Hear smart people talk about interesting ideas: New voices in NM Jewish Historical Society Speakers Bureau
by Norma Libman
I’ve spent the better part of the past year talking to smart people about interesting ideas. What could be more fun?
Actually, I was on assignment from the Board of NMJHS to refresh and revamp our Speakers Bureau. We ended up with several new speakers and lots of new topics from some of our favorite established speakers.
The presenters are authors and educators, journalists and historians, rabbis and more. They speak on a wealth of topics that we hope will appeal to the larger community, Jewish or not. There is a simple method for hiring a speaker for an organization’s special event, all spelled out on our website. The Speakers Bureau link is now more easily accessed than previously.
Co-President of NMJHS, Linda Goff, says of the bureau, “Our Speakers Bureau offers the opportunity to not only share New Mexico’s Jewish history of almost 500 years, but also the diverse Jewish cultural influence within the United States and far flung areas of the world.”
So what do we have to offer? What about a talk on the topic of Jews of color? Or the history of the Jews of Afghanistan? Hate crimes in the U. S. and New Mexico? The Jew in American film? Jewish humor? Jewish gangsters? The swastika in New Mexico culture and history? Or perhaps you’d like to hear about Jewish travel, or how Yiddish has shaped life in America, or how the Crypto-Jews got to New Mexico. There is Zionism, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and a first-person recounting of a Converso finding her Jewish roots in New Mexico.
This is only a small sample. In all, there are 37 topics from which to choose. Something for everyone, we hope. On the website you will be able to see bios of the speakers, and learn how to contact them personally for more information about their talks.
I couldn’t help checking with some of our speakers to see how they liked the new topics, and the easier access to the site. Rabbi Jack Shlachter, who is also a Los Alamos physicist, said, “New Mexico is incredibly fortunate to have such a diverse range of highly qualified, professional speakers who can inform, entertain, and challenge us on topics from Los Alamos to Afghanistan; from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to mobsters; from A(lbuquerque) to Z(ionism). It is an honor to be on this list, and I truly hope the community avails itself of these wonderful opportunities.”
I also spoke with Sara Koplik, PhD, Director of the Aaron David Bram Hillel House at the UNM campus in Albuquerque. She, too, was enthusiastic. “The New Mexico Jewish Historical Society’s new Speakers Bureau is a wonderful innovation for the 40th anniversary year of this important organization. With assistance of twelve initial lecturers, the NMJHS is able to significantly expand its reach,” she said. “Far more aspects of Jewish history will be shared with a wider and more diverse audience. I’m excited to learn more from my fellow scholars, and know that groups as far as Zoom can reach will feel the same way.”
I urge everyone to take a look at our website and see what a world of ideas our new Speakers Bureau tab (under Programs) can open up for other organizations you may belong to. Check out our website at www.nmjhs.org. Or, for more information, contact admin@nmjhs.org or call the NMJHS office at (505) 348-4471. And be sure to click on our speakers’ names on the website to see their bios.
Norma Libman is a journalist, author, and educator and a NMJHS board member. Her award-winning books include "Lonely River Village" about the secret writing Chinese women wove into household linens, "The Story of the Story" about her more than 500 published articles, many for the Chicago Tribune, and "Hannah's Day at School," for young readers. Learn more about Norma at http://www.normalibman.com/index.html.
She received two 1st place awards from the NM Press Women Communications Contest for these articles published in the first year of the NM Jewish Journal:
"Marco Polo Didn't Have a Guidebook: Judith Fein Goes Deep in Exploring New Mexico" and "Looking for your ancestors? Let Judith Fein Show You How To Get the Real Story". See all her articles for NMJJ here.
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