Little Shop, Big Purpose: Congregation Albert prepares for its annual Chanukah marketplace

By Austin Curtis

For Diana Paul, the Congregation Albert Sisterhood Judaica shop has always been about more than the menorahs, candles, and toys sitting on its shelves. It's about giving families a place to find the items that help keep Jewish traditions alive.

Paul has volunteered with Congregation Albert's Judaica shop since around 2010, helping it grow from a small shop serving the congregation into a resource for the wider Jewish community. Now, the annual Chanukah marketplace prepares to open Nov. 8, expanding its offerings once again.

“It's just heartwarming to provide a service to the Jewish community,” Paul said.

The shop, operated by Congregation Albert's Sisterhood, offers Jewish ceremonial items, holiday decorations, books, jewelry, artwork and other unique pieces.

Terri Coy, a third-year volunteer manager with the shop, said maintaining a mix of traditional items and new offerings is what makes it appealing.

“We are always trying to get different things, but we always keep Jewish staples plus anything unique we can find,” Coy said.

The annual Chanukah marketplace launched about three years ago and builds on that selection with a larger assortment of merchandise geared toward the holiday.

“We try to grow it each year,” Coy said.

This year, that growth includes a new pop-up market featuring products designed by Israeli artists through ESEK, an online marketplace supporting Israeli small businesses and artisans.

“This one will be the biggest,” Coy said.

Space is a real factor. For most of the year, the shop operates out of its small room, but the marketplace spills into the pre-function area of the social hall, which the rabbi allows the shop to use for the season.

For Paul, the marketplace grew out of a local problem. “It’s harder and harder to find Chanukah merchandise in this city. We thought if we could set up a Chanukah marketplace and advertise it, we can do well, and we've done well,” she said.

One of the shop’s most distinctive features is a heritage collection of previously owned Judaica, including items that families have kept for generations before bringing them in. The collection gives those objects a chance to find new homes with families who can appreciate their history.

Among the most notable donations came from the family of Rabbi David Shor. After he died many years ago, his daughter donated several pieces, along with the stories behind them, when she and her husband moved to Arizona. Paul said donations have been picking up as more people downsize, and the shop has become a natural home for them.

“The younger families are just tickled pink to have a set of candlesticks or a menorah or a Judaica that belonged to a family for 50 years,” Paul said.

That connection between objects, families and tradition is part of what has kept Paul involved for so many years. She first stepped in to run the Judaica shop while serving on the Sisterhood board, when the previous volunteer was ready to move on.

Over the years, she has also helped bring the shop's merchandise to community events, setting up tables filled with Chanukah items for people to browse. The work has given her opportunities to meet congregants, parents and out-of-town visitors.

“It’s a real cool thing, and I think it’s a feather in Sisterhood’s cap to be able to do this,” Paul said.

The shop’s customers also reach beyond the Jewish community. Over the years, it has had significant sales to Christian customers, including prayer shawls, known as tallit, and several seder plates that one church bought for its community seder.

One regular is a Christian woman whose daughter married a Jewish man. She first came in with questions about what would make an appropriate gift. Now that she has Jewish grandchildren, she returns each year for Chanukah toys, wrapping paper and other items.

Behind the counter, the operation is entirely volunteer-run, and it depends on Sisterhood members to staff it during open hours. Paul stepped back from managing the shop about a year ago and handed it to Coy. Paul still keeps the books, makes the bank deposits and makes sure the cash box has small bills for change. Coy, who is there often, keeps an eye on inventory, and the two order merchandise together. Sisterhood President Jan Secunda is helping out, too, and wants to be more involved once her term as president ends in June.

It is a hands-on system, and Paul said the shop is “a bit old-school.” Inventory isn’t tracked electronically, though she said maybe someday it will be.

Rising costs are a bigger challenge. Paul said wholesale prices and freight charges have gone up significantly, but the shop works to keep its merchandise affordable and appealing to most people. 

For Coy, connecting with visitors has been one of the most rewarding parts of getting involved. “Interacting with people, whether they are from Congregation Albert or somewhere else, sometimes we get people that come from Santa Fe or all places out of town,” Coy said. “It allows me to engage with those people, which is wonderful to have since I've not been here long.”

The Chanukah marketplace will open Nov. 8 and run through Dec. 11. Merchandise will be half price during the final three days, Dec. 9-11. The market will be open Sundays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 5 to 5:45 p.m. before services.

Call Jan Secunda for more information at 505-319-7231.

VISIT the Congregation Albert Sisterhood Website and the
Congregation Albert Judaica Shop on FaceBook.

Austin Curtis, a student at Cornell University majoring in American Studies with a minor in Spanish, is a feature writer for the NM Jewish Journal and a freelance sports writer for the Albuquerque Journal.

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
HaMakom - Passionate Judaism in Santa Fe
Chavurat Hamidbar Fellowship of the Desert
Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival
Sisterhood Congregation Albert, Congregation Albert Judaica Shop

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