February 18, 2026 ~ NM JEWISH JOURNAL ~ ADAR 5786

As of today, February 18th, we enter the joyful month of Adar in the Hebrew year of 5786. This means Purim is just around the corner, starting at sundown on Monday, March 2, followed soon by Passover on the evening of April 1st.  The USA will celebrate its 250th birthday this July 4th, 2026.

This early spring edition brings you five charming new articles, ones you meant to read, and some important timely upcoming event announcements from our Community Supporter advertisers.

A quick Editor's Note: If it feels like the world is shifting faster than ever, you aren't alone.  One unusual explanation may be astrological: After 248 years, in 2022 Pluto, known as the Great Disruptor, returned to the same position in late Capricorn that it occupied in 1776 during the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Beginning in 2024, Pluto moved into the sign of Aquarius, the airy mental sign, where it will be for the next 20 years. During this time we can expect AI to disrupt and transform our lives. This cosmic shift wasn’t just global; it was personal. Pluto transited a critical point in my chart, my North Node, just as we launched this publication in 2024. After an intense "trial by fire" that renewed my purpose, I’ve emerged transformed — and according to our readers, NMJJ is evolving right along with me.

For a historical perspective on shifting eras, I highly recommend watching the drama TV series Babylon Berlin, streamed on MHz Choice. Immensely popular in Germany and internationally award-winning, it captures the lively cultural turbulence of the late Weimar Republic (1929–1931) and the rise of National Socialism. The 5th and final season will be released this year, to cover 1933. Best watched in German with sub-titles, a dubbed version is also available. — Diane Joy Schmidt

Visit us anytime at https://www.nmjewishjournal.com. Remember to subscribe, contribute, donate. We truly cannot do this without you.

My Relationship Wasn’t Great, But His Father Changed My Life

By Judith Fein “Look,” I said to a woman who invited me to a party in Switzerland half an hour away from where I lived, “I’d love to come but I just broke up a long-term relationship and I don’t have a car right now.” “I really want

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New Mexican by Proxy or How My Soul Came to Belong to New Mexico

by Corinne Joy Brown Citizens of New Mexico fascinate me. Native Americans, settlers, adventurers, retirees, and transplants. People who arrived by accident and others who came for a reason. Some who thought they were merely passing through, then realized, decades later, they never left. Let’s not leave out the

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Klezmer Music and Dance: How an Old Jewish Art Form Finds Joyous Life at KlezmerQuerque

By Randall Edmunds In a time when old musical traditions from around the world have seen renewed interest, none has received as much attention and energy as klezmer. Almost lost because of cultural upheaval and assimilation, klezmer today is a dynamic, evolving art form. Nowhere is that evolution more joyfully

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Breakthrough Musical Theatre: Metropolitan Opera’s The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay

By Judith Fein It is very rare that I weep in the dark because I am so moved, hold my breath from the brilliance of a production, or watch an almost three-hour show and immediately want to see it again. And I can’t recall whispering, “How did they do

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Rachel Cockerell’s Melting Point: The Galveston Movement of 1907-1914

by Dianne R. Layden, Ph.D. In her remarkable first book, Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land, Rachel Cockerell presents history and memoir in an experimental format in which original source material, with all its nuances, is presented as historical context – the search in the

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Hidden in Plain Sight, Unearthing the Subterranean Mikveh of Ortigia, Sicily

Story and Photos by Lena S. Keslin “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the key to everything.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1816 My friend, Judith Zorzy, had been telling me about the beauty and history of Ortigia

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A Heartfelt Farewell from Phyllis Wolf

Phyllis Wolf, Chief Programs Officer, Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque Editor’s Note: When I got Phyllis’s note that she would be saying farewell at the end of April I spontaneously wrote this letter to her, one of many that she has received, and she has written a letter to

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The Independent newspaper in Gallup, New Mexico folds after 62 years

by Diane Joy Schmidt 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.” The Santa Fe New Mexican ran the story as

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TOP 101 Most Read Articles in 2025!

Compiled by Diane Joy Schmidt, Publisher and Editor MOST READ ARTICLES IN 2025 *asterisk indicates published in 2024. To read an article, click on the title if active or copy the title to Search magnifying glass icon, upper left on top of page. Search also by author name for all

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No One Came to Taos to Be Jewish or The book you weren’t looking for but are glad you found

By Corinne Joy Brown No One Came to Taos to Be Jewish By Bruce Grossman Nighthawk Press 2022 Amazon.com Op Cit Bookstore Taos Softcover $14.95 For those of us who came of age in the sixties and seventies, you might remember that an entire population known as the

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For information about becoming a community supporter advertiser, contact Diane at editor@nmjewishjournal.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS from our COMMUNITY SUPPORTER ADVERTISERS.

ORDER by Weds. FEBRUARY 18th! B'nai Israel Men's Club Kosher Co-op:

REGISTER for this IMPORTANT ZOOM TALK SUN. Feb. 22, 11 am:

APPLY BY FEB. 22nd for Overnight Camp Scholarships:

Eat, Drink and be Merry with BAGELS & JAZZ Sunday, March 1st 10:30 am JCC

EAT! Morrocan Sephardic Shabbat Dinner March 6th Congregation Albert:

The True Story of Corrie Ten Boom w Susan Sandager Sunday Mar. 8 2 pm JCC:

CONGREGATION ALBERT PASSOVER SEDERS RSVP by MARCH 3oth

CONGREGATION B'NAI ISRAEL THE BIG EVENT SALSA NIGHT!

How Yiddish Shaped America, Harvey Buchalter, 1 pm, March 29th, JCC Albuquerque. NM Jewish Historical Society 2026 Speaker Programs.

https://nmjhs.org/calendar/

WATCH the Video

Contact Sarah Winger sarah@jcfnm.org 505.348.4472 https://www.jcfnm.org/legacy

TEMPLE BETH SHALOM SANTA FE 
Come As You Are! https://www.sftbs.org/

JEWISH FEDERATION OF EL PASO & LAS CRUCES &

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2026

Your Guide to Jewish Life in Albuquerque and BEYOND. Resources and Community Calendar. Where to Pray, Where to Eat, Where to Learn.

Welcome to Congregation Albert, your center for Jewish life in Albuquerque!

Welcome to Congregation B'nai Israel

Here you will find the many events, services and activities of our 100+ year old community.
(505) 266-0155 / 4401 Indian School Rd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110

Pre-order: https://www.unmpress.com/where-the-north-ends/ VISIT Hugo Moreno here: https://www.hugos.site

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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