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Jewish Link
Jewish Link
The New
Mexico
Volume 44, Number 10
Published by: The Jewish Federation of New Mexico • New Mexico’s Center for Jewish Philanthropy
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5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE, Alb. NM 87109
Artwork on display at Whole Foods through November by students of the Jewish Academy of
Arts and Sciences about Tikkun Olam. All artwork copyright of the artist. Photo by Diane
J. Schmidt
feeling was titled “Happy
World!”
Another, where you could
see the teacher had helped
a bit with the printing of a
long message the child had
composed, said “We appreciate how nature is beauty,”
and had a tree with arm-like
branches and pools of water
gathering from streams that
ran down from mountain
peaks. All the artwork had
depth, layers of drawing, with
markers and crayon and collage. And it seemed like one
of the children had drawn
themselves at the base of the
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works, about 30 pieces, were
colorful and creative and free,
and then I noticed some of
them had unusual captions,
that I would later learn from
their teacher was completely
of their own writing: “Nature’s
Beauty,” “Love the World,
Take Care of the Earth,” “Respect All Kinds of Nature,
Color is Everything, “ “Make
Peace,” “Peace is your only
Hope”, “Balance the World.”
One that gave me a spinning
TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL
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store near the intersection of
Wyoming Boulevard at Academy Road. I took a sandwich
into the dining area when
something fabulous on the
walls caught my eye. It was a
show of children’s art, and it
was really good. It was beautiful. That innocent joy and energy of children’s art is just a
pleasure to look at.
Picasso was onto something when he told people to
appreciate children’s art. The
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5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE Alb., NM 87109
By Diane J. Schmidt
Link correspondent,
Albuquerque
I found myself driving
around aimlessly in Albuquerque one day asking, “What
should I do with my life?” I’ve
been after that question a lot
lately, so finally I also asked
the universe to give me a clue
— I figured that couldn’t hurt
— and then, while it took a
few twists and turns, I actually
got an answer.
It started when I was in a
parking lot when a woman on
crutches approached from between the cars, and then I saw
she was one-legged. With
just the right amount of anguished tearfulness, she said,
“I’m not a drunk and I’m not
on drugs, the homeless shelter
is full, and I’m just trying to get
enough for a room,” and her
appeal moved me to give her
some money. Whatever her
story, it is just possible to end
up on the streets these days. That opened my heart up
to the suffering around me.
And it caused a fundamental
shift in my question. Now it
was “What can I do to make
the world a better place?”
Anyway, it was about noon, I
was getting hungry and I went
into the Whole Foods grocery
world with sunrays coming
out, or maybe the figure was
See ANSWER on page 2
Showing Character and Courage Under Adversity
Izzy Ezagui: Overcoming Obstacles
Kay Wilson: Terror Survivor Speaks
Mort Lieberman (left) and Izzy Ezagui.
American-born Ezagui made aliyah as
a teenager and joined the Israeli Defense
Forces. Soon after finishing basic training, he lost his left and dominant arm
from a mortar attack on the border with
Gaza. From his first days in the hospital, his goal was to rejoin the army as a
combat soldier. Everyone he spoke to
turned him down, except for one general. Soon, Ezagui was re-learning all of
the tasks of daily living, while still struggling with physical pain and depression.
Eighteen months after the loss of his arm,
he helped save a young woman drowning
in the Mediterranean Sea. At this point,
he realized that he could still make a dif-
ference, and trained until he was able to
re-enlist, learning how to do one-armed
pushups, climb rope, shoot assault rifles,
and pull out grenade pins with his teeth.
In May 2011, President of Israel Shimon
Peres awarded Ezagui the highest honor
that a soldier outside the battlefield can
receive.
On October 9, Izzy Ezagui spoke at
the Southwest Disability Conference to
a packed ballroom of 700. While he has
spoken to thousands of individuals in the
past few years, he had never spoken to a
room full of people who face similar challenges to his own. He was very warmly
received.
from left to right: Rose Davenport, Jen Halpern, Kay Wilson, Sarah Abonyi, and Priscila
Poliana enjoyed a moment of levity after Erev Shabbat dinner.
On October 24, Kay Wilson spoke at
the Aaron David Bram Hillel House about
her experience surviving a brutal terror attack in the forest near Beit Shemesh, Israel
in 2010. She described the murder of her
friend, Kristine Luken, and how she managed to survive a near-beheading, being
stabbed 13 times, and enduring 30 broken
bones. Then she walked over a kilometer
to find help while her hands were bound.
Ultimately, Kay’s actions and detailed descriptions led to the arrest of a terror cell
and conviction of two Palestinian men who
TIME S
PL
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5520 Wyom
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An Answer So Simple, I Couldn’t See It
NO
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P
were jailed for life. She was lauded as a
hero by the Israeli press and also the Shin
Bet.
Kay Wilson came to the campus of the
University of New Mexico to explain the
costs of hatred. Many students felt that the
eloquence of her words were transformative, and the most moving speech they had
ever encountered. Wilson’s trip to New
Mexico was sponsored by the Israel advocacy organization, Stand with Us. She also
speaks on behalf of One Family, an organization which helps Israeli victims of terror.
2 The New Mexico Jewish Link
A Service
of the
Jewish Federation
of
New Mexico
November 2014
ANSWER continued from page 1
an angel, or maybe it was
both.
I had gotten so far away
from that place of appreciation, that I hadn’t remembered anymore what
art is for, and that appreciating beauty actually
makes a difference. The
pictures reached me, and
they reminded me that
beauty and harmony are
indeed how the universe
holds together — and that
is both a scientific and
a spiritual reality. And I
had forgotten that making art, for children, is
such a spontaneous thing
to do. And that disharmony and ugliness appear when things aren’t
working. I tend to get so
caught up in focusing on
what’s wrong in the world
that I’d forgotten so many We Appreciate How Nature is Beauty, artwork by Anique
things that these children‘s artwork suddenly
I called the school and I got to talk
answers.”
reminded me of.
This was artwork by the students of to the teacher, Celeste Boals. ApI looked at the small sign below the Jewish Academy of Arts and Sci- parently the show had just been put
the work. “The children, grades K-5, ences (located next door to the Albu- up an hour before I sat down. Boals
were asked to artistically represent querque Jewish Community Center) said she teaches all the grades at the
how they could make the world a about tikkun olam, which is Hebrew school and that everyone’s piece got
better place. These are their visual for repairing or healing of the world. to be in the show. She said that they
had been working for the last month
on this theme, tikkun olam, which is
a core concept in Judaism — that the
world is broken and we need to repair it, or as she says she likes to say,
heal it. “Since in Judaism we can’t depict
images of God,” she said, “the chil-
The New Mexico
Jewish Historical Society
Fall Conference
November 15-16, 2014
Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque
5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE
Although Jewish history in
New Mexico had its beginnings when it was still a farflung colony of Spain, it has
attracted Jews as diverse as
the German-born merchants
of the 1800s to immigrant and
first generation Jews whose
roots were in Eastern Europe.
They played a significant role
in the commercial, civic, and religious life of Albuquerque in the 20th century,
building businesses and a vital community.
The Jewish Merchants of Albuquerque
Saturday, November 15: 1-8 PM
Welcome and Keynote Speech:
Harvey Buchalter: The Exceptionality of Albuquerque
Session 1 Panel: Merchants of the 1930s-1960s
Session 2 Panel: Commerce: Jewish Merchants and Native Americans
Cocktails and Silent Auction
Buffet Dinner and Live Musical Entertainment
Sunday, November 16: 9 AM-1 PM
Bagel Brunch
Session 3: Film / Discussion: From Peddlers to Merchant Princes:
Early Colorado Jewish Entrepreneurs
Walking Tour of Downtown Jewish Albuquerque
led by author Sharon Niederman
Session 4: Dr. Noel Pugach at the New Mexico Holocaust
and Intolerance Museum
An Outstretched Arm: New Mexico Jewry and the Rescue of German
Jews in the 1930s
Registration: Includes Meals
Member, $105; Non-member, $145 (includes membership)
Contact Ruth Carter
505-348-4471
[email protected]
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society
5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE, Ste. B
Albuquerque, NM 87109
NMJHS is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico
dren
talked
about
how
they can imply
the presence of
God, so some
of the pictures
have rays of
light, and eyes
in the sky, and
angels.
This
idea of tikkun olam is
where we are
always looking at what’s
wrong in the
world
and
what needs to
be fixed, but
really we have
to look in ourselves, in our
hearts,
what
can each of
us do in ourselves, in our
lives, to affect
positive
change in the
world.”
I told her that
the exhibit was
working. It was
a first step for
me, an answer, Be One With the World, artwork by Dylan
the first one I’d
gotten to my
By popular demand, the show will
prayer asking the universe show me stay up at Whole Foods until the end
what to do with my life. There it was of November. — it gave me a little glimpse of what
View the Albuquerque Judaism Exit means to make the world a better aminer online to see more color picplace.
tures of the artwork.
The Privilege of Aging: Interviews
with Exemplars of Proverbs 31
By Tori Lee
Link correspondent, Santa Fe
Patricia Gottlieb Shapiro
presents readers with portraits,
visual and narrative, of twelve
vital women who exemplify
Job 12:20 “With age comes
wisdom, and length of days
brings understanding.” Out of
a number of possible women
to interview, Shapiro selected
these twelve women based on
their answers to the following
survey questions:
• What were three major life
changes and how did you respond to them?
• How did your earlier life
prepare you for older life?
• What impact has your connection to Judaism had
on your life?
As is to be expected, the twelve women have vastly different life journeys, though they all share one
characteristic: resilience. Through lives uprooted by
the Holocaust, or the loss of husband and sometimes
children, cancer and other medical issues, these
women have met the challenge of living tikkun olam
with energy, pragmatic idealism and humor.
One of the women included in this remarkable collection of twelve is Paula Amar Schwartz of Congregation Albert in Albuquerque, familiar to Link readers
from the profile of her in the December 2013 issue.
Dr. Schwartz leads meditation Shabbat services at
Congregation Albert, and was one of the first clinical
psychologists to integrate biofeedback into her clinical practice. As with Dr. Schwartz, the characteristics
of curiosity and risk taking are shared by many of the
women portrayed, as are the cultivation of a supportive social network and a feeling of gratitude for the
quality of their lives despite the inevitable challenges
and loses of all types associated with aging.
Link readers may also know Bernice Levy Klein
who has lived in Las Cruces since the late 1940s.
Mrs. Klein’s philosophy is to live each day as if it will
be a good one (p.68) and be grateful for that day on
that day. Mrs. Klein does not consider herself “old.”
Like so many of the women interviewed, Mrs. Klein
makes distinctions amongst mental age, body age
and chronological age. Whatever
one’s age, she advises women to
stay involved in and optimistic
about their lives.
The doyenne amongst the
women in the book is Elizabeth
Norman, who recently moved
into a retirement community at
age 101, not because she needed
to but so her sons would not worry so much. She continues to read
major newspapers so she can discuss events with her grandchildren, and regularly attends exercise classes and continuing education programs because, in her
words, “I want to be the smartest
girl in the cemetery.”(p.78)
The advice to stay engaged in
life, specifically and generally, is
echoed by Joan Lorch Staple, age 90, who believes a
positive attitude correlates to a positive quality of life.
Controlling aspects of one’s life in the present prepares a woman to be able to be in more control in her
80s and 90s. Born in Germany in 1923, Mrs. Staple
was a victim of the anti-Jewish policies of the Nazis.
Her family escaped to England where she earned a
degree in physiology, married a British Air Force dentist, and eventually moved to Birmingham, Alabama.
There Mrs. Staple experienced the power of the Ku
Klux Klan. This motivated her life-long involvement
in social justice activities.
All of the women portrayed maintain some connection with Judaism, usually in terms of tikkun
olam. Adaire Joy Klein, 81, prays Aleinu three times
daily and works to insure a Holocaust cannot happen
again (p.93). Nona Chern, age 91, devised her own
social studies curriculum to teach tolerance to her 6th
grade Philadelphia public school students (p.41). Holocaust survivor Sara/Hannah Rigler, age 84, works
as a volunteer at the Jewish Heritage Museum in New
York City. Estelle Bloom, age 90, is still committed to
social justice activities. “It’s not the years but what
you do with the long life that counts” (p.62). Each
of these women merits the honor of being called a
“virtuous woman” extolled in Proverbs 31.
Patricia Gottlieb Shapiro, The Privilege of Aging:
Portraits of Twelve Jewish Women (Santa Fe: Gaon
Books, 2013).
November 2014
A Service of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico
The New Mexico Jewish Link 3
an evening with
at the JCC on December 6, 2014

7:30 p.m.
5520 Wyoming Boulevard NE Albuquerque NM 87109
Legendary humorist, writer and musician Kinky Freidman will deliver an evening of
song, social commentary and irreverence at the Jewish Community Center of Greater
Albuquerque on Saturday, December 6, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.
All proceeds from this event, which is presented by the Jewish Community Center
and Jewish Federation of New Mexico, will benet the JCC’s Jewish Arts and Culture
program and the Jewish Federation’s 2015 Annual Campaign.
Tickets are $36.00 each and are available at www.brownpapertickets.com.
For more information call (505) 821-3214.
JEWISH FEDERATION
OF NEW MEXICO
New Mexico’s Center for Jewish Philanthropy
4 The New Mexico Jewish Link
A Service
of the
Jewish Federation
of
New Mexico
November 2014
OPINION
Op-Ed: What the Freundel Scandal Says about Orthodoxy
By Elana Sztokman
MODIIN, Israel (JTA) — With
the news that Rabbi Barry Freundel, a prominent Orthodox rabbi,
has been arrested for peeping at the
naked bodies of his female congregants through a secret camera in the
mikvah, or Jewish ritual bath, many
disturbing questions are being raised
about the implications of his suspected transgressions: Does it matter
that Freundel is an Orthodox rabbi?
Is he just a regular (alleged) creepy
pervert? Or did his position of power
— and the culture surrounding it —
contribute to the acts of which he
stands accused?
On the one hand, there are some
really lovely and good-hearted
Orthodox rabbis who have nothing
to do with Freundel and abhor the
entire story; they do not deserve to
Did Rabbi Barry Freundel’s position of power — and the culture surrounding it — contribute to the acts of
be demonized by association. One
which
he stands accused?
bad apple — or rabbi, as it may be
– shouldn’t spoil the whole basket.
Furthermore, there are sex offenders intricate rules about their bodies that picions about the status of women in Israeli filmmaker Nurit Jacobs Yinon,
in pretty much every culture, religion, have been determined by men. Jewish Orthodoxy: that the all-male rabbini- painfully demonstrates how the
ethnic group and social class. Vio- women traditionally use the mikvah cal clubs support their own members experiences of female converts in
lence against women is ubiquitous, to immerse — fully nude — follow- in their efforts to control women’s the mikvah violate their most basic
unfortunately, so perhaps the particu- ing menstruation or during conver- bodies all the time. Freundel, after dignity. Three male rabbis watch
lars of the offender’s social context are sion, and in some cases to mark sig- all, is suspected of using his authority every woman dunk in the water, as
nificant life events. The practice of to grab what he wanted from unsus- she is naked except for a robe or sheet
not relevant.
separating her skin from the rabbis’
On the other hand, one cannot ritual immersion is usually overseen pecting women.
Moreover, Freundel may have tar- eyes. Some rabbis interviewed in the
help but notice the multiple layers by female attendants, except in the
of power, authority and gender hier- case of Orthodox conversion, when geted female converts — the subset of film — including the Israeli modern
archy involved in this story. After all, three male rabbis also must be present mikvah-goers who are most at risk of Orthodox rabbis David Stav and Beni
abuse. These very women often do not Lau — admit that this practice is
the scene of the alleged crimes was to give approval.
If the allegations against Freundel have enough security in their social humiliating for women, but describe
a mikvah, where women are naked,
exposed and reliant on a system of are true, they confirm the worst sus- position or Jewish knowledge to ques- their own helplessness in changing
tion the strange demands made by the practice.
rabbis in the shower room. Thus the
Meanwhile, there are reports that
scandal raises disturbing questions Freundel took advantage of these
about the social structures that give women in other ways as well. The
men like Freundel unfettered power rabbi reportedly created his own
over Orthodox conversion. (Freudel “rules” for converting women that
Jewish Community Foundation of NM (JCF)
Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
himself has been extremely active on now seem to be nothing more than
5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE
P.O. Box 21639, ABQ, NM 87154
the conversion issue in recent years, a smokescreen to allow him to watch
contact: Erika Rimson 505-821-3214
Phone: 823-2712
maintaining control of the Rabbini- them undress. The women complied
website: www.jcfnm.org
fax: 823-0887
cal Council of America’s Conversion because that is how the entire converCommittee and speaking widely as an sion system operates. Women who
David Specter Shalom House
The DVora Project
expert on conversion.)
wish to be Jewish must oblige the
5500 Wyoming Blvd. NE
Shedding light on domestic violence
The award-winning film “A Tale rabbis overseeing their conversion.
of a Woman and a Robe,” by the Some female converts who spoke
building manager, 823-1433
For help, call Diane at 362-3361,
Jewish Organizations
or 1-800-773-3645 (The S.A.F.E.
House 24 hour hotline and shelter).
Sponsored by JFNM.
Hadassah of Greater Albuquerque
Contact Doris Taylor, 867-5043
www.albuquerque.hadassah.org
Hillel at UNM
Aaron David Bram Hillel House
1701 Sigma Chi NE, ABQ, NM 87106,
Dr. Sara Koplik, director, 242-1127
Holocaust & Intolerance Museum of New
Mexico
616 Central Ave. SW
Lyn Berner, 247-0606
Jewish Academy of Arts & Sciences
5520-A Wyoming Blvd. NE,
232-2325
Jewish Arts and Culture Group of Santa Fe
c/o Lee Berk
3101 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505
505-988-1326, [email protected]
Jewish Community Center
5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE, 332-0565
Jewish Community
Relations Council
c/o JFNM
5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE 821-3214
Jewish Education Alliance
232-2325
Social Services
823-1434
Jewish Federation of New Mexico
(JFNM)
5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE 821-3214
Executive Director: Sam Sokolove
Jewish War Veterans (JWV)
ABQ Steve Schiff Post 375:Cmdr.,
Max Little, 298-2652
Rio Rancho Post Cmdr.,
Edward Cohen, 891-1742
J-Street
Santa Fe: Lia Lynn Rosen
(505) 428-0668
[email protected]
Albuquerque: Malcolm Siegel,
(505) 688-3716
[email protected]
Orthodox Yeshiva Leader Arguing for Greater
Privacy in Women’s Conversions
(JTA) — In the wake of voyeurism allegations against a prominent Orthodox rabbi, the head of
an Orthodox yeshiva for women is
arguing that male rabbis need not be
present for a female convert’s ritual
immersion.
Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, the rosh yeshiva
of Yeshivat Maharat in New York, is
preparing a teshuvah, or Jewish legal
opinion, saying that Jewish law does
not require a male rabbi to be in
the room of the ritual bath, or even
for the door to be ajar, to witness
the immersion of a female convert.
Fox expects to publish the teshuvah
quickly through Yeshivat Maharat,
which focuses on training and ordaining women as Orthodox clergy.
The issue of privacy for female converts has taken on new urgency in the
wake of allegations that Rabbi Barry
Freundel, a high-profile Washington
rabbi, used hidden cameras to watch
female conversion candidates as they
immersed themselves in the mikvah.
Fox said that he and others at Yeshivat Maharat would also push to give
highly trained women a greater role
in preparing and shepherding women
through the conversion process rather
than leaving such preparation as the
sole province of male rabbis.
While steering clear of the spe-
Zionist Organization
of America ZOA NM
P.O. Box 3963,
Albuquerque, NM 87190
contact: Lynn Provencio 505-340-6675
email: [email protected],
Website: http://zoanm.org
cific allegations against Freundel,
Fox said that the accusations in the
case highlight the unequal power
dynamic between men and women
in many areas of Jewish ritual and the
potential for abuse raised by those
imbalances.
“A power hierarchy exists,” Fox
told JTA. “Our goal is to shift that
hierarchy.”
Officials from Yeshivat Maharat and
its sister institution Yeshivat Chovevei
Torah, a seminary to ordain male
rabbis, hosted a community meeting
on October 30 to discuss “protecting
sacred spaces, clergy boundaries and
rabbinic authority.”
“The Link is a community newspaper, published as a service by the Jewish Federation of
New Mexico, that focuses on Jewish life in New Mexico. It is committed to seeing Jewish
life thrive.” — Since 1971
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society
5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE, 348-4471
ORT Organization for Rehabilitation and
Training and also PJ Library
Betty Harvie, 344-1644
with JTA said they were also asked
to perform clerical work for the rabbi
without pay.
There are reasons for women to be
afraid of the rabbis who sponsor their
conversions. Look at how Orthodox
rabbis deal with the sex offenders in
their midst. Even when men are convicted of crimes, there always seem to
be some rabbis who inexplicably rush
to the side of the perpetrator.
Rabbi Motti Elon, who was convicted by the Israeli courts of molesting boys in his yeshiva, has been
embraced with open arms by many
Orthodox communities inviting him
to teach. Think about his poor family,
cry some rabbis, ignoring the pain of
the actual victims.
Similarly, Baruch Lebovits, a cantor
who was convicted of some deeply
disturbing sexual offenses, was supported continuously by some Orthodox leaders. We have yet to see
how American Orthodox rabbis will
respond to Freundel’s arrest, but I
would bet that the rabbi will yet find
some loyal friends among his peers.
So did Orthodoxy make Freundel
a sex offender? Not directly. But it
enabled him. Orthodoxy creates an
awfully comfortable place for men
with sexist and misogynistic predilections and is built around a tight posse
of men willing to support each other
no matter what the crime.
The cultural norms of Orthodoxy
systematically empower men and disempower women — and encourage
everyone to accept that imbalance
as normal. If the Orthodox community wants to truly be a sacred, Torah
community, one in which awful sex
crimes do not fester, these gender
norms and hierarchies must be radically changed.
Dr. Elana Maryles Sztokman is
an award-winning author of, most
recently, “The War on Women in
Israel: A story of religious radicalism
and the women fighting for freedom,”
as well as an educator, researcher and
feminist activist. She blogs at JewFem.
com.
Publisher: Link Staff: Contributors:
Jewish Federation of
New Mexico (JFNM), 821-3214
Sara Koplik, Ph.D.,
Sam Sokolove
Tori Lee, Phyllis Wolf, Mary-Ellin Brooks, and Diane J. Schmidt
Production: Christine Carter,
Envision Graphics
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Address: The New Mexico Jewish Link
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November 2014
A Service of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico
The New Mexico Jewish Link 5
OPINION
A Jewish Priority: Protecting LGBT Communities Around the World
By Rabbi Steven Greenberg
Senior Teaching Fellow, CLAL
When I was a young man, still in
the closet, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein,
one of the most prolific authorities
on Jewish law of the 20th century, described gay people as rebels against
God. Grossly misinformed about
the phenomenon, Rabbi Feinstein
posited that homosexuals were possessed of a demonic urge to destroy
civilization. Ten years later, the characterization of homosexual desire in Orthodox Judaism moved from a portrayal
of vicious evil to a serious, but ordinary sin. Later, the language shifted
from active sinfulness to sickness, as
putative reparative therapies claimed
to offer cures to what was deemed a
mental illness.
Recently, a majority of Orthodox rabbis have rejected these bogus therapeutic claims and some are
beginning to describe homosexuality
“as simply a part of the human condition.”
The arc described above is a
piece of a larger American story, and
it is still in motion. There is much
work to do in my own community
to move more Orthodox leaders to
this last and most realistic portrayal
of sexual orientation. Eshel, an organization I helped to found four years
ago, is working to encourage Orthodox leaders to take responsibility
for the well-being of LGBT young
people in their communities and
schools, to offer them what every
young person needs most, a secure
sense of self-worth and hope for a
good future.
However, while we continue
to press for greater understanding
and acceptance for LGBT people
here in America, many of the LGBT
people living across the globe are
untouched by the last fifty years of
social progress. Same-sex loving
people who live in traditional communities in Africa, India and Asia are
still commonly perceived by powerful religious and political leaders as
demonic, corrosive threats to their
respective societies and face devastating, if not deadly, threats.
Tens of thousands of people
are actively intimidated, humiliated,
brutally assaulted and even killed by
family members, peers and, in many
cases, by police and other govern-
ment officials—simply because of
who they are or whom they love. In
77 countries, people can be arrested
for having sex with someone of the
same gender. In five of those countries, a person can be put to death
for being lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender.
Last February, Ugandan President Museveni signed into law the
Anti-Homosexuality Act, which
punishes same-sex sexual behavior with life in prison and makes it
illegal for organizations to provide
services like health care to LGBT
people or promote their human
rights. On June 30 this year, Russian
President Vladimir Putin signed into
law a bill banning the “propaganda
of nontraditional sexual relations to
minors,” thus opening a new, dark
chapter in the history of gay rights in
Russia.
All of this feels disturbingly familiar. In the summer of 1935 in
Germany the Third Reich’s Ministry
of Justice revised and strengthened
Paragraph 175, a provision of the
German criminal code established
in 1861 that punished homosexuality. Months later, on September 15,
1935, new laws were instituted at a
party rally in Nuremberg. The Nazis
revoked Reich citizenship for Jews
and carried pernicious racial theories into law. Just shy of 80 years ago, Nazis
began what would be their systematic persecution and selective extermination of homosexuals along with
their murderous war on the Jews by
carrying into law portrayals of both
Jews and homosexuals as demonic
threats to the German people. The policies of Uganda and Russia and 75 other countries all over
the world that criminalize homosexuality are treading this path of
demonization of difference and enshrining it into law. The Jewish community bears a covenantal duty to
God and to the memory of millions
not to stand idly by the degradation
of our fellows. As proud Americans
we are called to global leadership on
the human rights issues of our day.
The urgency of this moment
presses upon me, not only as a Jewish American, but as a child of a
Holocaust survivor. My mother and
aunt were among the 1,300 hidden
children who were saved by ordinary French citizens and brave resis-
tance workers—people who risked
their lives daily for an Abrahamic
ethic of welcome and a biblical notion of human value and dignity. I and all the children and grandchildren of those 1,300 saved souls
can no longer thank the many resistance workers in France who risked
life and limb for our families, but we
can support the brave human rights
workers today in Uganda and Russia and around the world, who are
working to turn around pernicious
laws and to change the cultures
where they live. We can champion the courageous justice workers, from Kampala to Cairo, and from Mombasa to
Moscow, who often risk their lives
to fight the cultural and institutional
forms of bigotry that continue to
plague the world today. Presently,
there is no high level U.S. diplomat
whose job is to coordinate global
efforts to defend the rights of LGBT
people.
I feel very proud that a few
months ago, my Senator, Edward
Markey of Massachusetts, took on
this challenge. He introduced a
new bill in the Senate that aims to
promote LGBT rights around the
world. Several weeks later it was introduced in the House of Representatives. If it passes, the International
Human Rights Defense Act will
make preventing and responding to
discrimination and violence against
the LGBT community a foreign policy priority, and will ensure that our
government devises a global strategy to achieve those goals. It will
also create the permanent position
of a “Special Envoy for the Human
Rights of LGBT People” in the State
Department.
We all are aware of the challenges of the present Congress.
While the bill was introduced with
support on both sides of the aisle
in the House, it does not yet have
bipartisan support in the Senate,
and so it faces a steep uphill battle
on the Hill. I urge all Americans to
press their members of Congress to
support this bill and I urge the Jewish community to join American
Jewish World Service’s We Believe
campaign, which is fighting for this
and other legislation that promotes
the rights of women, girls and LGBT
people in the developing world. In the meantime, President
Obama can put a vital aspect of this
bill into action immediately by appointing a Special Envoy for LGBT
rights in the State Department. The
Obama administration has a legacy
of leadership on this issue—and
now has an opportunity to provide
high-level diplomatic attention to a
situation that unfortunately appears
to be worsening in much of the developing world. I am calling on President Obama
to insure that the U.S. leads global efforts to promote the rights of sexual
minorities and to end the deadly demonization of LGBT people in much
of the developing world. With the
President’s continued leadership on
this issue, we can make America a
beacon of light and hope for LGBT
people worldwide. Rabbi Steven Greenberg is a
Senior Teaching Fellow at CLAL, codirector of Eshel, an Orthodox LGBT
community support and education
organization and serves on the faculty of the Shalom Hartman Institute
of North America. He lives in Boston with his partner Steven Goldstein and daughter Amalia. Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico’s
2014-2015 Scholarship Program
Support for Jewish young people in the Albuquerque area is available as follows:
$500 scholarship toward a visit to Israel – Israel Experience Fund
4 Application deadlines: March 1, June 1, Sept. 1, Dec. 1; awards made 30 days later
$500 scholarship toward summer camp – Galit Mares Memorial Scholarship Fund
$500 scholarship toward summer camp – Irving and Hertha Auerbach Fund
for Jewish Identity
Apply between Feb. 1 & May 1, award made June 1
Support for young people, Jewish or non-Jewish, in the Albuquerque area is available as follows:
$1,000 scholarship toward college tuition – Neil Isbin Scholarship Fund
Apply by May 1, award made June 1
For information on eligibility requirements and application forms visit www.jcfnm.org or
contact Erika Rimson, Executive Director, at [email protected] or 505/348-4472.
6 The New Mexico Jewish Link
U
A Service
Chrys Page, Tina Panaro and pianist
Todd Lowry are rehearsing some
standards and show tunes, with a
few surprise twists, and can’t wait to
entertain the audience at the J again.
Doors will open at 7:00 pm and
there will be one short intermission
between the acts. Prices are $20 for
general admission, $30 for (limited)
premium seating, and $18 for JCC
and TLC members. $25 will be
charged at the door for general seating. Refreshments will be served
including ‘bubbly’ for a New Year’s
toast. For more information visit jccabq.org or call 348-4500.
America and Israel: The Way Forward – a
92nd St. Y Live by Satellite Program
On Thursday, December 4 from
6:15-7:45 pm at the JCC, 5520 Wyoming Boulevard NE, a provocative
conversation about the current situation in Israel will be the topic of the
final Fall 92nd St. Y Live program.
The experts will be Dalia Rabin,
who serves as the chairperson of the
Yitzhak Rabin Center and Ambassador Dennis Ross, counselor and William Davidson distinguished fellow at
the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy. He served two years as special
Jewish Federation
p c o m i n g
Celebrate New Year’s Eve a
Little Early This Year
You are invited to celebrate the
coming new year without risking
your life on the roads. Saturday
evening, December 27, 7:30 pm at
the JCC, 5520 Wyoming Boulevard
NE, the UpStaged Cabaret Singers will perform a new production
titled “Un-New Years Eve - Accentuate the Positive.” Songs and
schtick sourced from Broadway,
winter melodies, and heartwarming
celebratory tunes will be upbeat,
sentimental and look forward to the
new year, accentuating the positive
– you get the idea. Jackie Bregman, William Dudeck,
of the
assistant to President Obama and a
year as special advisor to Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ethan
Bronner, who will moderate, is the
national legal affairs correspondent
for the New York Times, having previously headed up their Israel bureau.
The cost of $8 advance or $10 at
the door will include light refreshments will be served. Reserve your
place at jccabq.org or contact Phyllis
Wolf, 505.348.4500, [email protected].
of
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New Mexico
November 2014
v e n t s
Remembering Lives Shattered for the
76th Anniversary of Kristallnacht
In
commemoration of the 76th
anniversary
of
Kristallnacht, the
Holocaust and Intolerance Museum
of New Mexico
will host a special
event, entitled “Anti-Semitism: Then
and Now,” on November 9 at 2:00
p.m. at Congregation Albert, located at 3800 Louisiana Blvd NE. The
event pays tribute to the countless
lives destroyed during the infamous
‘Night of Broken Glass’ in Nazi Germany during WWII.
Experts and speakers will be on
hand leading discussions and Q&A
sessions including keynote speaker
Lecia Brooks from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Holocaust survivors Frank Hess and Werner Gellert,
Lecia Brooks
Bonnie Weinstein from the Military
Religious Freedom Foundation,and
Jerry Small of the Holocaust and Intolerance Museum of New Mexico.
Music and a reception will also be
provided. The public is welcome.
Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken
Glass, was a series of coordinated
attacks against Jews throughout Nazi
Germany and Austria on Nov. 9-10,
in 1938, carried out by SA paramilitary forces and non-Jewish civilians.
The name Kristallnacht comes from
the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned
stores, buildings, and synagogues
had their windows smashed. At least
91 Jews were killed in the attacks,
and 30,000 were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.
Over 1,000 synagogues were burned
and about 7,000 Jewish businesses
were destroyed.
Much ‘Ballyhoo’ as School Principal
Takes the Director’s Chair
By Mary-Ellin Brooks
Steve Barberio is taking a detour,
from the chair he occupies in his office at the Jewish Academy of Arts
and Sciences to the director’s chair
with Mother Road Theatre Company. This December, he is making
his directorial debut in New Mexico,
leading Mother Road’s production of
The Last Night of Ballyhoo, by Alfred
Uhry.
But this isn’t really a detour. Barberio is returning to his professional
roots. His theatre credits include
producing more than 140 plays and
musicals, and directing nearly 100,
mainly in his native Minneapolis.
Barberio’s extensive background in
the non-profit sector, as an organization leader and consultant, led to his
appointment as head of school at the
Jewish Academy.
Barberio first became involved
with Mother Road in 2012, when he
was invited to facilitate a planning
session for the group. He was later
asked to join the board of directors,
and currently serves as its chair.
He was very much aware of
Uhry’s play, saying, “Julia Thudium, the artistic director [of Mother
Road], selected the play, which I
had known about but never read. It
won the Tony Award for Best Play
and was a Pulitzer finalist in 1997,
so I was very much aware of it. After
reading it, I offered to direct and Julia accepted.”
American playwright Alfred Uhry
is one of few writers to receive an
Academy Award, Tony Award, and
the Pulitzer Prize, among his numerous honors. The Last Night of
Ballyhoo, the second play in Alfred
Uhry’s “Atlanta Trilogy,” premiered
in 1996. It was preceded by 1987’s
Driving Miss Daisy, (well-known
thanks to Uhry’s Academy Award-
Steve Barberio
winning film adaptation starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman),
and followed by the 1998 musical,
Parade.
The Last Night of Ballyhoo is set
in December 1939 in Atlanta, Georgia. Gone with the Wind is having its world premiere, and Hitler
is invading Poland, but many of
Atlanta’s German Jews are much
more concerned with who is going
to Ballyhoo, the social event of the
season. The story centers around the
Freitag family, and as events take
various unexpected turns, the family
is pulled apart and then mended together with plenty of romance, revelations, and comedy along the way.
Though being a head of school or
a theatre director both require strong
leadership abilities and a deep commitment, the jobs have some distinct
differences. Barberio explains:
“The role of a director is to lead
a company of artists and technicians
toward a common goal, a single purpose: to get a show up and ready for
opening in just five weeks. It’s a relatively short-term assignment with a
time-limited obligation. This is really
nothing like being the head of an
institution like the Jewish Academy,
which carries with it long-range
goals related to the development of
young people. If anything, my job as
head of school is not dissimilar from
the role of the artistic director of a
theatre company, a position I held
for over 20 years. The similarities are
limited, but the role of leadership is
the same, with an eye on the longterm outcomes of the company.”
The Jewish Academy is ramping
up its efforts to recruit students for
the 2015-16 school year, an ongoing
project that will run between now
and the end of the current school
year. The school’s admissions team
is reaching out to families at preschools throughout Albuquerque,
particularly those whose children attend preschool at Congregation Albert, Congregation B’nai Israel, and
the JCC’s Family Enrichment Center.
Along the way, Barberio is enjoying opportunities to apply his talents
both within the Jewish Academy and
in his old home, the theatre.
“I come from a place with an incredibly vibrant arts community,
and am thrilled to be a part of the
theatre community here in Albuquerque. I feel like we have an excellent cast, and I’m working with a
new set designer and an outstanding
production team.”
Mother Road Theatre Company’s
production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo will run December 5-28, 2014
at the Tricklock Performance Laboratory, located at 110 Gold Avenue
SW in Albuquerque. For details and
tickets, please visit www.motherroad.org.
By Mary-Ellin Brooks, Community
Relations Coordinator at the Jewish Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Visit our website, www.jewishacademynm.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
2015 A Taste of Honey: Community Day of Jewish Learning –
Last Call for Course Proposals
by Phyllis Wolf
The twelfth annual “A Taste of Honey” (ATOH) is
scheduled for Sunday, February 1, 2015, and planning is underway. The purpose of ATOH is to bring
together local Jewish scholars, clergy, lay people
and the community to explore a rich array of issues
and topics pertaining to the physical, spiritual, intellectual, historic and artistic/cultural realms of Jewish
life. The diverse topics will be explored in two sets of
mini-courses following an opening session.
Gary Rosenblatt, editor and publisher of the Jew-
ish Week of New York, author of Between the Lines,
Reflections on the American Jewish Experience will
be the event’s keynote speaker. Rosenblatt is often
described as ‘the dean of Jewish journalism’ for his
award-winning writing and reporting over a span of
four decades.
Course proposals will be accepted until November
15. A pdf may be downloaded from the JCC website
www.jccabq.org and should be emailed to phyllisw@
jccabq.org. The steering committee will review proposals in early December and presenters will be notified shortly thereafter.
November 2014
A Service of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico
U
p c o m i n g
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The New Mexico Jewish Link 7
v e n t s
Building Businesses and a Community: Jewish
Historical Society’s Annual Conference
Did you know Albuquerque’s
first two mayors were Jewish? That
a congregant of Temple Albert pioneered the popularization of Indian
wares for the Fred Harvey Company
brunch, a film of Jewish merchant
settlement in the West, wrap-up discussion and a first-ever walking tour
of Jewish Downtown led by author
Sharon Niederman. The tour will begin at Hotel Andaluz end at the New
Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance
Museum, 616 Central Ave. SW with
Dr. Noel Harvey Pugach’s presentation on Holocaust survivors rescued
by New Mexicans.
To register, please contact 505348-4471. Members $125; nonmembers $145. Lodging is available at $79 per night at Hilton Garden Inn, 5320 San Antonio Blvd.
NE; (505) 314-0800.
The NMJHS is a secular organization that welcomes all interested in
learning about Jewish contributions
to New Mexico history. Learn more
at www.nmjewishhistory.org.
at the Alvarado Hotel? That Sen.
Pete Dominici’s national career was
launched in a downtown Jewish deli
at the Hilton Hotel?
The New Mexico Jewish Historical
Maisel Trading Post, photo courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum photo archive.
Sunshine Building, photo courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum photo archive.
Society will hold its annual conference, “The Jews of Albuquerque: Building Businesses and a Community,” where you can find the answers
to these questions and immerse in
the nostalgia of old Albuquerque,
will take place on the weekend of
November 15-16 at the Greater
Albuquerque Jewish Community
Center, 5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE,
Albuquerque. Beginning at 1 pm on
November 15, the conference will
feature discussions of merchant families who emigrated to Albuquerque
and environs from 1930-1950.
Keynote speaker, Yiddish scholar
and historian Harvey Buchalter investigates “Why Albuquerque?”
examining the migration of urban
American and European Jews who
put down roots in the desert southwest. Subsequently, a panel of descendants of these original merchant
families will discuss their family businesses and reminisce about
growing up in Albuquerque. Another
panel of descendants will focus on
Jewish Indian arts merchants of the
era. Cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner and entertainment will
follow.
Sunday’s program will include
Keshet Center for the Arts Brings L.A.
Dancers to Albuquerque
Keshet Center for the Arts will host BODYTRAFFIC November 11 – 12, 2014. This is a
non-profit repertory dance company that lives,
breathes, and thrives in Los Angeles.
Keshet Founder and Artistic Director Shira
Greenberg says, “The Keshet Center for the Arts
will continue to partner with high caliber contemporary dancers from around the country and
the world. We are excited to host BODYTRAFFIC
and bring their art to the audiences of Albuquerque.”
On Tuesday, November 11 and Wednesday,
November 12, the company will conduct open
countertechnique master classes from 11- 2 pm
at Keshet Center for the Arts. To register for classes, call (505) 224-9808.
Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. BODYTRAFFIC will
present a public performance including: “And at
midnight, the green bride floated through the village square” by Barak Marshall; “Untitled” a new
work by Victor Quijada and “o2Joy” by Richard
Siegal, founder and artistic director of The Bakery Paris–Berlin. For tickets visit www.brownpapertickets.com. General admission $20, and for
students and seniors $15.
Choreographer Barak Marshall explains, “And
at midnight, the green bride floated through the
village square... is based in part on a true story
about a family of eight sisters and one brother
who were neighbors of my mother’s family in
Aden, Yemen. The house they lived in became
known as “The Burning House” because of the
fighting, screaming and cursing that was heard
from it at all hours of the day and night. It is a
morality tale filled with dark humor that tells the
story of how jealousy doomed all nine of the
family’s children to a life filled with rage, unhappiness, and loneliness. The soundtrack is comprised primarily of Jewish love songs and hymns
from the Yiddish, Ladino and Yemenite traditions.”
Untitled was commissioned through a National
Dance Project production grant. Victor Quijada’s
work is known for eloquently re-imagining, de-
A scene from BODYTRAFFIC’s o2Joy.
constructing, applying choreographic principles
to hip-hop ideology, and examining humanity
through a unique fusion of aesthetics.
An exuberant homage to American jazz standards, set to music by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Glenn Miller, and The Oscar Peterson Trio,
o2Joy is, as its title suggests, an expression of
sheer joy through music and movement.
In 2012, Keshet launched the Ideas and Innovation Center to support New Mexico arts entrepreneurs through multiple tracks of programming. In August 2013, Keshet Dance Company
formally opened the Keshet Center for the Arts,
located at 4121 Cutler Ave NE, home to Keshet
Dance Company and the largest venue focused
on professional contemporary dance in the
Southwest. Keshet Dance Company is honored
to be a recipient of funding from the Jewish Federation of New Mexico.
BODYTRAFFIC Performance:
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2014 at 7:00pm
Keshet Center for the Arts – 4121 Cutler Ave
NE, ABQ, NM 87110
Tickets: $20 general admission; $15 students/
seniors; available at brownpapertickets.com and
at the door
Countertechnique and BODYTRAFFIC Repertory Master Classes
Tuesday, Nov 11 and Wednesday, Nov 12,
11:00am-2:00 pm both days
Keshet Center for the Arts – 4121 Cutler Ave
NE, ABQ, NM 87110
Class Fee: $15 per day or $25 for both days
For more information on either event: 505224-9808, [email protected], www.keshetdance.org
The wearable carry-on
Scottevest!
$
135
18+ pockets
now RFID!
For men and women,
assorted colors
8 The New Mexico Jewish Link
A Service
of the
Jewish Federation
of
New Mexico
In Remembrance: Dedication of Enlarged
Jewish Cemetery Section in Santa Fe
By Tori Lee
Link correspondent, Santa Fe
Bimkom kever (“in place of the
grave”) now holds a new meaning
for members of the Santa Fe Jewish community due to the recent
improvements at the Shalom Jewish
section of the Rivera Family Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Santa Fe.
Jews now have the opportunity to
purchase a remembrance plaque to
memorialize Jewish relatives, departed Jewish friends and beloved deceased members of the Jewish community, both local and national, who
are buried in remote locations or
for whom there is no grave. The remembrance plaques are made of the
same stone as is the wall demarcating the enlarged Jewish section. The
stone used is as close to the stones of
the walls of Jerusalem as is possible
to obtain in New Mexico.
The northern New Mexico Jewish
community met together on the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur to support one another
as the first set of plaques was dedicated. With a grant from the Jewish
Federation of New Mexico, and due
to the enormous efforts and dedication of Doris Francis, the Chevra
Kadisha of Northern New Mexico
combined with the Jewish Community Council of Northern New
Mexico to sponsor the dedication
ceremony. Those sponsoring the first
set of plaques were given the opportunity to say a few words about the
people memorialized on the plaques
and place a small stone on top the
plaques where they jut out from the
wall. Judging by the many tears shed,
the bimkom kever project provides
much appreciated support to people
remembering those they have lost.
All five Santa Fe rabbis participated including the two rabbinic
newcomers, as did two cantors.
The gathering, though poignant,
was not without a humorous moment. Chabad Rabbi Berel Levertov
offered opening remarks. He stated
he wanted to wish Ms. Francis much
success in her cemetery expansion
efforts but…not too soon. Rabbi
Levertov spoke about the Jewish
Rabbi Drucker, Rabbi Amswych, Hazzan Freedman, Rabbi Levy and Cantor
Linder at the conclusion of the remembrance plaques dedication ceremony.
burial concept of returning the soul
to its source by returning the body
to the earth with its physical integrity intact. At the future resurrection
those bodies will be reformed from
the earth in which they have been
interred, He read a brief prayer reciting by those visiting a cemetery.
Rabbi Malka Drucker of HaMakom quoted rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel, who called a cemetery a
beit olamin, where the two worlds
meet in silent embrace. While the
physical body may return to the dust
from which humans are formed, the
soul belongs to God. Rabbi Martin
Levy of Congregation Beit Tikva read
a poem “Each of Us Has a Name,”
for which he invited participants to
remember the soul and the good
deeds of deceased loved ones. He
reminded participants that “though
we are mortal, God thinks of us.”
Rabbi Neil Amswych of Temple
Beth Shalom sung Psalm 121 very
evocatively in Hebrew: “We life up
our eyes to the hills… The God who
keeps Israel will neither slumber nor
sleep.” He reminded participants that
those who mourn will eventually life
up their eyes. Love is in fact stronger
than death. Rabbi Ron Wittenstein of
Kol BeRamah invited participants to
share the names of those in whose
name the prayer El Male Rachamim
would be recited.
God full of mercy who dwells
on high
Grant perfect rest on the
wings of Your Divine Presence
In the lofty heights of the
holy and pure
who shine as the brightness of
the heavens
to the soul of ....... who has
gone to eternal rest
Hazzan Cindy Freedman of HaMakom chanted Psalm 23 “The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
Cantor Michael Linder of Congregation Beit Tikva chanted Pslam 16, including verses 9-11:
“Therefore my heart is glad and
my soul rejoices; my body also
dwells secure. For You do not give
me up to Sheol. Or let the godly see
the Pit. You show me the path of life,
in your presence is fullness of joy, in
Your right hand are pleasures evermore.”
Inquiries regarding cemetery plot
availability, pricing and future upgrades to the expanded Shalom
Jewish cemetery section should be
directed to Doris Francis via email:
[email protected].
B’nai Israel Students Help Stop the Sirens
Rabbi
Arthur
Flicker and students
at
Congregation
B’nai Israel in Albuquerque present
Jewish Federation
of New Mexico Executive
Director
Sam Sokolove with
a check in support
of Stop the Sirens,
a community-wide
campaign responding to urgent needs
in Israel. The funds
were raised through
the sale of challot.
David Rosenstein: Zikrono L’vracha
David Rosenstein,
age 77, died October 12, 2014. He is
survived by his wife
of 52 years, Marcia; his children,
Joel Rosenstein and
Leah Johnson and
her husband Shane;
grandchildren, Forrest, Hunter and
Nick; brother, Noah
Rosenstein and wife
Mary Helen; brother-in-law, Alan
Barry Goldman and many other
family and friends. Born in New
York and moved to Albuquerque
in 1992, he was very active in
both the New York and Albuquerque communities. Mr. Rosenstein
was a teacher and administrator
“Season five of the Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival opens on Saturday
evening November 8 with three critically acclaimed films by or about
New Yorkers,” announces Marcia
Torobin, Festival Director. “Regarding Susan Sontag,” “Sukkah City,”
and “AKA Doc Pomus” each showcase unique and impactful people
and places that make New York so
indescribably significant.”
Regarding Susan Sontag is an intimate and nuanced investigation into
the life of one of the most influential
and provocative thinkers of the 20th
century. What is rather startling is
that as the film develops it becomes
clear that Sontag’s life was so often
a reflection of some of the most important events of modern history.
Another striking element of Sontag’s
life is how completely ahead of the
curve she was with what we now
think of as popular culture.
The documentary explores Sontag’s life through archival materials, accounts from friends, family,
colleagues, and lovers, as well as
her own words, as read by Patricia
Clarkson. From her early infatuation
with books to her first experience in
a gay bar; from her early marriage
to her last lover, it is a fascinating
look at a towering cultural critic and
writer.
A dessert reception precedes the
screening.
Sukkah City: Best-selling author
Joshua Foer (Moonwalking With
Einstein) challenged contemporary
architects and designers to design
and construct twelve radical sukkahs. What they come up became
a distinctive design competition and
exhibition known as “Sukkah City.”
The film tracks the competition
from jury day, as an all-star cast of
architects, academics and critics
(Thom Mayne, Paul Goldberger,
Ron Arad) debate the merits of the
600 submissions; to the construction, installation and exhibition of
In-Session
Open House
Wed, October 1
9-11 a.m.
Environmental studies program
Spanish, art, music, physical
education, library studies and
computer classes
Extended Day Program
Financial aid available
Sunday
Open House
November 9
2-4 p.m.
MADELINE DUNN
Associate Broker
Cell:
505.980.2505
Direct: 505.857.2345
in the Commack
School District. He
was currently vice
president of the
Holocaust and Intolerance Museum
and past president
of Jewish Family
Service of Greater
Albuquerque and
an active member
at Congregation Albert. Services were
held on Tuesday, October 14,
2014. Memorial contributions
may be made to Congregation Albert, 3800 Louisiana Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110 or to the
New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum, 616 Central Ave.
SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102.
Jewish Film Festival Opens
in a New York State of Mind
Applications now
being accepted
for the 2015-2016
school year.
Small class size
November 2014
When it’s time to buy or sell, give me a call.
the twelve winning structures in
Union Square in the heart of New
York City; and the critical and popular response of some of the 200,000
New Yorkers who attended the twoday exhibition. The film explores
the artistic process of architects,
provides an entertaining and inspiring portrait of the project’s visionary
architects, planners and structures
and celebrates an exciting, singular
moment in the American Jewish experience.
An exhibit of drawings of selected
submissions will be on display.
AKA Doc Pomus: You know his
songs, now hear his story. Doc Pomus’ dramatic life is one of American music’s great-untold stories.
Paralyzed with polio as a child,
Jerome Felder reinvented himself
as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, and emerged as a
one of the most brilliant songwriters of rock and roll era, writing
“Save the Last Dance for Me”, “This
Magic Moment,” “A Teenager in
Love,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and dozens of other hits. For most of his life
Doc was confined to crutches and
a wheelchair, but he lived more
during his sixty-five years than others could experience in several lifetimes.
An optional DJ pizza party precedes the screening.
Dates, Locations and Tickets
Regarding Susan Sontag makes its
New Mexico premiere at the Center
for Contemporary Arts, 7:30 pm on
Saturday, November 8. The dessert
reception precedes the screening at
6:30 pm. Advance purchase tickets
$15, otherwise $18 at door. Includes
dessert reception.
Sukkah City screens at the Center
for Contemporary Arts, 4:30 pm on
Sunday, November 9. Advance purchase tickets are $12, otherwise $15
at door.
AKA Doc Pomus “rocks” the
Center for Contemporary Arts at
7:00 PM on Sunday, November 9.
The optional DJ pizza party is at 6:00
pm. Advance purchase tickets are $12
for the film only, $18 including the DJ
pizza party. Tickets at door are $15
for the film. Gluten free pizza is available if requested in advance.
New York Triptych Package gives
you admission to all three films,
dessert reception, exhibit of drawings, and DJ pizza party all for $36,
advance purchase only.
For more information and tickets,
visit www.SantaFeJFF.org or call Marcelle at 505-231-5874 (Albuquerque).
November 2014
A Service of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico
The New Mexico Jewish Link 9
“Healing the Wounds of History, The Long Walk and the Holocaust.”
By Diane J. Schmidt
The Third Navajo/
Jewish Dialogue, “Healing the Wounds of History, The Long Walk
and the Holocaust”
took place on October
12 in Albuquerque between Navajo educator Frank Morgan and
Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld
at Congregation Albert,
an event organized by
Gordon Bronitsky.
Finding myself in the
odd position of being
assigned by the newspaper to cover
a talk that my partner Frank Morgan
would be giving, I watched him preparing to navigate the treacherous
shoals of cross-cultural language and
dialectics to communicate the essence of the Navajo perspective of
resilience and balance, in order to
explain indirectly the survival of the
Navajo people and culture after centuries of shocks and of insults from
Northern European immigrants.
When I first heard what the selected topic would be, The Long
Walk and the Holocaust, I thought it
unwise. I frankly I didn’t expect my
fellow Jewish congregants to be receptive to hearing about the suffering the Navajo people had endured
by comparison with their own.
My concerns dissolved entirely
when Frank told me what he had
chosen to talk about, he said it
would be “the Navajo perspective
on healing, rebalancing, rather than
focusing so much on the process of
damage and destruction, the endemic problems of what trauma does to
the psychological self.” His framework, the Navajo perspective on
healing, suddenly shifted the entire
conversation, and I understood that
his emphasis on healing comes out
of his years of teaching about the
Blessing Way teachings that reverse
the effects of trauma.
That sunny Sunday afternoon
some fifty people gathered in the
synagogue’s sanctuary. There were
Navajos, Jews, Christians, children
of mixed marriages, and children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren of survivors of the Long Walk
and of the Holocaust.
After Frank’s presentation, then
Rabbi Rosenfeld went on to talk
about some of the reasons why the
Jewish people’s healing from the
wounds of the Holocaust has been a
slow process, and then they both addressed what it means to go forward
from that place.
The audience remained attentive
through two hours – twice as long
as was originally planned, and many
stayed plying Frank with questions
afterwards.
Healing Traditions Beginning
from the Creation Stories
Frank Morgan’s presentation began as an acknowledgement that
there have been wounds dating back
even before human history, as told
in the Creation Stories, when everything began to be formed into what
it is today, and how there were fre-
everything.
They
used
biological
warfare, like smallpox. Then, there
was scorched earth.
They sent the ‘esteemed’ Kit Carson,
a small man, a trapper, to invade and
force the People
out to Fort Wingate,
which is a place
known as Bear
Springs in Navajo,
and from there the
army
marched
them by gunpoint
over 300 miles to
Bosque Redondo at
Fort Sumner, southeast of Santa Rosa,
near Clovis, NM.”
“We had established our whole
being, our life on
our homeland and
when we were removed from that
land, that was a
huge, huge wound.
In Navajo practices,
we take a child’s
Navajo educator Frank Morgan and Rabbi Har- umbilical
cord,
ry Rosenfeld present ‘Healing the Wounds of where they want
History, The Long Walk and The Holocaust’ their child or grandPhoto by Diane J. Schmidt
child to be psychologically oriented,
quent conflicts among the Holy Peoand place it in the
ple. “Adultery was the most severe of ground. The particular place where
these,” he said, “and caused a sepa- a child’s umbilical cord is placed,
ration of female and male entities. In that is the entire environment where
order to have life, the Holy People the mind, thought, and psyche are
had to get back together and heal to embedded or imprinted. If you remake everything better, more har- move the person, you’re breaking
monious.” He explained that to do that umbilical cord like it’s still in the
this “They created different healing womb. People who were later were
methods. Today we know them as removed off their land to make room
Chantways, such as the Night Way. for coalmines for example, but their
Some of them have become extinct.” whole life diminished.”
In a direct way, Frank was able
“The Earth is my mother, my umto convey the most basic of Navajo bilical cord is in the earth, feeling
fundamental principles. He said, us, like we’re feeling we’re still in
“When they were creating these har- the womb. We still feel we’re in the
monious conditions, they found two womb of earth. Sky and earth relate
ways that everything moves, one that in harmony.”
is consistent with the journey of the
A collective sigh rose up from the
sun and then the reverse, going the audience hearing Frank talk about
other way. To reestablish everything what it was to be like to uprooted
so that it goes in the sun-wise direc- from their land. It brought out the
tion, shábik’ehgo, according to the poignancy of what it means to be
journey of the sun, is a way to cre- uprooted from one’s land. And it acate harmony because all that is good knowledged the trauma of the long
and beneficial moves in this positive history of my people, the Jewish
direction.
people, our diaspora of being forced
He continued, “We rely on rela- to move from place to place across
tionships in the universe, how things the earth, and shed light on why
relate to each other, where things are perhaps I have always felt a sense of
compatible with each other, hózhó. impermanence, a faint undercurrent
All relationships are based upon of alienation that never leaves me exprinciples that maintain order and cept when I am in nature. And since
natural growth and development I had never fully known what it was
of all that exists.” So in this way, he to be nurtured by a place, the way he
explained the Navajo foundations spoke about being mothered by the
of the restoration of wholeness, earth, I felt almost envy in hearing
grounded in the natural world.
of his loss, an envy that I might have
Then Shift Happened
been covering over for years with the
Frank sketched the events lead- superficial annoyed impatience of an
ing up to the Long Walk in 1864, urbanite.
and the effects of those events. “The
Mexicans were okay, we got along.
But then came the American settlers,
we couldn’t establish relations with
them because they brought soldiers,
weapons and war, and they wanted
He went on with a clear voice,
“We were exiled, alienated, just so
they could take that land to be settled by immigrants from the East.
We were marched and many died
along the way, to the Pecos river,
which was salty water, and told to
grow crops, but the insects there
destroyed the crops, many got sick,
many died.” Finally after four years
the government acknowledged it
was a failed experiment and allowed
the Navajo people to return to their
homeland, and they walked back.
Recognizing the Wounds as the First
Step towards Healing
“Today, we are walking with our
wounds. Much as an injured person or animal that moves or limps in
pain. This is how we are right now,
they say. So this wound, in the Navajo perspective, affects us in a certain way. Its effect is subtle and unseen and we are not aware that we
feel hopeless or that we don’t have
the strength to get up. It is like a cliff
that does not allow us to go forward.
That’s the way it is.”
“How do we go to the next place,
where things are better? We cannot
remain where we were harmed. It affects the mind. The mind gets all distraught and disordered. There’s internal confusion, shock, your thinking
has been impacted. Here you don’t
feel good about yourself, you are angry, and even suicidal. The effects of
this wounding are inside people.”
Prescriptions for Healing a Nation, and Challenges to be Faced
When Frank met with the rabbi at
his office two days before the dialogue the question came up around
how does a entire people heal?
Frank said, “It has been shown that
trauma can affect people as a whole
group, as a whole nation. It has to be
reversed.
Therapy is available to reverse the
negative effects. Relationships are
re-established and
re-connected
to its normal state. Everything in life
is able to work toward harmony and
balance. The essence of kinship repairs our relations.
To rebalance and reestablish k’é
relations, begin by understanding
how a problem affects the k’é relationship and by taking responsibility
for your part in that problem. Most
important, without blaming the other; talk over how this is not the way
it should be, and talk about the ways
that you have practiced k’é before
and how good it was and express
your desire to return to that kinship.
You may determine what exchange
you will give each other to satisfy the
mind.” This is similar to reparations
after a war. “You don’t have to say “I
forgive you’ or ‘you are forgiven’ because that’s already done when you
took responsibility and owned up to
what you did and that has the effect
of asking for forgiveness.”
As to whether the wounds of history will ever be properly addressed for
the Navajo is not known. He pointed
out that the treaties that were signed
were not favorable for them. “We
ended up with limited resources, and
a system of three branch government
that we don’t know to make work (a
member of the audience called out,
“We don’t either!” and everyone
laughed). “Who’s going to do this for
us, re-establish k’é and find a better
life for the People? Our leaders have
to lead us there.” To move forward
and have a better life is an enormous
challenge that will take a long time
but we have to reach for it.”
Then Rabbi Rosenfeld spoke about
how reluctant the Jewish people
have been to move on from the Holocaust, it’s not something you get
over. Also, he pointed out, today we
are living much longer lives. In Babylonian times, a lifespan was 40 years,
and history might be remembered by
seeing a sculpted stone carving. Today we are living twice as long, and
the TV history channel is a constant
reminder of what happened during
World War II. But, Rabbi Rosenfeld
said, that we must carry on as Jews
and maintain our Jewish identity to
show that Hitler couldn’t destroy
us, doesn’t resonate anymore with
a younger generation, who want
positives to embrace for maintaining a Jewish identity. He said this is
a major challenge facing the Jewish
people going forward.
Again, I thought about the terrifying stories I had unearthed recently
about what had happened to my relatives still living in Poland when the
Germans came in 1939, the women
and girls were forced to strip naked
and, beaten with whips, dance in a
circle inside the synagogue, while
outside, the men had to crawl on
the cobblestones in piggyback races
carrying heavier men while the Poles
laughed, before they were taken
away in the trains. I think it was wise
that I was shielded from the knowledge of this insanity when I was
younger, I’m not sure what good it
does to know about it now, when I
am haunted by these images, but as
Jewish people we say we will never
forget, so that it does not happen
again.
I try to learn from Frank’s words,
and while I often think the Navajo
might learn something from the
Jews about maintaining one’s culture through the written word, I
think more, that the Jews could learn
something from the Navajo, for who
it is a custom and an admonition not
to speak so much of the dead and
the wounds of the past.
I ask Frank if what I wrote about
my relatives, if going back over historical trauma, was okay from the
Navajo perspective, and Frank replied, “Begin with a positive story.
What the older people say, what
they tell us that we need to know, are
the stories from the time of when the
first Hogan was made.”
That sounds like a whole other story I will have to wait for him to tell.
10 The New Mexico Jewish Link
A Service
of the
Jewish Federation
Israel’s Rivlin Seeks to Cure ‘Disease’ of Racism
paper that call for an end to
“violence, hostility, bullying, racism” in Israel.
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel’s
“He said I was a coupresident fills a largely cerrageous kid,” George
emonial role — meeting with
told JTA. “He said he has
foreign dignitaries, representfriends who don’t have that
ing the government at state
courage.”
funerals and other official
Former Likud minister
gatherings. But the office’s
Dan Margalit, who grew
new occupant has embraced
up with Rivlin in Jerusaa challenge not inherent to
lem and served alongside
the job: curbing what he sees
him in Knesset, told JTA
as an epidemic of anti-Arab
that Rivlin’s anti-racist
racism.
activism stems from a com“Israeli society is sick, and
mitment to traditional reviit is our duty to treat this
sionist Zionism. The ideoldisease,” Reuven Rivlin, 75,
ogy espouses Jewish sovtold a group of Israeli acaereignty over the Land of
demics on Sunday, October
Israel, including the West
19.
Bank, as well as democThe Likud party elder
racy and minority rights for
statesman has been Israel’s
Israel’s Arab citizens.
most vocal politician in
Although he supports
recent history on issues of President Reuven Rivlin, shown speaking on Oct.
racial discrimination and 23, 2014 at the dedication of a Jerusalem road Israeli annexation of the
violence within the Jewish named for Yitzchak Shamir, says the relationship West Bank, the former
state. And he’s taking on the between Jews and Arabs in Israel “has reached a longtime Knesset member
broke with his party by
issue at a particularly chal- new low.” (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
opposing a 2010 law that
lenging moment, when as he
explained in his speech, “the tension between Jews criminalized boycotts of goods produced in Israeli setand Arabs within the State of Israel has risen to record tlements. The same year, Rivlin attempted to block the
heights, and the relationship between all parties has Knesset from stripping an Arab-Israeli lawmaker of her
parliamentary privileges as punishment for participatreached a new low.”
Of Israel’s population of some 8.9 million people, ing in the flotilla operation to break Israel’s blockade
of the Gaza Strip.
about 20 percent is Arab.
“Ruvi stayed the course,” Margalit said, using Rivlin’s
Strong condemnation of anti-Arab racism in Israel is
generally the province of the country’s Arab and left- nickname. “Racism is one of the worst attitudes and
wing politicians. So Rivlin, who opposes Palestinian crimes you can think of. We were persecuted and killed
statehood and advocates annexing the West Bank, does by racists for generations, so to think there would be
not seem like an obvious candidate to take up the cause. racism in our country is horrendous.”
Because Israel’s presidency is ceremonial, Rivlin’s
But despite his position on the two-state solution, the
president has a reputation for defending civil liberties power to advance policy changes is limited. Case in
and minority rights within the land that Israel controls. point: His predecessor, Shimon Peres, had little impact
Rivlin took office in July — as the war between Israel on Israeli government policy toward the Palestinians
and Hamas intensified and just weeks after three Jewish despite constantly calling for Israeli-Palestinian peace
extremists captured and burned alive a Palestinian during his term.
“I think there’s a limit to what the president of the
teen. The teen’s murder was a revenge attack for the
kidnapping and deadly shooting of three Israeli teen- state can do,” said Gadi Gvaryahu, chairman of Light
Tag, a coalition that opposes anti-Arab racism. “He
agers in June.
But nearly two months after a cease-fire was can cry out from time to time, or protest from time to
declared, Arab-Jewish tensions have not waned. On time, but the trends happening here are difficult and
October 14, Jewish extremists burned a West Bank profound, and if the government doesn’t have a clear
mosque, damaging prayer books and rugs. The same policy, even the president can’t influence.”
On the issue of racism, the Israel Democracy Instiday, reports emerged of three Jewish brothers beating
a Palestinian construction worker. And the following tute, a think tank that researches Israel’s democratic
day, Arab protesters at the Temple Mount injured three institutions, is developing a curriculum to teach tolerpolicemen in riots that continued across Jerusalem ance and pluralism. It is also setting up a task force to
review existing anti-racism laws in Israel.
throughout the week.
Mordechai Kremnitzer, the institute’s vice president
Then on October 19, dozens of Jews moved into
buildings overnight in the eastern Jerusalem neighbor- of research, met with Rivlin on Sunday and is optimistic
hood of Silwan, the second such move into the pri- that the president will endorse its initiatives.
Activists for Arab-Israeli rights told JTA that racism
marily Arab neighborhood this month. The next day,
demands forceful action from Israeli lawmakers. But
Arabs threw firebombs at the building in protest.
Rivlin has also called for an end to racism in high-pro- some said they appreciate that Rivlin is raising an issue
file TV appearances, in Facebook posts and at a recent that had been largely ignored and feel he is creating a
dedication ceremony for a Jerusalem road bearing the more conducive atmosphere for coexistence.
“The Arab public finds itself in despair from the
name of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
And he made headlines last month when he notably amount of racist incitement and racist attitudes that
recorded a video with an 11-year-old Arab-Israeli, exist,” said Jafar Farah, chairman of Mossawa, an orgaGeorge Amira, who had endured homophobic bully- nization that advocates for Arab-Israeli rights. “When
ing at school. In the video, which went viral, Rivlin and suddenly Rivlin’s voice rises, people say maybe there’s
George sit side by side in silence, holding up sheets of a chance. Maybe we can live a shared life in this state.”
By Ben Sales
ADL Report: Campus Anti-Israel Events Have
More Than Doubled This Fall
(JTA) — More than 75 anti-Israel events have been reported on
U.S. college and university campuses this fall, more than twice
as many as last year, according to
a report by the Anti-Defamation
League.
The anti-Israel events have
more than doubled in the wake of
Israel’s 50-day operation in Gaza
over the summer, according to an
ADL report, “Anti-Israel Activity
on Campus after Operation Protective Edge.”
There were 35 anti-Israel events
scheduled in 2013, marking a 114
percent increase in the number
of those events scheduled to take
place this year.
“Not all criticism of Israel is anti-Israel in nature, and not all antiIsrael rhetoric and activity reflect
anti-Semitism. However, anti-Isra-
el sentiment increasingly crosses
the line to anti-Semitism by invoking anti-Semitic myths of Jewish
control and demonic depictions
of Israelis or comparing Israel’s actions to those of the Nazis during
the Holocaust,” according to the
report. Such messages appear to
be moving more to the forefront
of many anti-Israel protests, the
report said.
Student groups hosted at least
374 anti-Israel events during the
2013-2014 academic year, with
about 40 percent of them focused
on how to initiate Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
campaigns on campus. There also
were at least 57 events sponsored
by university academic departments over the last two years that
presented a one-sided view of the
Israel-Palestinian conflict, accord-
ing to the report.
In addition, at least 30 antiIsrael demonstrations in the U.S.
during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge this past summer were
sponsored or co-sponsored by
pro-Palestinian student groups.
One anti-Israel event this semester that crossed the line into
anti-Semitism was the distribution of fliers at the University of
California, Santa Barbara depicting the Twin Towers and a Star of
David and alleging that the 9/11
attacks was “an outside job” and
“9/11 was Mossad.”
BDS activity this semester was
led by the Student Senate president
at Ohio University, who dumped a
bucket of “blood” over her head to
represent the blood of Palestinians
killed by Israel in a sendup of the
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
of
New Mexico
November 2014
After Twitter Ruling, Tech Firms Increasingly
Toe Europe’s Line on Hate Speech
By Cnaan Liphshiz
BRUSSELS (JTA) — A little over a
year after a French court forced Twitter
to remove some anti-Semitic content,
experts say the ruling has had a ripple
effect, leading other Internet companies
to act more aggressively against hate
speech in an effort to avoid lawsuits.
The 2013 ruling by the Paris Court
of Appeals settled a lawsuit brought
the year before by the Union of Jewish
Students of France over the hashtag
#UnBonJuif, which means “a good Jew”
and which was used to index thousands
of anti-Semitic comments that violated
France’s law against hate speech.
Since then, YouTube has permanently
banned videos posted by Dieudonne, a
French comedian with 10 convictions
for inciting racial hatred against Jews.
And in February, Facebook removed the
page of French Holocaust denier Alain
Soral for “repeatedly posting things that
don’t comply with the Facebook terms,”
according to the company. Soral’s page
had drawn many complaints in previous
years but was only taken down this year.
“Big companies don’t want to be
sued,” said Konstantinos Komaitis, a
former academic and current policy
adviser at the Internet Society, an international organization that encourages
governments to ensure access and sustainable use of the Internet. “So after
the ruling in France, we are seeing an
inclination by Internet service providers
like Google, YouTube, Facebook to try
and adjust their terms of service — their
own internal jurisprudence — to make
sure they comply with national laws.”
The change comes amid a string
of heavy sentences handed down by
European courts against individuals who
used online platforms to incite to racism
or violence.
On Monday, a British court sentenced
one such offender to four weeks in jail
for tweeting “Hitler was right” to a
Jewish lawmaker. Last week, a court in
Geneva sentenced a man to five months
in jail for posting texts that deny the
Holocaust. And in April, a French court
sentenced two men to five months in jail
for posting an anti-Semitic video.
“The stiffer sentences owe partly to
a realization by judges of the dangers
posed by online hatred, also in light
of cyber-jihadism and how it affected
people like Mohammed Merah,” said
Christophe Goossens, the legal adviser
of the Belgian League against Anti-Semitism, referring to the killer of four Jews
at a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012.
In the Twitter case, the company
argued that as an American firm it was
protected by the First Amendment. But
the court rejected the argument and
forced Twitter to remove some of the
comments and identify some of the
authors. It also required the company
to set up a system for flagging and ultimately removing comments that violate
hate speech laws.
Twitter responded by overhauling its
terms of service to facilitate adherence
to European law, Twitter’s head of global
safety outreach and public policy, Patricias Cartes Andres, revealed Monday at
a conference in Brussels organized by
the International Network Against Cyber
Hate, or INACH.
“The rules have been changed in a
way that allows us to take down more
content when groups are being targeted,” Cartes Andres told JTA. Before
the lawsuit, she added, “if you didn’t
target any one person, you could have
gotten away with it.”
The change went into effect five
months ago, but Twitter “wanted to be
very quiet about it because there will be
other communities, like the freedom of
speech community, that will be quite
upset about it because they would view
it as censorship,” Cartes Andres said.
Suzette Bronkhorst, the secretary of
INACH, said Twitter’s adjusted policies
are part of a “change in attitude” by
online service providers since 2013.
“Before the trial, Twitter gave Europe
the middle finger,” Brokhorst said. “But
they realized that if they want to work
in Europe, they need to keep European
laws, and others are coming to the same
realization.”
According to Komaitis, the Twitter
case was built on a landmark court
ruling in 2000 that forced the search
engine Yahoo! to ban the sale of Nazi
memorabilia. But the 2013 ruling “went
much further,” he said, “demonstrating
the increasing pressure on providers to
adhere to national laws, unmask offenders and set up flagging mechanisms.”
Still, the INACH conference showed
that big gaps remain between the practices sought by European anti-racism
activists and those now being implemented by the tech companies.
One area of contention is Holocaust
denial, which is illegal in many European countries but which several American companies, reflecting the broader
free speech protections prevalent in the
United States, are refusing to censure.
Delphine Reyre, Facebook’s director of policy, said at the conference that
the company believes users should be
allowed to debate the subject.
“Counter speech is a powerful tool
that we lose with censorship,” she said.
Cartes Andres cited the example of
the hashtag #PutosJudios, Spanish for
“Jewish whores,” which in May drew
thousands of comments after a Spanish
basketball team lost to its Israeli rival.
More than 90 percent of the comments
were “positive statements that attacked
those who used the offensive term,” she
said.
Some of the comments are the subject
of an ongoing police investigation in
Spain launched after a complaint filed
by 11 Jewish groups.
But Mark Gardner of Britain’s Community Security Trust wasn’t buying it.
“There’s no counter-speech to Holocaust denial,” Gardner said at the conference. “I’m not going to send Holocaust survivors to debate the existence
of Auschwitz online. That’s ridiculous.”
The French comedian Dieudonne demonstrating the quenelle, a Nazi-like gesture he created whose popularity has soared in France. (YouTube)
November 2014
A Service of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico
The New Mexico Jewish Link 11
C O N G R E G AT I O N S
Chabad of New Mexico (ABQ)
Traditional, Rabbi Chaim Schmukler
4000 San Pedro NE, 87109
880-1181
www.chabadnm.org.
Chavurat Hamidbar
The Fellowship of the Desert
Traditional/Egalitarian,
505-345-0296 www.chavurahabq.org
Congregation Albert
Reform, Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld
Cantor Barbara Finn
3800 Louisiana NE, 87110 883-1818
www.congregationalbert.org
Congregation B’nai Israel
Conservative, Rabbi Arthur Flicker
4401 Indian School NE, 87110
266-0155
e-mail: [email protected]
www.bnaiisrael-nm.org
Congregation Nahalat Shalom
Jewish Renewal/Independent
Rabbi Deborah Brin
Cantorial Soloist Beth Cohen
3606 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 87107
343-8227 www.nahalatshalom.org.
Makor
A Spiritual Jewish Experience in
the Renewal Tradition
Rabbi Chavah Carp
Beit Midrash, Childrens Classes,
Jewish Ritual Events.
505-715-0178 www.makor-jewishsource.com
Rio Rancho Jewish Center
Conservative
2009 Grande Blvd., Rio Rancho, NM 892-8511
Temple Beth-El of Carlsbad
1st and 3rd Fridays,
Reform Services, 7 p.m.
1002 North Pate Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220
575-885-3699, 575-887-1229
C-Deep: Center for Devotional
Energy and Ecstatic Practice
Rabbi Shefa Gold
P.O. Box 430, Jemez Springs, NM 87025
505-829-4069
[email protected] www.rabbishefagold.com
Temple Beth-El
Rabbi Lawrence Karol
3980 Sonoma Springs Ave., Las Cruces, NM 88011
575-524-3380 575-521-8111 (fax)
e-mail: [email protected] www.tbelc.org
Menorahs, Klezmer Music, Latkes
and More at Chanukah Fest 2014!
by Phyllis Wolf
This year’s Chanukah Fest will be
held again at Embassy Suites Hotel
and Conference Center (at Lomas
and I-25) on Sunday, December 14
from 12 – 4 pm. The day promises
to be the largest Jewish community
celebration with families, elders,
community agencies, clergy, chefs,
crafters, Klezmer, and children together for a good time. The pinnacle of the day is the community
Chanukiah lighting with prayers said
by representatives from the many
segments which comprise the Jewish life of our community: Congregations Albert, B’nai Israel, Nahalat
Shalom, Chavurat Hamidbar, Jewish
Community Center, Jewish Federation, Hillel, Jewish Academy, Yad be
Yad, New Mexico Jewish Historical
Society and the Holocaust Museum.
Attendees will come from Rio
Rancho to UNM, from the North
Valley to the Northeast Heights, Los
Lunas, Santa Fe, Corrales and the
East Mountains. We are affiliated,
unaffiliated, older, living alone, or
in the midst of raising our families.
Empty nesters, caregivers, students,
teachers. We who want simply to experience an ethnically Jewish community afternoon. Let’s get together
to create a memorable afternoon.
The grand entry atrium is where
the sights and sounds and smells will
begin to draw you in. In front of you
will be a silent auction area overflowing with wares from the Chanukah Fest bazaar merchants including
Judaica, jewelry, scarves, food baskets, restaurant gift certificates, pet
and personal care gifts and higher
ticket items – a Taos ski weekend
getaway, romantic hotel stay, fine
rug, sewing machine, opera tickets
and many more great finds for holiday gift seekers.
You will smell latkes frying and
get to sample some courtesy of Ruth
Rosenstein, owner of Rhubarb &
Elliott, who will demonstrate how
to make latkes and not potato pancakes. You can next visit the information booths of Albuquerque’s
Jewish and secular organizations:
ABQJEW.com, BBYO, D’Vorah, Hadassah, Bridges for Peace, KUNM,
all of the aforementioned congregations and Chabad, too.
You could also choose to forgo
this initially, and instead proceed
straight ahead to the 12,000 foot
grand ballroom, with tables to kibbitz, relax, and schmooze, surrounding a dance floor. Hava Nagila and
other classic Klezmer tunes will be
played impeccably by The Rebbe’s
Orkestra. Hora folk dancing will be
led by members of Rikkud. Your
choice of 30 vendors to snag some
unusual and well-priced Chanukah
and holiday gifts, including Congregation Albert Judaica Shop, the Silk
Connection, Esther Geller Jewelry,
Spiritware Chotchkies, Mary Kay,
Girls in Wonderland, pottery and
ceramics, purses and scarves.
So you may be wondering: how
did we get this far into a Jewish event
without food? The chefs at Embassy
will have that covered with hot
corned beef on rye, Hebrew National kosher dogs, latkes, falafel on pita,
hummus, Israeli salad, and sufganiyot, (a fried jelly doughnut which is
standard Israeli fare at Hanukkah).
The Jewish Academy of Arts &
Sciences will again host a well supervised separate ballroom for the
youngsters with inflatable bouncers, face-painting, dreidel games,
Chanukah crafts, and kid-friendly
snacks. BBYO is planning activities
for their teenaged peers, including a
mitzvah project, video games, and
socializing.
For those wanting to take a time
out from the music, shopping, eating
and dancing, there will be a panel
discussion on the relevance today of
the Chanukah story and its message
of religious freedom.
As is part of the Jewish ethical tradition, even and especially when we
are enjoying simchas and festivities,
we remember and take action on behalf of our less fortunate neighbors.
This year the New Mexico Diaper
Bank will be back collecting diapers
for infant to adult sizes. So don’t forget to pick up and bring a new package diapers and in addition to knowing you helped a family, you will also
be entered in a raffle for prizes!
For more details and to purchase
advance early-bird priced tickets,
visit jccabq.org or call 348-4500.
Brinwood
Hair Management
Juan Carlos
ATTENTION
Introverts & Nerds
Tired of waiting at your barber
or cut-rate lousy-cut salons! How
about just dealing with people these
days? Why not try a haircut where
its just ME you only have to see.
Simple, easy & quick is what I specialize in. How about getting a haircut while listening to classical music or watching the news or sports?
Try it, you’ll be very pleased.
505-237-2227
call/text or email @
[email protected]
www.brinwoodhair.com
Jewish Community of Las Vegas
c/o Marshall Poole
P.O. Box 970, Las Vegas, NM 87701
505-425-5549, [email protected]
www.lvjewish.org
Los Alamos Jewish Center
Unaffiliated, Egalitarian
2400 Canyon Rd., Los Alamos, NM 87544
505-662-2140 www.lajc.org
HaMakom
The Place for Passionate and
Progressive Judaism
Rabbi Malka Drucker, Hazzan
Cindy Freedman
Services and classes at
St. Bede’s Episcopal Church
1601 St. Francis Dr., Santa Fe, NM
505-992-1905 www.hamakomtheplace.org
B’nai Israel of Roswell
712 N. Washington
P.O. Box 1153, Roswell, NM 88203
575-625-9883, 575-622-5814
Temple Beth Shalom
Reform, Rabbi Marvin Schwab
205 E. Barcelona Rd. Santa Fe, 87505
505-982-1376, 505-983-7446 - fax
e-mail:[email protected] www.sftbs.org
Chabad Jewish Center of Santa Fe
Rabbi Berel Levertov
242 W. San Mateo, Santa Fe, NM 87505
505-983-2000 www.chabadsantafe.com
Kol BeRamah Torah
Learning Co-op of Santa Fe
551 W. Cordova Rd., Suite F
505-603-7972, [email protected]
www.kolberamah.org
Congregation Beit Tikva
Traditional Reform , Rabbi Martin Levy
P.O. Box 24094, Santa Fe 87502
2230 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, 87505
505-820-2991 www.beittikvasantafe.org
Havurah B’nai Shalom
810 Dillion Lane, Taos, NM 87571
(575) 758-3378
Chabad Jewish Center of Las Cruces
Rabbi Bery Schmukler
360 El Prado Ave.
Las Cruces NM 88005
575-524-1330 www.JewishLC.com
Chabad of Taos
Rabbi Eli Kaminetzky
208 #C Paseo del Canon,
Taos, NM 87571
575-751-1323, www.jewishtaos.com
Taos Jewish Center
1335 Gusdorf Road, Suite R,
Taos, NM 87571,
505-758-8615,
e-mail: [email protected],
www.taosjewishcenter.org
Congregation Har Shalom
Serving the Four Corners
2537 CR 203,
P.O. Box 9199, Durango, CO 81302
970-375-0613, www.harshalomdurango.org.
Temple Aaron
505-445-9026 505-449-9492
Serves NE New Mexico
& SE Colorado, Corner of Third & Maple,
Trinidad, CO
Professional Services Directory
12 The New Mexico Jewish Link
A Service
of the
ACUPUNC TUR E
Diane Polasky, MA, DOM, Dipl. Ac., DAAPM
Center for Holistic Health, 505-298-7371
Acute & Chronic Disorders & Injuries
9412 Indian School Rd. NE,
Albuquerque 87112
Jewish Federation
of
New Mexico
YOUR AD HERE
For rates and information on how
your business can join the
professionals on these pages,
contact Advertising Manager
Anne Grollman at
505-348-4472 or email her at
[email protected]
November 2014
AT TOR NE YS
Jeffrey Diamond Law Firm
Personal Injury, Social Security Disability
Albuquerque Office: 881-6500
Carlsbad, Roswell, Odessa, TX Offices:
1-800-722—0927
Lee Gamelsky Architects P.C.
Lee Gamelsky AIA, LEED AP
Architecture • Planning • Interiors
Residential • Retail • Medical • Office
Sustainable • Inspiring Design
505.842.8865 - [email protected]
For rates and information on how
your business can join the
professionals on these pages,
contact Advertising Manager
Anne Grollman at
505-348-4472 or email her at
[email protected]
AT TORNE YS
Jan B. Gilman-Tepper - 505-246-0500
Representing select clients
in complex family law matters
Cert. Specialist: Divorce/Family Law
Little, Gilman-Tepper, Batley & Leigh
lgtfamilylaw.com
AT TOR NE YS
AT TOR NE YS
AT TOR NE YS
Mark S. Jaffe, 242-9311
The Jaffe Law Firm
320 Gold SW, Suite 1300
Personal Injury, Civil Litigation,
Consumer Rights
Deborah A. Peacock, P.E. 998-1501
Peacock Myers, P.C.
Intellectual Property Law Services
Technology Commercialization
201 Third Street NW, #1340, Albuquerque
A RCHITEC TS
AT TOR NE Y
Jacobs & Jacobs
A Personal Injury Law Firm
Richard P. Jacobs & Jon H. Jacobs
Call for a free consultation on your automobile,
motorcycle, or slip and fall accident.
(505) 881-4388 • www.Jacobslawnm.com
DE NTISTS
YOUR AD HERE
BRIS
Gwenn Robinson M.D. - Mohelet
Certified by
the Berit Mila
Board of Reform Judaism
821-2985
FUNER AL SERVICES
Rachelle Shaw, D.D.S., P.C.
Pediatric Dentistry - Infants, Children & Teenagers
4620 #C Jefferson Lane NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
888-3520
h air s pecia list
Brinwood Hair Management/Juan Carlos
Simplifying your hair service
is my speciality!
Most adults know how to manage their
image, but hair needs a professional touch.
Call/text or email me for a haircut that is
uncomparable! www.brinwoodhair.com
or [email protected]
INTEGR ATIV E ME DICINE
Sally Fisher, MD, MS
Integrative, Nutritional, Transformative Medicine
Board Certified in Preventive Medicine/Occupational
and Environmental Medicine, Integrative and Holistic
Medicine and as a Physician Nutrition Specialist.
One to two hour in-depth visits
www.drsallyfisher.com • 505.720.4050
Lynn Yael McKeever, Esq.
Resolving and Preventing Problems
Wills, Trusts, Estates, & LLCs
www.lynnmckeever.com
505-991-1948
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
Jon Bell CPA MACCT “The Tax Maven”
Tax preparation • Business consulting
Tax planning • Reasonable, fixed fees
Call for complimentary consultation
[email protected] • 505-385-3535
GR A PHIC DESIGN
Publications
Advertising
Flyers
505.573.6168
www.envisiongraphicsnm.com
HE A LTH & LIFE COACH
HOM E HE A LTH CA R E
Anne Grollman, Professional Health & Life Coach
• Are healthy habits on your to do list?
• Want to make life changes but feel stuck?
• Are you sick & tired of being sick & tired?
Call for free consultation 505.259.2161
www.yourwellnessmentor.com
Happy Mind. Healthier You.
L A NDSCA PE DESIGN
Residential & Commercial
Landscape Services
and Installation.
Irrigation repair work.
We are a full service landscape
Abq: 505.898.9615
company established in 1974
Santa Fe: 505.438.3062
headsuplandscape.com
Email: [email protected]
PHYSICIANS
PLUMBING & HEATING
PROSTHETIC • ORTHOPAIEDIC APPLIANCES
David Bernstein M.D.
724-4300
Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery
New Mexico Orthopaedic Associates
201 Cedar St. SE, Albuquerque, 87102
Steward’s Plumbing, Inc.
293-3360
“When Extra Care is Needed”
All types of plumbing, heating, and sewer work
www.stewardsplumbing.com/web
Samuel Weisberg Prosthetics
Ultralite, State-of-Art Prosthetics,Biomechanical Orthotics,
Sports Related Braces, Custom Fabrication
1018 Coal Ave. SE, ABQ, NM 87106
248-0303 FAX 248-1611
R E A L ESTATE
HERE’S TO YOUR NEXT DUNN DEAL
(505) 980-2505 • (505) 828-1000
www.MadelineDunn.com
Madeline Sells
NM Homes
R E A L ESTATE
Talia Freedman, Realtor
Signature Southwest Properties
505.332.8838 Office
505.263.7892 Cell (Preferred)
[email protected]
www.ABQ-Realty.com
S PAS
Betty’s Bath & Day Spa, 505-341-3456
ABQ’s only soak, relaxation & wellness spa
Offering massage, facials
& restorative treatments & products.
Instant on-line gift certificates available
www.bettysbath.com
For rates and information on how your business can join the professionals on these pages, contact
Advertising Manager Anne Grollman at 505-259-2161 or email her at [email protected]