Avid Readers Recommend and Letters, FEBRUARY 2026

We have a new feature, Avid Readers Recommend and Letters. Paid subscribers may submit, by email, letters of 250 words or less to comment on articles we have published, and links to other published articles from known credible, trustworthy, publications that they very much want other NMJJ readers to see. (If the link is behind a paywall, include a cogent excerpt of less than 300 words or 10% of the article.) At our discretion, we may publish those letters and suggested links here. See past Avid Readers Recommend columns here, and see all past issues of NMJJ at the last tab at the top (tabs may appear as 3 dots or bars), Past Issues.

We have some letters, followed by our readers' recommended articles.

LETTERS received about articles we've published, names included when permission is indicated:

Hi Diane, I am one of those relatively rare creatures, a politically conservative reform Jew. While I disagree with some of the opinions published in the Journal, I do support the general goals of your mission and thus my subscription.You have a great selection of articles and I do read many of them. Just thought you would be interested in hearing from one reader Who has a somewhat different slant on Jewish life.

Happy New Year, Charles Brown (Congregation Albert member for 45 years).

I'm reading your 50 Reliable Sources article. What a fantastic compilation. It's taking me forever to get through the last couple of newsletters because of this new diversion in my life, but I'm taking time this morning. The articles are getting better and better. I want to spend more time on Hart's articles and damn, wish I'd read the pre-election article before the election. The newsletter is brilliant, Diane. Thank you so much for doing this. 11/20/25 – J.E. Albuquerque

You do wonderful work. As editor of NMJJ, you are one of our state’s vanguards in protecting the First Amendment. Michael Baron

A letter from a reader to Lena S. Keslin about her series of articles "Hidden in Plain Sight."
"I have read and re-read each of the articles you sent and want to share how much they resonated with my own journey of faith. Having also visited Anne Frank’s house decades ago with impressions that remain to this day; and, having gone to the cemetery on the Lido I found your words not just informative, but inspiring. Your writing points out the need for legacy, the need to recognize the pain, sorrow and tribulations of our ancestors. But, more importantly, the need for us to share in our humanity. [...] Another friend recently sent on a quote: Clear thinking is a form of freedom; not the loud, raucous demand for liberty, but the sense of connection we have with the earth and all that is in it."  E.W. Santa Fe. 

READERS RECOMMEND:

What Should Americans Do Now?

We need a mass movement for basic decency. By George Packer The Atlantic. January 27, 2026.

"The killings in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti have been compared to the murder of George Floyd, because they all happened within a few miles of one another, and because of the outrage they inspired. There’s an important difference, though: In 2020 the United States was in turmoil, but it was still a state of law. Floyd’s death was followed by investigation, trial, and verdict—by justice. The Minneapolis Police Department was held accountable and ultimately made to reform. ... Authoritarianism doesn’t disappear with the news cycle. 

[...] Minneapolis is setting an example for the rest of the country: a nameless, leaderless, self-organized movement. Self-organization is a term I heard from almost everyone I met in Ukraine shortly after the Russian invasion. It’s an inherently hard form of activism, requiring high levels of motivation and trust. ...

It would have to remain decentralized and maintain its local integrity while creating a capacity for nationwide coordination. ... The civil-rights movement confronted all of these problems, and overcame them. ...

The late theorist Gene Sharp laid them out, along with ideas for strategic planning, in books such as From Dictatorship to Democracy and Waging Nonviolent Struggle. Sharp’s work has been used as an essential guide for democracy activists under dictatorial regimes in countries such as Serbia, Burma, and Iran. Americans should pick up these books and absorb their lessons. ..."

Avid Reader from Denver, Colorado suggests this from the Bulwark (you can read the entire piece on their open site) :

Trump’s Chilling Weaponization of Confidential Government Records

Remind me—who else in history made lists of Jewish intellectuals and people with disabilities? by Catherine Rampell, The Bulwark, Receipts Newsletter Jan.22, 2026

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has been compiling lists. There are lists of immigrants, lists of people with developmental disabilities, lists of dissidents—and lately, even lists of Jews. All ostensibly in the name of public safety.

Over the past year, I’ve been tracking the Trump administration’s use and abuse of federal data. For the most part, this has involved deletions of records that the regime finds inconvenient, or other forms of censorship.

[...] But now it’s becoming clearer that some of the most disturbing developments don’t involve data the administration is suppressing, but rather data it’s collecting—in some cases illegally—and the ways those data can be weaponized against perceived enemies.

For example, the Trump administration recently sued the University of Pennsylvania to force it to hand over a list of Jewish faculty, staff, and students. The government is demanding the school release these records without first obtaining consent from Jewish community members themselves; authorities say they need the university to produce this Jewish registry to help the government “combat antisemitism” on college campuses. The University of Pennsylvania has refused to cooperate, to its credit. But not every school has done the same. [...].

‘This Could End Very Badly’: A Human Rights Lawyer Fears a New Age of Impunity By Michael Steinberger Jan. 19, 2026 New York Times

Philippe Sands, one of the world’s pre-eminent human rights attorneys, grew up in the shadow of bleak times. He worries that history is taking an unfortunate detour. [...]

As Sands asks: “If a president commits crimes against humanity, tortures or disappears people, is he going to be subject to examination by the courts? The answer appears to be no.” Sands fears that the Supreme Court, 80 years after the Nuremberg trials established that political and military leaders could be held accountable for atrocities against their own citizens, has ushered in what he calls a “new age of impunity.”

We mourn the loss of one of the truly great family-owned newspapers in New Mexico, The Independent, of Gallup, New Mexico. The front page headline reads: "The Truth Well Told: The Independent halts publication after 62 years." Rising costs of printing press materials and production, tariffs, and a sustained decline in subscriptions and advertising revenue forced the closure. The last issue was Saturday, January 31, 2026.

A companion piece on the front page reflecting on the paper's challenges and service over the years was written by Vida Volkert, a veteran reporter there for at least 15 years. She interviewed Christina Tsosie, managing editor since 2021, who reflected on the important role of the paper.

Tsosie said that "coverage on local elections, McKinley County Schools District and the local crime scene are some of the most significant contributions the newspaper provided to the community."

Reflecting on the importance of the profession of journalism, Tsosie added, “...this profession demands a strong commitment to truth and fairness. But it's worth it, if our stories can provide exposure, help a cause, shed light on a struggle or triumph, or maybe allow someone to see things differently, then I feel we have done our job. I am going to miss the newsroom and the daily deadlines that seemed to never end. ... I still can't believe the paper is folding. What a loss.”

The coda at the end of Volkert's piece hit especially hard. "As deadline hit, Eddy Armendariz, press foreman, who has been with the Gallup Independent for 24 years and has printed more than 25,000 copies of one paper at one time, rang the buzzer in the press room one last time. This last edition, he printed 4,964 papers."

Editor's Note: We also refer you to our standing list of More than 50 Reliable, Varied Sources of News, Analysis and Opinion About Israel and the US. Of those 50 sources, The Times of Israel, a free website, is our first choice for up-to-date news and commentary about Israel from Israel, and the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA), Moment Magazine,
The Forward and Jewish Insider (more to the right 😼) in the U.S.

Community Supporters of the NM Jewish Journal include:
Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico
Congregation Albert
Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque
The Institute for Tolerance Studies
Jewish Federation of El Paso and Las Cruces
Temple Beth Shalom
Congregation B'nai Israel
Shabbat with Friends: Recapturing Together the Joy of Shabbat
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society
Where the North Ends, A Novel by Hugo Moreno 

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