewish people’s historic tie to the auxiliary, American Society for areas from hotel building and common concerns of water, spe- threats from Hamas, Hezbollah land of Israel validates the state’s the Protection of Nature in Israel road building, from polluting cies preservation and Dead Sea and Iran. While many Israelis existence. The toil and sacrifice (ASPNI), sometimes referred to chemicals and encroachment on maintenance. What politicians deeply care about protecting of its pioneers, its builders and as Nature Israel. Here are a few animal sanctuaries. have been unable to achieve in democracy, civil liberties and the millions of immigrants who of the things in which SPNI en- • Building and maintaining re- people to people contact, SPNI is economic justice, others have sought refuge in Israel is the gages that are worth our aware- search stations and field schools a daily bridge between Jews and despaired of peace with Pales- foundation for its presence. Yet, ness and support: all around Israel. The goal of Arabs. tinians, and favor annexation of if Israel’s success in science, • On-line events and connec- these field schools is to promote I hope to spread the word parts of the West Bank. technology and the arts does not tions for the public to Israel na- learning about natural Israel, to about ASPNI in our community American Jews over fifty tend bind our appreciation, celebrat- ture. This includes presentations increase love of the land, and to because it provides great hope to support Israel with fervor. ing its natural beauty and unique- on-line about bird migration, protect its precious and unique for Israel, and is a bridge be- Younger Jews in the U.S. have ness could be our bridge. species preservation and caring environments. tween world Jewry and the State a more difficult time relating The variety in topography, for the land. SPNI is working now to re- of Israel. I hope to lead a nature to Israel and its government climate, flora and animal species • Creating and maintaining claim the many streams in Israel tour of Israel through SPNI in policies. Living two generations in Israel’s mere three hundred the national hiking trail system. which became polluted over the May 2021, provided the pan- post-Holocaust possibly makes eighty-mile length is astound- There are hundreds of kilometers years. It has brought several back demic is checked. If you want the need for a Jewish state less ing and awe-inspiring. Ahavat of well-marked hiking trails all to pristine condition. The pres- to learn more look up ASPNI imperative in the eyes of some Ha’aretz, love of the land, binds over the country. Walking them ervation of the shrinking Dead on-line, or feel free to contact me of our college youth and twenty all Israelis together regardless is exhilarating. It brings us into Sea is also a high priority for through the Jewish Federation of somethings. While this is clearly of politics. We, too, can develop intimate contact with Israel’s SPNI. The Huleh valley preserve New Mexico. The First Fruits of the Harvest -- Going Viral? By Miranda Jacobson between what many of us appear above the people present. Did Kindness: Were we were yourself, a strength a weak- to be going through, being they hold onto one another in shown a special kindness during ness that you didn’t know you It’s just about Erev Shavuot, required to social distance, and fear and trembling? Did each this time of self-isolation? Were possessed? What type of actions the evening before the holiday of then slowly having businesses one of them received the revela- we able to act kindly to others and energies in this time have Shavuot where we as the Jewish open up for public consumption tion personally from God? despite our own anxious and you been grateful for? people are told every Jewish Soul again. It is said that God spoke to worrisome thoughts? Foundation: Did you receive received direction from HaShem Many people have renewed each person in a way that she Restraint: How has being in a greater strengthening in some (God) via the Ten Command- greater bonds with family or he could understand. After the social isolation restraint of area of your life or realize what ments. In other words, God’s members, with their friends, and the event was over, did they all these times added to our under- you rely on the most in times of directions went “viral”! When a with what is a material absolute get together and explain and standing of our lives, add to our crisis? This is your foundation. video is viewed many times, it is necessity for living versus some- compare their version of their appreciation of others? Added to Build upon it! said that it “went viral”. thing that is just a desire or want revelation? During this time of our use of technology to over- Manifestation: How can we The title today of a person- to have. Many people have also social isolation, do we hold onto come some of the separation? build upon the lessons we have al witness from Sinai, might experienced a renewal of annoy- one another for comfort and yet Beauty/Balance: Where have learned from the new relation- be “Mass Revelation at Sinai! ance and anxiety, due to being in also feel alone to witness our we found times of beauty and ships we have virtually built, the 600,000 Present as well as Many close quarters more frequently own revelations? balance within our daily lives? sense of new community? What Millions of Enlivened Souls!” with loved ones, and taking on The seven species of fruit that Have there been any self-revela- dormant talents are waiting to Would it be seen as a conspiracy responsibilities that are normally were brought on Shavuot for tions about our lives that will add expressed? Declare your unique- theory? Would people believe handled by specialists, such as the first fruit offerings represent beauty to our walk as we move ness moving forward and into a the witness? teachers and chefs; or having to spiritual and medicinal healing forward once the social isolation new world of discovery. Traditionally the first fruits be alone at their home front and properties. Without getting too is lifted? Repairing the World: Take of harvest or bikkurim: bar- not going out to socialize with esoteric, I suggest that we con- Endurance/Perseverance: Yes, your basket and use it in a way to ley, dates, figs, grapes, olives, their usual crowd. template on the days that are to all who have survived this virus repair yourself and those around pomegranates, and wheat that According to the ancient oral come as to how we can bring our have endured and persevered. you. Take action in your com- are grown in Israel, are celebrat- stories, there were great flashes own special first fruits that we How were we able to do it? In munity and the greater global ed and brought to our table in of thunder and lightning, a great have harvested through this viral what ways can we reintegrate the community as well. remembrance and thanksgiving tumult and fear created when the event out into the world. processes we learned to endure Let’s all take our baskets of of the many blessings that are Ten Commandments were given Build a basket of your own and persevere once the restric- first fruits experienced in this poured down upon us throughout to all present at Sinai. There first fruits to the altar of your tions are lifted? time and utilize it for our and the the year. is even one account where the heart. Recognition/ Gratitude: Did world’s benefit. I can’t help but see a parallel mountain was lifted and hovered Bring those fruits of -- you recognize something about Let’s have it go viral! Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 13 14 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 Quivering of the Heart in the Time of COVID By Catherine Joy

I agreed to walk with Diane on a Saturday morning in May, before I knew she wanted to walk near the ponds at Tingley Beach. “Crap, I’m gonna have to get up early on a Sat- urday, on a holiday weekend, no less. Oh well. I can do this.” I got up, did my yoga, ate some breakfast, pulled on my jeans, t-shirt, a light rain jacket, and my mask. I drove over to Diane’s place, a little irritable and without my wallet and driver’s license. In these COVID times, I just don’t drive all that much and I was nearly Ponds at Tingley, photo by Diane Palley there when I realized it, so I blew it off and tried not to speed. We cara- vanned to an almost full little parking River’s Edge, photo by Catherine Joy lot on Lead and Tingley, at Kit Carson Park, where years ago I walked daily And he did. with the bird. with my dog, Lily, and whose ashes He was strong and held out the We thanked each other, and Kevin I left on the bank of the Rio Grande. branch and placed it under the said, “I bike here all the time, but We made our way to the Bosque bird. He couldn’t free him, but the don’t usually come this way. Today, towards the first pond. bird calmed down and rested a bit. I tried a different path.” “Yeah, I The surface was glassy and The branch was heavy even under haven’t been here in years, myself,” I surrounded by tall grass and green- water, but I asked Kevin to try to said. I wanted to hug Kevin. Instead, leaved cottonwoods. Lots of folks move it, to pull the bird’s legs from we wished each other a safe and good were walking or biking, glad to be whatever was holding them. Ever day, and went on our way. out of the house and in nature on so slightly, he moved the branch. It Diane talked about compassion, this beautiful Saturday morning. We didn’t seem to be working, and the what Buddhism describes as a “quiv- talked through our masks, took a cormorant was looking weak and ering of the heart in the presence of Great Cormorant, photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons photo or two, and watched the ducks scared. Then, suddenly, it broke suffering.” I felt the thrill of team- and geese on the water that reflected free, gave a little honk, and swam work creating hope in a crisis, and the cottonwoods and deep blue New which was full of algae. Diane kept trying to break free, and just off. noticed how we are all connected in Mexico sky. talked about compassion - with and couldn’t. I heard a woman say, “Wow! our struggles and in our solutions. We noticed a mother duck and without action. For a moment, I When I got about ten feet from That was amazing!” She had We continued our walk, veering left her little ducklings, and continued felt powerless. The water seemed the cormorant, my legs were under watched the whole thing, I guess. through a forest of willows, until we to stroll and talk. As we came to the too deep and I wasn’t sure I could water, my shoes were starting to Kevin walked back to the shore, got to the river’s edge. We sat and second pond, I noticed a black bird in reach the bird. But I just couldn’t stick to the bottom of the pond, and but I was stuck. I tried to lift my talked, noticing the quiet, the sounds the pond some distance away, splash- turn and walk away. I had to try. So, I knew I shouldn’t go any further, foot, and my shoe almost came off. of birds, the lack of air traffic, and the ing about. At first, I thought it must I dropped my phone and keys on as I would be in over my head and I felt like I was in quicksand and, reduction in car noise these days. I felt be taking a bath, but I kept watching the ground and started to wade in. unable to reach him. Just then, this like the cormorant, started to panic. lucky, and really glad I didn’t sleep in. while some nearby birds swam away The pond floor was spongey and the kind man named Kevin, started I said to Keven, “Help! Help me, The water flowed gently, and we from it. It kept on splashing and I water cool. I heard a man’s voice wading in after me, wearing a ban- give me your hand.” He reached enjoyed a bit of sunshine and conver- wondered if it was okay. “I think that say, ‘He won’t let you touch him.” dana mask. He got a little farther for my hand, but then I remem- sation; then reluctantly, we headed bird is distressed!” I told Diane. We “Maybe not,” I thought. “But I just than me and then stopped when he bered COVID. I took a breath, back to civilization in the time of walked closer to it, and sure enough can’t stand to do nothing and watch couldn’t go any further. I looked pointed my toes down, and lifted COVID. this beautiful cormorant was stuck in this bird drown.” I kept walking in, around, and saw a large branch my leg. I was able to walk out of Catherine Joy is a former admin- something and couldn’t swim away. watching the bird flail, but keeping from a cottonwood, and I handed it the pond without touching this istrator and current member of Na- It was panicked, thrashing about, my eye on him. Our eyes met, and to Keven. I said, “Try this. Maybe kind stranger. We took a moment halat Shalom. Diane (Dena) Palley is and all alone, about fifteen feet he seemed really scared, and tired. you can get under the bird with it.” to collect our things - Diane’s the current executive director of the from the edge of this murky pond, His head was going under, but he guarding allowed us to take a risk congregation.

FOOD continued from page 1 Menashe communities had not encountered any other Jews in 15 years. its director Bryan Schwatrz, and private do- Recently, a letter was received from the nors, $14,000 was raised, enough funds to Beith Tefillah Tupul in the Noney district of provide rice, lentils, and cooking oil for two Manipur. Reuven Menashe, the secretary months of the Indian lockdown. of the synagogue wrote: “Your honest and Degel Menashe used its contacts to get hard works for the chosen people of Hash- supplies for those suffering in more urban em amidst the curfew and lockdown was areas, and sent out teams to deliver food so precise and makes us delighted to be a to every needy family. When trucks could proud Jewish [community]. … We are in- not get through narrow roads, motorcycles deed lucky to get your unconditional love or even wheelbarrows were used. The vol- and support.” unteers navigated India’s complex currency Donations can be made through the Jew- regulations and the severe restrictions im- ish Federation of New Mexico, JewishNew- posed by the lockdown. Mexico.org, earmarked for the B’nei Me- One individual gave his truck at no cost, nashe. More detailed information about this while other merchants sold the last of their community and the urgent relief efforts are rice for the benefit of this community. De- available at DegelMenashe.org and Scat- gel Menashe sent men into remote villages teredAmongTheNations.org. along the Myanmar border, where tiny B’nei All photos courtesy of Degel Menashe Rice awaiting distribution Waiting for rice Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 15 Model Program at Nalahat Shalom Addresses Community Needs in the Midst of the Virus By Jessica Corley, M.Ed. a team of clergy and lay leaders, for the call. Remarkably, although Congregation Nahlalat Shalom and a community organizer was there were some needs identified was able to step in to care for one The response to the Corona- hired to systematically address by the assessment questions, another because it has an over virus by the board of directors this missing piece. The program more members asked how they 30-year history of social action, or va’ad at Congregation Na- came to be known as EPIK (Em- could volunteer, and shared ways organizing and caring for each halat Shalom led to prompt and powering People in Kehillah). that they personally were dealing other. Two decades ago, the con- decisive conclusions about how EPIK was responsible for with everything, such as gar- gregation formalized its volunteer best to navigate the new normal. contacting, by telephone, every dening, hiking, biking, reading effort to care for members by de- The first decisions, very early on, household of the congregation, and so forth. Many of the callers veloping a mutual aid committee were to close the building, move 152 families. More than 15 volun- described the conversations as fittingly named, the mishpochah services online, and postpone or teers stepped up for this first piece reciprocally nurturing, which is (family) committee. cancel all scheduled in-person of the puzzle, that included an often the case when one volun- When COVID-19 arrived in events. Several other pragmatic agreed upon script about the rea- teers. New Mexico, the congrega- decisions were implemented, such son for the call as well as a needs Approximately 32 families tional leadership anticipated as our spiritual support messages assessment, centered around four identified needs in one or more an onslaught of illness, which sent via email to our congregants basic questions: Do you need help of the four categories and were would have overwhelmed the and hundreds more in our com- with groceries or medicine de- matched with a volunteer. Most mishpochah committee. However Deeds of Lovingkindness, Paper- munity three days per week. liveries; are you feeling isolated of those families are continuing to the practice of calling upon one cut by Diane Palley Nahalat Shalom opened its and would you like someone to receive those direct services from another and extending oneself doors for a blood drive within call you to check-in on a regular their assigned volunteer. to provide meals, shopping and it mandates our interaction with a weeks of the coronavirus cross- basis; do you need help with tech- The congregation also held a care for one another was already community. ing out borders. Still, the va’ad nology so you can stay connected blood drive (with social distanc- in place. Now that the curve is As we pass the 100,000 mark (Hebrew for board or council) to family and friends; and what ing) in the sanctuary, and through flattening, EPIK is transitioning of those who had died and felt there was something miss- community resources might you EPIK organized two successful the increased volunteer pool violence is breaking out, Nahalat ing. They wanted to ensure that need to shelter-in-place safely? plant sales, since gardening and infrastructure back to the Shalom aims to work with other members stayed connected and The end of the assessment includ- and giving back to the greater mishpocha committee. Commu- synagogues on how we heal, care continued to build foundational ed a question about whether the Albuquerque community was a nity building and strengthening for one another and work togeth- relationships that are the bench- member wanted to volunteer to central theme of the calls. The connections continues, and the er. Those interested in learning mark of our community. do any of these things for some- plant sales were a fund raiser for EPIK program has been shared as more about Nahalat Shalom’s Emet Ma’ayan, the immediate one else in the congregation. East Central Ministries and local a model with other congregations. efforts please contact office@ past president of the va’ad, was Nearly every person contacted farmers who received more than It has been noted that one of the nahalatshalom.org. charged with building and leading expressed how grateful they were $2,400 from the two events. great blessings of Judaism is that Stories of Transformation in Difficult Times By Maggidah Batya Podos social distancing, we have the opportunity Zoom, we can invite people from Jewish The storytelling will be held on Saturday to shine a light, to light our own “magic communities all over New Mexico to par- evening, July 18, 2020, at 6:30 pm MST on The Jewish people have always told sto- fire” on our resilience, on our faith and our ticipate. We are reaching out to you. Zoom. After our featured tellers, there will ries to light the way through difficult times. humanity through story. You don’t need to be an experienced be an open mike for audience members to There is a Chassidic tale that tells us when Thanks to a grant from the Jewish storyteller. You just need a good true story. share stories of their experiences. And as disaster threatened the Jewish people, the Federation of New Mexico, Congregation You will have a chance to practice remotely it’s summer, and evening comes late, we great Baal Shem Tov would go to a special Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque is hosting and refine your story with Maggidah Batya will end our program with Havdalah. place in the forest, light a magical fire, a virtual community storytelling. We are Podos, a professional storyteller for over If you have a story you want to share and recite special prayers and in this way looking for storytellers who have a true 30 years and an ordained maggid (Jewish about bringing in the light in difficult times, disaster was averted. story about transformation in difficult storyteller and teacher). Batya facilitated please contact us at office@nahalatshalom. Years later, after the Baal Shem Tov times. The story could be about you or a the last two storytelling events held at Con- org, or call/text Batya Podos at 971-285- passed, his disciple the Maggid of Mez- family member, or someone close to you, gregation Nahalat Shalom, and will guide 5127. You can request Zoom link, or look ritch forgot the location of the place in the but it must have actually happened and it us through this new experience. for Zoom information in future publicity. forest, but he would light the fire, recite the should reflect a Jewish experience or value prayers, and in this way, disaster was avert- about dealing adversity. ed. After he, too, passed, his disciple didn’t Last autumn, we had great success with know the place in the forest or how to light our “Stranger in a Strange Land” storytell- the fire, but he recited the prayers, and in ing evening where people brought tales of that way disaster was averted. Finally, no immigration, of losing and regaining faith, one remembered the forest or the fire or the of Israelis and Palestinians. People were so prayers, but they told the story. And in this engaged that they asked for more. And this way, disaster was averted. upcoming program offers them more. The In this time of pandemic, of isolation and difference is that because of the magic of

SENIORS continued from page 2 munity demonstrated its ability to rise to the occasion and help our most vulnerable enjoyed the Seder dinner. I so much appre- members have a meaningful Passover. ciate what JCP does for my mom. It really Rimson reflected, “The JCF board and I are makes a big difference.” Another senior honored we could help create meaningful exclaimed, “The meal was beyond scrump- Passover celebrations for some of the most tious!” And another senior called to say, “ I vulnerable in our community this year. don’t know how to thank you for the Seder The caring, creativity and collaboration of plate. It was a great idea, and I appreciate Jewish New Mexico has been magnified it. I really appreciate it.” during this challenging time. We are more While the challenges of this global determined than ever to build endowment pandemic persist for our community, funds that will sustain our community for especially our senior members, our com- generations to come.” 16 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 her name was Sage, she was bar was a door with an exit sign studying to become an herbalist, over it. So there was an opening, Full Circle Opening she was part Navajo, and her like the thinking of a Navajo By Diane Joy Schmidt left a deep scar on its folds. The the air like Purgatory. mother was Jewish. She said her weaver to include a line travel- recent incident, which might This last year, wildfires in the Jewish grandmother encouraged ing to the edge of the rug so the The Jewish calendar is filled have passed by without no- California hills had shut down her career as an herbalist. pattern is open. with commemorations, but now tice, showed me that my life is Highway 101 briefly, but friends I told her, “I’m Jewish and my In the photo with Sage in the the Coronavirus has disrupted changing in remarkable ways. assured me that everything was husband is Navajo.” I thought airport terminal photo, there was manyT of our ritual celebrations. If we pay attention to and think under control now, and I should this was true serendipity. a sign behind and directly over Expectations have been dashed, over the details of our lives now, come on my planned trip. My Sage was either nonplussed or us on the back wall, “Baggage.” but unexpected new experiences we may see that our lives are sister, terrified of fires, begged unimpressed. I said, as a further I also saw the woven red, orange have followed. And sometimes, changing in good ways. me not to go. “You’re always overture, that if she came to and yellow plastic bundle. Now things work out differently, and In 1981 I was on my way to going into dangerous places,” Albuquerque again, my husband it jarred loose the memory of the story now has a different, El Salvador to cover the war she said. I caught a flight out of might introduce her to some tra- that plastic bag I’d seen the man even happier ending. We have all and change the world. When the Albuquerque, with prayers for ditional herbalists. She seemed carrying when he boarded the adapted. Families have shared plane stopped in Guatemala, a my safety trailing behind me. light-filled, free-spirited and plane in Guatemala when I was graduations, weddings, funerals, tall dark man with a heavy black After we took our seats on confident. 27, another kind of baggage that holiday meals and religious ser- mustache boarded carrying a the plane, at the last minute a I asked, “What’s your style I’d carried, attached to memories vices via cell phones and com- colorful red, orange and yellow cheerful group of young people called?” imprisoned in my mind. puter screens. In the disruption, woven plastic bag. He spotted carrying colorful woven bundles Sage said, “It’s whatever That imprinted moment had, people have found themselves the empty seat next to me, un- and knapsacks trooped onboard. makes me feel like myself.” like a filmstrip unrolling, now together in new ways. It’s made loaded his bundle in an overhead One girl spotted the empty seat At baggage claim, her friend been recast with Sage the lovely room for new ways of relating, bin farther back, and came and next to me, stashed her woven took a snapshot of us for me. herbalist instead of the sinister and we are even more grateful sat down heavily and grinned at plastic bundle in an overhead Later, I studied it. I was sur- Salvadoran. A new story, now on for the connections we have. me from under his mustache. He bin further back, and then came prised to see that her T-shirt had the light, bright side. With new experiences, we are was returning from Washington, and plopped down. She grinned a picture of a Celtic endless knot After I arrived in California, changing. D.C. with his boss, who turned at me from under an orange fur just like the metal ironwork I’d the uncontrollable wildfires The choices I am making these out to be a most powerful man. hat that framed purple hair and been transfixed by in O’Niell’s began to close in. I didn’t stay. I days show me I’ve changed. The encounter would send my which color also complimented a bar the previous week. That was glad to have met Sage, and A recent incident on an air- life into a darkening spiral that purple-fringed cowboy jack- Celtic knot had sent me into a to have seen a completely differ- plane mirrored an experience I would take decades to climb out et. reverie—all things connected ent time and place with the smell had almost four decades years of. Descending into the bowels As we took off, she pulled out and came full circle in one’s of burning and death in the air. earlier, an experience that had of the capital city that night, the a book by the naturalist Terry life with no real exit—but then, But this time I chose to leave, burned itself into my mind, and smell of the cooking fires filled Tempest Williams. She told me behind the Celtic ironwork in the before the fires flared again. The Encounter, Budapest By Diane Joy Schmidt way he said it, just in a labor sidewalk. A man walking camp, that made it sound un- a German shepherd with a On a trip to Budapest in worthy. It must not have been metal muzzle around its jaws 1991 I half-heartedly inquired so bad, I was thinking—you was allowing the dog to sniff after my ancestry. I knew that survived, eh, didn’t you? at a Hasidic Jewish man in my grandfather, my mother’s Much later I learned that a black coat who curved his father, had come from Hungary eight-tenths of those in the body to lean away from it. I at the age of 14, around 1895, labor camps were worked to dutifully followed the man—I but why couldn’t my mother death and that my great-grand- felt I owed him something. tell me more? I visited the mother had perished there. No He ducked into the entry of a Budapest Jewish Community one in my family had talked small dark courtyard, and then Center and looked around the about it. up a dank stairwell. sitting room. A man welcomed I got up to go. He followed He turned on the narrow me in English. I sat down to after me. staircase, blocking the way, converse with him. He was “Do you know something and asked “Is it true that all the old, thin, like a flattened dried about computers, typewriters?” Jews in America are well-to- leaf. he asked. “Can you help me fix do, rich?” After a while I asked, “So, mine?” It wasn’t true of the people were you in a concentration “Well, yes.” I had a new I knew, writers and artists, but camp?” Apple computer at home, with he was resentful. “No,” he said, “I was just in the big 5-inch floppy disks. “Yes,” I said. a labor camp.” He said it was just there We entered a bare flat with “Oh,” I said, losing interest. across the street. He hus- two rooms. There was an old It was something about the tled me nervously along the typewriter staring up at me from a bare desk under the window; I went up to it and Simcha: Diane Joy Schmidt politely tapped a few keys. Mazal Tov to our reporter who won a first-place award from There was nothing wrong with the National Federation of Press Women for her photo essay, the mechanism. Except that, “Asylum seekers cared for by Jewish community in Albuquer- there was no paper in it and que” published in our summer 2019 issue. no ribbon either. Suddenly he came up from behind and She also received a second-place award for “The Encounter, Budapest” a picture-story published in Geometry Journal, tried to kiss me on the cheek. Budapest Courtyard, photo by Diane Joy Schmidt New Zealand which is also printed above. I brushed him off gently, easily, he was so very light. I further, like a moth that might myself out of the dark building didn’t want to damage him any lose a wing if I touched it. I let slowly. Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 17 JCC @ Home and Reopening Plans

By Phyllis Wolf financial barriers of participation. This, in addition to receiving included Sunday morning with enthusiastically welcoming all This is who we are. grants and loans, has allowed Jamie Bernstein, film screenings back to the campus. These include Since its inception nearly 20 On March 18, the JCC joined us to continue operating with a of Lives Well Lived, on June 4, requiring masks be worn by all in years ago, the Jewish Community businesses, organizations and reduced staff. We are beyond Nobody Wants Us followed by the building, limiting numbers in Center of Greater Albuquerque centers across the state in closing grateful for the outpouring of sup- discussions with the directors, and various areas of the facility, stren- has always been much more than our facility due to COVID-19 so- port from our members, donors a Comedy Night from Israel with uous, continuous cleaning and just a fitness center. It’s goal is cial distancing guidelines. At that and the community. Benji Lovitt on June 18. We are disinfecting of the entire facility, to have all who pass through our point, we had no idea how long Since the end of March, we busy planning our annual Film and much more. Our complete doors experience the joy of a we would be closed, how many pivoted to offering virtual classes, Fest and Book Fest. To receive reopening plan, as well as ongo- welcoming community rooted in staff would have to be furloughed, lectures, films, discussions via the information about all our ACE ing programming information, Jewish values. The JCC strives or how we would continue to of- Zoom video platform which have programming, contact Maya Siler is available on the JCC website, to enrich and inspire by offering fer value to our members and the been well-attended. Wednesdays at [email protected]. jccabq.org. high quality wellness, cultural, community without our building @ JCC Virtual Coffee has hosted Our fitness and exercise Thank you for being a part of recreational, social and education- and campus. local Rabbis Kantrowitz, Garten- staff have been offering many our family and supporting the al programs in a safe, nurturing ‘Remember the J’ campaign berg, Citrin each discussing Jew- daily virtual classes – yoga, mission of the JCC of Greater and friendly environment that is was immediately initiated, ish topics of interest. This popular strength-building and personal Albuquerque. For anyone respectful to all. allowing members to convert weekly gathering will continue training sessions. We have created wishing to contribute to the Our Tikkun Olam (repair the their April and May dues to virtually through the summer. a dedicated Zen Center for yoga, Remember the JCC or ACE at the world) committee spearheads donations. With the support of Arts, Culture and Education meditation, stretching and Pilates, JCC campaigns, please contact projects in partnership with orga- generous donors, the JCC was at the JCC has been sending which is now available. Rich Grainger, director of devel- nizations who serve families and able to continue its programs and twice weekly emails chock full On June 15, the JCC reopened, opment, [email protected] or seniors in need in our community. services virtually. Over the past of programs we’ve created for with safety and health measures (505) 225-2136. We offer scholarships to camps, two months, we’ve raised over our community, as well as those in place to protect JCC staff, classes, programs to remove $100,000 through this effort. from further afar. Highlights have members and visitors while Musings & Meditations on Moving Amid a Pandemic By Helen Horwitz to call if anything needed atten- guidelines permit. and the dump, I still had a lot Not to mention almost all the tion, seemed like the right ticket For a good six months before more stuff to get rid of. framed photos that I’d taken A pandemic wasn’t a possi- for me. I found my new apart- my move, I’d been giving away, What to do about my prized over the decades: whether it was bility I’d considered when – one ment only two miles away. It felt throwing away and occasionally collection of 93 hybridized daylil- a sunset on Switzerland’s Lake very long year ago – I decided to ideal – both indoor and outdoor selling many of the possessions ies? I’d been planting and tending Genève, an underwater shot of move. pools, a new, well-equipped gym, I’d spent a lifetime accumulat- them for a decade, and couldn’t coral and sea life on Australia’s Much as l loved my townhouse, and warm, welcoming neighbors ing. I had filled every nook and bear possibly selling the house to Great Barrier Reef, or horseback the only time I got to enjoy the whom I began to meet as I pre- cranny of every room and closet someone who didn’t care about riders in Canyon de Chelly – garden was around 3 o’clock on pared to move in. in my spacious home with stuff – these fabulous blooms. I offered everything was wrapped, packed Sunday afternoons. That’s when But since settling into my as well as the garage, utility room them to members of my daylily and stored. I sipped a big glass of iced tea apartment on March 10, I’ve and gardening shed. Now, within club, who swooped in and for $5 Much – but not all – of this has while collapsed on the patio. barely seen a soul in the halls, the months, I needed to dispose of a plant – a fraction of what I’d made it into my new two-bed- From March through October, elevators, or the other common much of it. It was a gigantic feat paid for many – dug them up to room apartment. The photos weekends were all about planting, areas. Most of us go about with that I totally underestimated and replant in their gardens. from my family wall, however, fertilizing, deadheading, pruning masks and gloves, plus paper failed at miserably. I should have In November, when my realtor are a near-impossible challenge. and spraying. After dinner on towels for touching elevator gotten rid of at least a third more; booked my house for internet They’re still sitting in a large, summer nights, I worked outside buttons and getting mail. The few much of it now sits in closets and photography – a house-selling taped up carton, fairly begging until dark. folks who leave their apartments in a separate, rented storeroom as “must” today – I packed up and to be rediscovered and cherished Added to this, keeping the are similarly kitted out, and we I wait for thrift shops to reopen. stored many belongings to de- once again. house in good condition had wave as we give each other a I’ve always been a pack rat, clutter the rooms. Friends helped Will I ever be settled and the become an onerous responsibili- wide berth. and it’s now clear I was on a me pack my large CD collection, last picture hung? More impor- ty; ongoing maintenance jobs had I’m looking forward to when collision course with reality. As all the precious porcelain and tantly, will I ever come even close culminated with a mega-sized, I can chat with neighbors at the many trips as I made to the Assis- beloved trinkets in what had to overcoming the pack-rat syn- unexpected roof repair. Friday night social hours and tance League, Thrift-a-Lot, Back been my aunt’s curio cabinet, drome? I’m using my imagina- An apartment with a balcony Saturday morning coffees that the in Use, Habitat for Humanity, needlepoint cushions, my many tion, and envisioning a day when large enough for a few window apartment management promises Good Will, Las Arañas, hazard- cat-themed accessories, still more not only is the pandemic over, but boxes, and with a phone number to resume when social distancing ous waste, electronics recycling tchotchkes, and many pictures. my downsizing is done. 18 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 Book Review: Jews and the Arab World: Intertwined Legacies Review by Diane Joy Schmidt and seer Damia al-Kahina, “the Jews from Spain in 1492, Hart Mexico. He is a cultural an- Jewish Queen of the Amazigh.” introduces the larger-than-life thropologist with a Ph.D. from At a time when Arab and Born into a Berber tribe that Doña Gracia Nasi, who helped Indiana University and postdoc- Jewish relations have reached had become Jewish, she led a thousands of Jews settle in the toral work in Jewish studies at a fever pitch, Jews and the decades-long united tribal resis- Ottoman Empire. the University of Oxford. He Arab World by Ron Duncan tance to Arab advances during Many also went to Morocco, worked in South America for Hart traces the many centuries the 7th century. Today, she is where during World War II, the twenty years with UNICEF, during which Jews and Arabs a legendary national heroine of king refused to allow the Na- the Ford Foundation and other have lived together peacefully Algerian independence; others zis to put the Jews of Morocco international agencies, and is a in the Middle East, and illumi- revere her as a feminist and sor- into camps. While the Jewish former university vice-president nates how the current period of ceress whose knowledge of trib- population is small today, the and dean of academic affairs. nationalistic strife, beginning in al ways gave her the ability to Jewish dialects of “Haketía and Hart has awards from the the 20th century, is an anomaly. foresee army advances through Judeo-Arabic are still spoken New Mexico Jewish Historical This meticulous, scholarly work communication with birds. among many, and the traditional Society, National Endowment provides an excellent introduc- There is the Spanish Jewish Jewish ballads are sung…” The for the Humanities, the Na- tion to this history, and gives us traveler and chronicler, Benja- Mimouna Association was cre- tional Science Foundation, and reason to hope for peace in the min de Tudela, who witnessed ated in 2007 by young Muslim Fulbright among others. He has future by reminding us of this the high status of the Jews of students willing to promote and written a number of books on very recent past. Baghdad in 1168 and described preserve the Jewish-Moroccan Jewish life and cultural history, Hart explains, “For 1,400 The story begins with Abra- how the Chief Rabbi, mounted heritage. including Crypto-Judaism: The years Jews and Arabs have ham, born in the city of Ur in on a horse with heralds pro- Finally, Hart relates the pain- Long Journey, Judaism, Sep- lived side by side and mostly what is now Iraq, and his two claiming the way, made weekly ful events of the last one hun- hardic Jews: History, Religion with mutual respect. The oldest sons Ishmael and Isaac, and visits to the Caliph, where he dred years, and how anti-Zion- and People. center of Jewish life outside of traces the common linguistic was placed on a throne. ist and anti-Semitic views have In an unusual confluence, Israel was Baghdad. The great- and cultural roots of Jews and In Babylonia, Saadia Gaon hardened among Arab states, Hart, his wife, and his daugh- est Jewish scholars lived there Arabs. Muslims follow the line translated the Torah into Arabic, especially among the young ter’s interests have influenced and prepared the ‘Babylonian’ of the first-born son, Ishmael, as “postulated the rational basis of people who, unlike their grand- and enlivened one another’s. Talmud. In Western Europe, a the father of the Arabs, whose Jewish thought and argued that parents, never experienced liv- Columbian-born Gloria Abel- major center of Jewish life was mother Haggar was Egyptian. Jews should accept the rational ing together with Jews. 850,000 la Ballen is an international the 800 years under Muslim “In contrast, Jews follow teachings of Aristotle and Plato Jews were expelled from Arab award-winning artist, and au- rule in Spain. When the Mus- Isaac, the second born son, who in addition to the Torah,” and countries after 1948. thor of The Power of the He- lims were driven out of Spain in was born of tribal purity, as the “prepared the basis for the lat- He writes how a young pop- brew Alphabet. Of their daugh- 1492, Jews were expelled from father of the Jews.” The Quran er work of Maimonides. Saadia ulation, with no prospects for ter, Vanessa Paloma Elbaz, that country three months later, affirms that Islam is the religion made it legitimate to be Jewish jobs, creates tremendous unrest. Ph.D., who has achieved inter- mostly joining the Muslim re- of the God of Abraham, Ishma- and Arab at the same time.” Hope may ultimately come in national renown and is now on treat into North Africa and the el, Isaac, and Jacob, that Abra- In Muslim Spain, “Cordo- the form of greater opportuni- the University of Cambridge Ottoman Empire. The Jewish/ ham and Ishmael founded Is- ba became the most important ties for women. “As women’s music faculty, Hart writes that Arab conflict that started in the lam, and together laid the black center of Talmudic studies in educational levels increase, fer- her “research in Morocco on twentieth century is an anoma- stone as the cornerstone of the Europe. Poetry was a valued art tility rates tend to decrease and gender and music in Jewish life ly, and this book analyzes the is- Ka’aba at the center of Mecca. form in the Muslim world, and women’s opportunity to partici- has opened new areas of under- sues that transformed that long As People of the Book, Jews the Jewish poets of Cordoba pate in the economy increases,” standing” for him. history of co-existence into the were accepted in Muslim soci- excelled.” Some of the great- writes Hart. Jews and the Arab World: conflict of today, including the ety, in a minority status. est Jewish scholars come from Ron Duncan Hart, Ph.D. is Intertwined Legacies by Ron four stages of the current con- Across fourteen centuries, this period: Solomon ibn Gabi- the director of the Institute for Duncan Hart, 2020, Institute for flict and the new developments Hart introduces many historic rol, Judah Halevi, Abraham ben Tolerance Studies in Santa Fe, Tolerance Studies is available at that have occurred in recent figures that spark further inter- Ezra, and Maimonides. and is also former president of many online sources including years.” est. There is the warrior queen Following the expulsion of the Jewish Federation of New GaonBooks.com.

A Quiet Seder in the Time of Coronavirus

By Jorgie Winsberg drizzled with honey and Chabad’s shmurah mat- zot. (the Zohar refers to the shmurah matzah as It was Wednesday night, the first night of Pass- “bread of faith and healing” for mind, body and over. There were no in-person Seders available soul.) We procured two candles and Dennis put in town. I felt a bit sad. Then came an offer from on a yarmulke that I found in the house. my husband of 44 years...that we prepare a Seder I read the entire haggadah, it was his first Seder at home for just the two of us. He was raised ever. I read in English and stumbled through the Catholic and hasn’t practiced any religion since Hebrew transliterations. It was so touching that high school. We’ve always respected each other’s by the end, we both shed a tear. It was the most “spiritual boundaries,” and kept them personal. moving Seder I’ve ever experienced. We felt like But this year Dennis felt the story of Passover we were protected and safe like the Jews felt in was relevant to what is happening on the planet Egypt before fleeing. We thanked G-d for giving today; the plague, starvation, locusts, etc. all over us a roof over our head, food on the table, our the world. health, and having loving family and friends, like I found a copy of a Community Seder Hag- all of you. gadah (for home use) that was printed in the My love and blessings go out to everyone; New Mexico Jewish Link and started rounding whether or not you are Jewish, have a spouse or up what I had in the house to fill a Seder plate. I family members who are not Jewish or if you are found a box of matzah ball soup, some fresh kale a Christian, Muslim, agnostic or atheist. We all and chard, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, apple live under one umbrella. Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 19 UPCOMING EVENTS ONLINE! Limmud: A Jewish Learning Festival Comes to New Mexico Virtually This Summer’s Virtual Limmud is an interna- ABQ Jewish Film Festival tional Jew- ish learning By Phyllis Wolf Mrs. G. This is the inspiring festival that is arriving in Before the pandemic hit, the JCC Arts, Culture story of Lea Gottlieb, New Mexico and Education team screened some 20 Jewish- founder of the legendary on July 12. themed flms and enthusiastically selected this Gottex swimwear label This inaugu- year’s line-up to share with our community. 2019- and its head designer - ral, virtual 20 continued the burgeoning trend of superior her survival during the event is in- quality of Jewish films from around the world. Holocaust, ascent to tended for all who yearn for Jewish insights, learning and growth. It Filmmakers completed their works with the an- worldwide success and features dynamic speakers from across the spectrum of Jewish life, ticipation of having their films watched in the- the passion for which who will facilitate conversation on arts and culture, biblical text, our atres on big screens with the synergy of audiences she paid a heavy price. state’s Jewish history, science and much more. The goal of Limmud viewing together. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 (2019, Israel, 54 min- (from the Hebrew meaning ‘to learn’) is to feed the curiosity of ev- pandemic precludes social gatherings in theatrical utes) eryone of all ages - and in some way help us connect to our diverse venues. So, we join film festivals across the globe and evolving Jewish identity. who have pivoted to virtual screenings and gath- The House on Wansee Limmud NM is a half-day virtual learning festival scheduled for erings because the show must go on. Street Sunday afternoon July 12. The Limmud organization was estab- We are still working out some logistics and de- Generations of family lished in 1980 as a UK conference for educators. It has grown as tails with the directors and distributors to present secrets are uncovered in this sweeping internation- an international volunteer movement leading over 80 events held this year’s films. Nevertheless, here is an -over al story that begins with the Second World War and throughout the world touching over 70,000 participants. Limmud view of many of the films we are planning to of- concludes with an emotional twenty-first century rev- New Mexico will be the newest addition to this successful global fer in August, so you, too, can get excited about elation. When award-winning Argentinean filmmak- education conference. viewing these extraordinary films. More details er Poli Martínez Kaplun decided to dig deep into her This event will be held online using the Zoom platform. Regis- (including post-film virtual discussions with film- family history, she found a shocking discovery. Poi- trants will have the ability to preregister for topics/sessions of inter- makers) are available at abqjewishfilmfest.com gnant questions of identity, resilience, compassion, est. Once registered a private link will be shared to attend. by the end of June. Here’s a glimpse of the films and the plight of displaced persons are brought to The planning committee hopes that both Jews and non-Jews from in our line-up: life as Poli confronts her mother and aunts about the hidden Jewish identity they concealed. Eighty years around our state will join this exciting, important day for learning and connection. Shared Legacies: The African-American - later, Poli returns to Germany to their family house Twelve confirmed presenters include: Rabbi Raphael Zarum, dean Jewish Civil Rights Alliance on Wannsee Street, a few feet from where the Final of the London School of Jewish Studies, Michelle Laflamme-Childs, The cru- Solution was decreed for all Jews in Europe. (2019, executive director of New Mexico Arts, Rabbi Jack Shlachter, phys- cial histori- Argentina, 70 minutes) icist, and Sue Parker Gerson of the Anti-Defamation League. cal lessons of For more information and to receive an e-brochure, contact Lim- Black-Jewish The Spy Behind Home Plate [email protected]. The price is $18. Register here cooperation are The Spy Behind https://www.eventbrite.com/e/limmud-efestival-new-mexico-regis- revisited and Home Plate is a tration-108726291264 revived in this documentary about Limmud New Mexico is created in partnership with the Jewish utterly fasci- Morris “Moe” Berg, Federation of New Mexico and Limmud North America, with sup- nating, urgent an enigmatic Jewish port and input from many New Mexican Jewish agencies, including call to action. catcher during base- the Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque and the New The modern al- ball’s golden age Mexico Jewish Historical Society. liance between who joined the Of-

African-Ameri- fice of Strategic Ser- cans and Jewish vices (OSS) to spy Americans dates for the U.S. on the to the NAACP founding in 1909. Since then, both Nazis’ atomic bomb groups have endured segregation and racism, program. Berg grew from the codified bigotry of southern Jim Crow up in an immigrant laws, to blatant bias in real estate, employment, Jewish family in higher education and politics. With divisive seeds Newark, N.J., attended Princeton University and re- of hate taking root anew in the American land- ceived a J.D. from Columbia University during his off scape, a new generation also affirms their pledge seasons in baseball. He played professional baseball Israel & Jordan – The Essential Tour to actively promote the values of social justice. from 1923 to 1939 for the Brooklyn Robins, Chicago This potent, inspiring story of unity, empathy and White Sox. Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators December 2-16, 2020

partnership validates the ubiquity of the human and Boston Red Sox. (2019, USA, 101 minutes) Visit Israel and Jordan with SUN TOURS and see Masada, experience, and how freedom and equality for all Galilee, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Acre, Safed, Petra, the Dead Sea, can be achieved only when people come together. Sustainable Nation Yad Vashem, and more. This film follows three, passionate entrepreneurs (2020, USA, 95 minutes) Tour Includes: using Israeli, sustainable water-tech to help underde- • veloped communities in India and Africa, and farm- Roundtrip airfare from ABQ to Tel Aviv Crescendo • 12 nights’ lodging at excellent hotels ers in San Francisco. But water is just the beginning. When a world-famous conductor tries to cre- • 23 meals The work of this visionary trio highlights the nexus ate an Israeli-Palestinian orchestra, it takes all his • Israeli Tour Director & SUN TOURS Escort between food, energy and water and underscores skill and resources to overcome the discord and • Taxes and gratuities get them to play in harmony, rising to a tense and how solving these enormous challenges can help free $5,395 per person, double occupancy emotional finale. (2019, Germany/Israel, 106 women, and the world, from life threatening poverty, illness and lack of opportunity. More information at Full details at www.SunToursUS.com or call us at 505-889-8888 sustainablenation.com. (2019, USA, 60 minutes) Locally owned & operated since 1978 20 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 RECIPES Meatless Dishes for the Three Weeks By Eli Follick 6 oz low fat cream cheese 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt For the most part, except for a few days, holidays in the Jewish year are times of joy, 1 cup of any low fat cheese that melts celebrating and feasting. In the summer, however, there is a period of three weeks (I usually use a mixture of gruyere and parmesan, low fat mozzarella is also good) wherein we refrain from many of our usual activities and eating habits. This year, the ¼ cup chives or a small onion three weeks starts on July 9, with the fast of the seventeenth day of Tammuz, and ends Separate the cauliflower into florets and microwave for about 10-12 minutes on high. on July 30, with the fast of Tisha b’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av. The cauliflower should be just about cooked but not quite. Add the cauliflower and all This period has been observed by Jews all over the world for almost 2,000 years as a remaining ingredients to an 8 x 8 x 4 inch casserole dish. period of mourning and self-denial in memory of the destruction of the first and second Mix well so everything is dispersed. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about Temples and many other catastrophes. There are many parts to the observance including 40 minutes. Check after 20 minutes to make sure nothing is burning. You may need to special prayers and activities that must be suspended until after the ninth of Av. add a small amount of water to keep from scalding the pot bottom. Among my memories of growing up in the Bronx, under the guidance of my Zaden A cup to a cup and a half is a good portion. This is low calorie and full of nutritional- (grandfather), I recall the walks to our shul, Beth Hamedrash Hagodal, about two blocks ly loaded foods. Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable and is known as a good cancer from our apartment. He would tell me about the special days and why we needed to fighter. The garlic can combat the common cold, can reduce blood pressure, improve observe the rules of those days. The Talmud, he would say, describes the events in cholesterol levels and more. Nutmeg can relieve pain, soothe indigestion and strengthen detail, the wars, battles and destruction that ended a way of life and observance. He told cognitive function. me about how the rabbis of so long ago created new ways to observe Torah command- All in all, this is an easy dish to prepare. Everyone will enjoy the flavors and it’s ments. They created new prayers, built new synagogues, and taught laws they knew healthy as well. by heart. Ultimately, it all was put into writing which he explained was exactly what I was studying in yeshiva. In all the years since, those laws have not changed. He said he Remember the compote I said I loved? Here is my Bubby’s recipe. I have made it observed them all his life and wanted me to do the same. I have never forgotten those this way for the last 30 or so years and have never tired of it. instructions. Observance meant many things including the kind of clothes we wore, the daily Bubby’s Compote prayers and the meals we were allowed to eat. During the first nine days ofAv, celebra- 1 package of seedless prunes tory meals were forbidden. This included no meats, chicken, wine and the wonderful 1 package of dried apricots deserts my Bubby (grandmother) made. Substitutes were based on dairy and vegetable 1 package of raisins dishes. Soups were big, casseroles often, and cheese everything. Grilled cheese and to- 1 package of dried pears mato soup were almost a standard for lunches. Peanut butter and jelly became gourmet 1 package of dried peaches fare. Meatless borscht was a classic dinner item. Bananas, apples, and oranges were 1 package of dried apples always available. 1 tbsp of honey I remember one of my favorites was a very rich cauliflower casserole made with high ¼ cup sugar substitute fat cheese, sour cream, butter, whole milk and a few eggs to hold it together. Bread- At least six cups of water (maybe a little bit more) crumbs, sprinkled on top, added some crispness to each delightful portion. Deserts included chocolate pudding, and my favorite, a fruit compote. Put everything in a big soup-sized pot and mix well. Cook on medium heat, not high As you might imagine, the richness of those meals was great. As I got older, I became heat - it would burn the fruits. After the water is hot, turn down to simmer and simmer very overweight and suffered from diabetes. I didn’t want to give up the spirit of the ob- for about 30-40 minutes. Check and stir often. You may need to add some water. I like servance and my memories, but I had to change the recipes to accommodate my health the fruit to be soft but somewhat intact and not mush. needs. This is a very rich combination so portions should be served in a small dessert plate The cauliflower casserole was easy. I just had to change some of the ingredients. holding about 4-5 tablespoons. I know it will be enough. Too much is more fruit sugar than most of us need. The combination of fruits and the small portion size satisfies the Eli’s Cauliflower Casserole government’s recommended daily allowance of fruits for a day. Lots of vitamins, anti- 1 medium head of cauliflower oxidants, phytonutrients, and healthy carbohydrates. And it tastes great too!! 1 tsp garlic powder These recipes and others have made it easier for me to follow my doctor’s orders. My ½ tsp black pepper weight is down, my waist is smaller, and my appreciation and thankfulness for another ¼ tsp ground nutmeg chance at a healthy life is unbounded. From My Kosher Jerusalem Kitchen: Fresh Fruit Pies By Sybil Kaplan Peach Pie 2 cups pitted cherries This recipe was adapted from a food magazine. 1 cup sugar When I think of summer, I think of fresh 1½ pounds seeded, sliced peaches 1 cup flour fruit. When I think of fresh fruit, I think of 1 cup sugar 1½ T. baking powder pies. 2 T. unsalted butter or margarine 1 cup milk or soy milk So I started to research origin of pies. 2 T. flour 2½ T. melted butter or margarine Early pies may have originated with 2 large eggs brown sugar Egyptian cakes and ancient Greek pasties pinch nutmeg filled with fruit. Medieval England had 9-inch crust 1. Grease a square baking dish. an early form of sweet pies, but they were 2. Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl. Add called tarts and fruit pies were unsweetened, 1. Prepare a 9-inch pie plate with dough. milk and melted butter or margarine. Pour into a greased baking because sugar was a rare and costly symbol of 2. In a bowl, mix together sugar, butter or margarine, flour, eggs dish. wealth. In the Middle Ages, a pie could have and nutmeg. 3. Scatter pitted cherries over batter. Sprinkle the top with a number of items as its filling, but a pas- 3. Arrange peaches in pie crust. Pour batter over them. Crimp brown sugar. try would have only a single filling, according edge of pie crust. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour. to Wikipedia. 4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 50-55 minutes or until Fruit pie recipes began appearing in the 15th just set. Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, compiler/editor of 9 kosher cook- century, and the English brought pie recipes books (working on a 10th) and food writer for North American with them to America. Recipes changed with Jewish publications, who lives in Jerusalem where she leads the adaptations of native North American Faux Cherry Cobbler weekly walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in berries and fruits. Cobblers generally have a dough-like topping dropped on top of English, and writes the restaurant features for Janglo.net, the Here are recipes for two of my favorites fruit. This cobbler is more like a pie. oldest, largest website for English-language readers.

Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 21 What If Women Led the Peace Process?

By Tarrie Burnett Executive director, Creativity for Peace

I watched them gather for a group photo, it was past mid- night and still hot at the Albu- querque Sunport. They were standing hesitantly by the lug- The Girls Circle is the first of three Youth4Peace program activities, gage, not entirely comfortable mile from the border of Gaza, lay down and trace their bodies, where New Mexico teens meet with campers from Israel and Palestine. with where they were or who shout angrily at a Palestinian first one, then the other.- Over they were with, but they all had girl across the circle about the lapping their partners, crossing one thing in common - hope. We panic attacks she has daily be- borders with their literal bodies. drove an hour north and showed cause of the bombs, about how Then spending the next few art them their shared rooms at a qui- much she hates Hamas. The sessions filling in their traced et retreat center in the outskirts girl, from Jericho, shouted back outlines with images and sym- of Santa Fe, surrounded by the through tears, that they have bols or just swaths of powerful Cerrillos hills and stars you can no choice, if they don’t defend color depicting how this conflict actually see. It was here, in a themselves somehow, then Isra- has affected them and what they Sanctuary City Different, that el will just kill all of them and hope for in the future. they had travelled 7,000 miles destroy Palestine, her people… Two weeks into camp, I am to meet each other. she will cease to exist… driving a Suburban full of teen Seventeen years ago, the idea The arc of this transforma- girls back after a trip to the that something, anything could tional dialogue is based on com- mall, a much-needed break in be done to alleviate the suffer- passionate listening and authen- their full schedules of art and Young leaders, Eliya, Doha, and Shir ing caused by the Second Intifa- tic speaking, skills that many of dialogue. I’m astonished that al- by men, I keep asking myself, in Nablus. As an American, I da in Israel and Palestine, gave our current world leaders could though factions still exist - they what if women led the peace have the privilege of seeing birth to the idea of Creativity for use. The girls are first taught to are teenagers after all - the girls process? Would this current more of the West Bank than any Peace. Bringing young women merely identify how they are sit cuddled up, heads bobbing conflict in Israel and Palestine Israeli will ever see, and more from both sides of the conflict feeling as they enter the dia- with sleep, simply as friends still be going on? Or would, as of Israel than any Palestinian together to hear each other’s logue circle each day, the con- who are worn out from shop- the United Nations most recent resident living in the occupied stories, believing that an enemy versations though quickly get ping and flirting with Ameri- study on women’s meaningful territories. is only someone whose story into identity, which of course can boys. They aren’t meeting inclusion and influence be true My eyes cut through the pol- you’ve never heard. Sixteen heads straight into politics. The each through check points, or here too? itics, however naively, to see teen-aged girls got on a plane facilitators skillfully keep the shouting angrily across chain “[P]eace processes that in- two groups of people that have headed to the high desert of the conversation centered on the linked fences, they are young cluded women as witnesses, far more in common than not. Southwestern United States. girls sharing their authentic ex- women (and their families) who signatories, mediators, and/or And I have a deep commitment There they found themselves periences, not reiterating politi- are willing to take a social and negotiators demonstrated a 20% to train the next generation of living side by side in a five-bed- cal positions. It’s a way of keep- political risk to meet each other increase in the probability of a young women to step into pol- room house, eating and sleeping ing the work of meeting “the and seek their shared humanity. peace agreement lasting at least itics, their choice of studies in with their virtual enemies. One other” front and center without But this camp is just the be- two years. This increases over university, or their next con- camper, now an adult, remem- ignoring the political divide that ginning, after they return home, time, with a 35% increase in the versation, with a profound un- bers, “not sleeping through the keeps two peoples from sharing they will attend four more probability of a peace agreement derstanding of the other side. night because all I could think the same land. weekend-long seminars over the lasting 15 years.” (“Women’s Because real change won’t hap- about was how to kill the girl After each dialogue session course of the next year. Return- Participation in Peace Negoti- pen with a peace plan, it will sleeping next to me.” It’s these the girls break for lunch, inter- ing time and again to this touch- ations: Connections between happen when people can meet feelings of hatred and fear that acting with volunteers from the stone of transformation, finding Presence and Influence,” in UN beyond borders and with mutual are transformed over the initial community, who bring them solace in each other – having Women Sourcebook on Women, respect, enjoy shared power and three-week intensive camp. family-style lunches and din- all gone through something that Peace and Security (UN Wom- influence. These sixteen girls, half of ners each day, before they head will have changed them forev- en, 2012).) Due to the challenges pre- them Jewish Israeli, the other off to art. This kind of art isn’t er. As they enter back into their As the new executive director sented by COVID-19 and to half Israeli Arabs and Pales- about skill or technique, it’s homes, schools and communi- of Creativity for Peace, I am as protect the safety of our 2020 tinian girls living in the West about processing the entrenched ties, they are in fact different, curious as I am confused. My Young Leaders, we will host Bank, will spend more than 40 emotions that they are now fi- they can no longer categorically first visit to Israel and the West our summer intensive in Israel, hours over three weeks in facili- nally able to air in a supportive hate the other side, because to Bank last September felt like a rather than Santa Fe this year, tated dialogue with four women environment. do that, would be to hate some veritable rabbit hole straight out for the first time ever. We have who have devoted their lives to As generational trauma and of their closest friends now. of Alice in Wonderland. secured a location near Jerusa- bridging the gap between the epigenetics are starting to Having chosen a path that seeks I fell in love with the Holy lem at Wahat Al-Salaam - Neve two peoples of this region. I sat prove, trauma experienced by truth through social justice and Land, walking the streets of the Shalom, a place where we have a in dialogue this summer, spend- older generations is passed on, peace, they are being trained as Old City in Jerusalem during long history. They often host our ing hours sitting just outside of and these girls are faced with the rising leaders they are. They one of the seminars with the pre-camp and recruitment meet- this sacred circle - all women, the current conflict and all those have listened to each other, girls, driving through wine ings including other leadership committed to social justice and preceding. Here, they are led hearing both narratives and are country in the upper Galilee and seminars. It is a shared society peace. by art therapists to make art, to able to accept them, but even tracing my way through check- village, where Jewish and Pales- At one point, I watch a heated express their emotional land- further, to believe that a differ- points and road blocks with my tinian families live side by side. exchange erupt when an Israeli scapes. At one point, they are ent way forward is possible. staff in the West Bank to eat See www.creativityforpeace. girl from Sderot, a town, just one paired up – Jew and Arab, to After 70 years of conflict led knafeh and visit with alumnae org for more details. 22 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 How to Wear Cloth Face Coverings New Mexicans are required to wear a face mask Follow Everyday Health Habits when out in public, to keep themselves and those • Stay at least 6 feet away from others around them safe. It is an important tool which can • Avoid contact with people who are reduce risk of COVID-19 infection. Here is some sick guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and • Wash your hands often, with soap and Prevention. water, for at least 20 seconds each time Cloth face coverings are an additional step to • Use hand sanitizer if soap and water help slow the spread of COVID-19 when com- are not available bined with every day preventive actions and social distancing in public settings. Take Off Your Cloth Face Covering Carefully, When You’re Home Wear your Face Covering Correctly • Untie the strings behind your head or • Wash your hands before putting on your face stretch the ear loops covering • Handle only by the ear loops or ties • Put it over your nose and mouth and secure it • Fold outside corners together under your chin • Place covering in the washing ma- • Try to fit it snugly against the sides of your face chine (or handwash with 1/3rd cup bleach • Make sure you can breathe easily to one gallon of water) • Be careful not to touch your eyes, Use the Face Covering to Protect Others nose, and mouth when removing and • Wear a face covering to help protect others in wash hands immediately after removing. case you’re infected but don’t have symptoms • Keep the covering on your face the entire time you’re in public Who should NOT use cloth face coverings: children under age 2, or anyone who • Don’t put the covering around your neck or up on your forehead has trouble breathing, is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove • Don’t touch the face covering, and, if you do, wash your hands the mask without assistance.

Jewish Funeral Traditions Interrupted by Pandemic By Gail Rubin, CT Changes Before, During spaced at least six feet apart. transmission through communal able on my YouTube channel, and After a Funeral With a clergy person and a funer- touching of a shovel or trowel. which can be found by searching The physical distancing al director, that means only eight for @GailRubin. This includes: requirements of the coronavirus The ritual of tahara, the wash- immediate family members can The tradition of sitting shivah, • The Coronavirus Cinema pandemic affect more than just ing, dressing and casketing of participate in person. Fortunate- receiving the support of your Collection: Recommendations our daily lives. It has dramat- the body in the traditional Jewish ly, 10 Jews makes a minyan. community in person at home of movies that entertain while ically changed funerals and manner, has been suspended for • Most Albuquerque funeral after the funeral, is discouraged. educating about Jewish funerals memorial services. Should you the time being. This is for the homes are offering some sort of As with most everything else and end-of-life issues. experience a death in the family, safety of the Chevrah Kadisha virtual attendance for funerals, these days, shivah visits have • Jewish Burial is Green funeral homes and cemeteries volunteers who do this sacred either an online live video stream gone virtual through Zoom, Burial: This one-hour panel have implemented a number of work and their loved ones. Also from a funeral home chapel or a Skype, FaceTime and other vid- discussion features Donal Key precautions that alter Jewish suspended is the tradition of hav- recorded video afterward. Video eo services. with La Puerta Natural Burial funeral traditions. ing a shomer, one who watches recordings or live-streaming of Ground and Kilian Rempen with over the body before the funeral. graveside funerals can be made While a funeral is taking place, Albuquerque-based Passages Jewish funeral traditions by the funeral home or a family consider having a friend set up International, a leading provider involve the community: keeping All local funeral homes can member. the home for shivah, covering of green burial and eco-friendly the body company, preparing help families make funeral • Check with your clergy mirrors and photos, arranging for funeral products. the body for burial, and coming arrangements virtually, either person whether to do the ritual low-to-the-ground seating, and • Ethical Wills and Ecclesias- together to comfort the mourn- over the phone or by computer. of keriah, the tearing of clothing preparing food. Have a tech-sav- tes: This 20-minute talk explores ers. Putting our community at a In addition to having everyone or a ribbon by members of the vy person arrange for online vid- the concept of the ethical will distance goes against centuries present at a funeral wear a face immediate family just prior to eo visits. Work with your local and its connection to the Book of of Jewish practices. Yet now, we mask, you will likely experience the funeral. clergy regarding holding virtual Ecclesiastes must physically distance our- these changes: • The ritual of placing earth prayer services in the home. • Kosher Caskets by Fathers selves, even in mourning. • In-person funerals have been on the casket at the cemetery Building Futures: This local non- limited to 10 people at the most, may be altered to avoid viral One Jewish funeral ritual that’s profit builds beautiful, affordable strongly encouraged these days kosher caskets. They provide is washing your hands. Tradi- jobs and skills to previously tionally, a pitcher of water and incarcerated fathers, offering towels are made available at the opportunities for family stability. Remember cemetery and at the door to the and house of mourning. Beyond a Gail Rubin, Certified Thana- ritual splash of water, make sure tologist, is a pioneering death plan you scrub with soap for 20 sec- educator, member of the Albu- ahead. The Jewish Section at La Puerta onds whenever you return home querque Chevrah Kadisha and Natural Burial Ground: from any trip outside. Congregation Albert’s cemetery For Jewish People and committee, and president of the non-profit Historic Fairview Their Families Online Resources to Learn More Cemetery. Download a free Simple, low cost, environmentally 10-page end-of-life information sound, and respectful. A series of informative videos planning form and 50-point For more information go to naturalburialnewmexico.com and online resources are avail- executor’s checklist from www. AGoodGoodbye.com. MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 The New Mexico Jewish Link 23 Is it COVID-19? COVID-19 symptoms can include fever, cough, If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should and shortness of breath. This may be similar to get tested. Talk to your health care provider or visit other illnesses, like the flu and common cold. Many mn.gov/covid19. For medical emergencies, such as people with COVID-19 have mild or few difficulty breathing, call 911. symptoms, and some may have no symptoms at all.

SYMPTOMS COVID-19 FLU COLD ALLERGIES

Cough Often Often Sometimes Sometimes

Fever Often Often Rarely Never

Body aches Sometimes Often Rarely Never Shortness of breath Sometimes Sometimes Rarely Rarely Headache Sometimes Often Sometimes Sometimes

Fatigue Sometimes Often Sometimes Sometimes

Sore throat Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Loss of taste or smell Sometimes Rarely Rarely Rarely Diarrhea Sometimes Rarely Never Never Chest pain or pressure Rarely Rarely Never Never Runny nose Rarely Sometimes Often Often

Sneezing Rarely Sometimes Often Often

Watery eyes Never Never Never Often

This list is not all-inclusive.

This poster comes from the Minnesota Department of Health, health.mn.gov.

Minnesota Department of Health | health.mn.gov | 651-201-3920 Contact [email protected] to request an alternate format.

05/28/2020 24 The New Mexico Jewish Link Summer 2020/Kaitz 5780 PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY To have your company featured in this professional directory, please email [email protected]

TRAVEL PLANNING ACCOUNTING Travel Planners International Jon Bell, CPA Full Service Accounting Tax Planning • Business Consulting Quickbooks • Business Structure Betty Harvie For All Your Travel Dreams Analysis & Selection 505 344-1644 HOME • 505 306-4101 CELL. 1303 Rio Grande Blvd NW, Suite 6, Home Based Agent 7H Albuquerque, NM 87104 Heritage Tours – Kosher Vacations CLIA Accredited Cruise Counsellor Phone: (505) 385-3535 • Fax: (505) 715-5515 [email protected] www.jonbellcpa.com

“To save one life, is to save the whole world.” Talmud

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE FUND (JCAF)

of all faiths employed within the Jew-

ish community are eligible to apply. This is an initiative of medical students at the University of Arizona, Grants will be made up to $1,800 per encouraging Spanish-speakers to wear masks in public. The poster household on a one-time basis. Ap- reads: “Use a mask in public to optimize your protection.” plicants will be required to provide a Through the generosity of many, the strictly confidential application, -doc Jewish Federation of New Mexico is umentation and a declaration of need. pleased to announce the creation of the Grants will be made on a rolling basis. Jewish Community Assistance Fund If you, or someone you know would (JCAF) to provide emergency and re- benefit from the JCAF, please contact covery support to individuals and fam- Rob Lennick, executive director of the ilies within the Jewish community im- Jewish Federation of New Mexico at pacted by COVID-19. (505) 348-4458 or at Rob@Jewish- The JCAF will provide financial as- newmexico.org. Once contact is made, sistance for basic emergent needs re- a confidential application will be - for sulting form COVID-19 including food, warded. shelter, medical care, prescriptions and In keeping with the mission of the supplies, personal care, childcare, basic Jewish Federation of New Mexico, the home staples, transportation for work goal of the JCAF is to provide help to and medical appointments, and other individuals and families with emergent needs not covered by the CARES Act. and ongoing basic needs resulting from The JCAF does not provide support for the COVID-19 crisis. businesses at this time If you would like to contribute to the Jewish members of the New Mexico Jewish Community Assistance Fund of and Southern Colorado Jewish commu- the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, nity, their immediate family members you can call (505) 821-3214 or go to of all faiths living with them, and those www.jewishnewmexico.org.

This is a public health poster from the National Parks Service, nps.gov. Helping Our Neighbors: Supporting McKinley Mutual Aid The Jewish Federation of New Mexico vot- lo, and vulnerable populations in McKin- ed to approve a $3,000 allocation to McKin- ley County during the Covid-19 pandemic. ley Mutual Aid, an intertribal and interfaith Food boxes are prioritized to families living collaboration of over five nonprofit organi- in uranium contaminated areas, elders and zations, working together to source, package immune-compromised, survivors of violence and deliver food, water, PPE, and hygiene and single parents, immigrants and homeless Delivering a box of food and hygiene supplies in an area contami- nated by uranium. supplies in the Navajo Nation, Zuni Pueb- individuals.