MIKVAH refresh your creativity poems, stories, art

MIKVAH refresh your creativity poems, stories, art
Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly Inhabited for untold eons, the canyon holds stories photo © dianejoyschmidt/nmjewishjournal.com

Renew creativity with a plunge into the waters. This page features links to poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction and art that have been published here. See submission guidelines at "Announce, Write, Draw" tab.

The idea for this page came to me in a dream. Before our first issue launched in 2024, I dreamed that I was in a darkened Mikveh and a Greek goddess was pouring water over my head to purify my thoughts while an unseen chorus chanted, "Call it Mikveh, call the journal Mikveh." Lena S. Keslin just delivered a story for the February 2026 issue, "Unearthing the Subterranean Mikveh of Ortigia, Sicily." I subsequently have learned that Ortigia was known mythologically as the site where the Greek nymph Arethusa was transformed into a spring by her patron goddess Artemis. And am reminded: Everything is connected.

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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Hidden in Plain Sight, The Alhambra in Granada, Spain
Story and photographs by Lena S. Keslin April 22, 2025 There are times in our lives when an opportunity appears. We were invited to visit Spain on a Jewish Tour with Rabbi Howard Berman, a dear, lifelong friend, and some of his Boston congregation. I was excited because this trip
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NM PRESS WOMEN AWARD 2026 for Photographer/Writer The Alhambra by Lena S. Keslin.

First Place - Illustration Jacob's Ladder by Gloria Abella Ballen. Society of Professional Journalists 2026. Judge: "The struggle feels real in this wonderful, artistic painting."
“We Cannot Be Defined by the Hatred of Others,” Antisemitism in New Mexico Now
By Ellen Marks April 22, 2025 It’s all of this and more: A Santa Fe student with a marker pen drawing swastikas on a young Jewish classmate. Rabbis answering the phone only to be called “genocidal baby-killer” and to hear death threats. A Jewish district attorney receiving threats credible
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First Place - Illustration Jacob's Ladder by Gloria Abella Ballen. Society of Professional Journalists "We Cannot Be Defined by the Hatred of Others," Antisemitism in New Mexico Now Story by Ellen Marks, First Place, Feature News, NMPW, Third Place, SPJ,

Graphics Awards,NM Press Women Contest 2026

Borges’ Jewish Roots
by Ilan Stavans Perhaps because the adolescence of Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was marked by the atrocities of the First World War—when his family was caught in Europe during a trip and ultimately stayed there for more than a year—and the friendships he made during the period, and
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First Place - Graphics Apples for Rosh HaShanah by Diane Joy Schmidt, for "To Bestow Lovingkindness" by R. Min Kantrowitz. Second Place - Graphics Is It A Dream? by Gloria Abella Ballen, illustrating "Borges' Jewish Roots" by Ilan Stavans. Third Place - Graphics Mosaic Menorah by Meredith Gould, for Tikkun Olam by Rabbi Min Kantrowitz

Gemilut Chasadim ~ To Bestow Lovingkindness
by Rabbi Min Kantrowitz - Jewish Values #7 Shanah Tovah! Wishing you a Happy New Year for Rosh Hashanah, 5786. Erev Rosh Hashanah, Eve of the New Year, begins Monday evening September 22, 2025 coinciding with the Fall Equinox, and on Tuesday, September 23rd the 1st day of the New
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Jewish Values: Tikkun Olam
By Rabbi Min Kantrowitz - Jewish Values #8: Tikkun Olam Each edition of NMJJ highlights one of the many Jewish values that guide our lives. Each of these values underlies our Jewish community, regardless of any individuals’ religious observances or practices. These values form the ethical structure of the community.
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, Graphics and Design - Graphics HM: Chanukah by Barbara Ann Schmidt. Shmuel & Esther Itkin, Manhattan Deli, making work a family enterprise by Paul Ross. Opera Dress, Fans from all over the world flock to Wagner's "Ring Cycle by Paul Ross. Bluebirds by Frank Morgan. Yud by Gloria Abella Ballen.

The Eighth Night
By Diane Joy Schmidt In December, she flew again from Albuquerque to Chicago. It was the first night of Chanukah. Joy and her sisters lit the candles every night at the hospital bedside and sang the songs, tuneless and off-key, something they hadn’t done together since they were children.
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HM Short Story The Eighth Night by Diane Joy Schmidt, NMPW

Chanukah Children’s Art from 4 of our Synagogues: Temple Beth Shalom, Congregation B’nai Israel, Nahalat Shalom, and Congregation Albert
CHANUKAH CHILDREN’S ART 2025 Next holiday we hope to include even more! Thank you to Jessica Corley for volunteering to engage our synagogues in sharing all this wonderful artwork: from Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe, and in Albuquerque from Nahalat Shalom, Congregation B’nai Israel and Congregation Albert. CONGREGATION BETH
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Volume 1, Number 4 Winter 2024:

Perfidious
by Gabriel Lampert NMJJ Vol.1 No.4. The story “Perfidious” was first published in Jewish Fiction. Los Lunas, NM, June 1942 I hate arguments. If I lose, it makes me feel small. If I win, I can feel the other person’s hate. I’ve always run away from
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Drawing by Frank Morgan, Roaming Hidden Places Drawing © 2024 by Frank Morgan, Bilii' Dijaadii Bitsoii, 1st Place, Illustration, Society Professional Journalists, 2025

PERFIDIOUS Drawing by Frank Morgan, "Roaming Hidden Places" 1st Place, Illustration, Society Professional Journalists, 2025.

THE HANUKKAH MIRACLE

LIGHTS IN WINTER

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE LIDO 1st place Photo/Story, NMPress Women, nationally: 3rd place, National Federation Press Women.

Hidden in Plain Sight, The Old Jewish Cemetery on the Lido, one of the many islands of Venice, Italy
Story and Photos by Lena S. Keslin 1st place, New Mexico Press Women, and 3rd, National Federation of Press Women, 2025. Subsequently reprinted by HaLapid: Society of Crypto-Jewish Studies, across 4 color print pages. It’s interesting how some memories can stay with us for many years. In 1984 I
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HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE LIDO 1st place Photo/Story, NM Press Women; nationally, 3rd place, National Federation Press Women.

Volume 1, Number 3 Fall 2024

Tahara, An Encounter Honorable Mention, Health, NMPW

Tahara: An Encounter
By Rabbi Min Kantrowitz Initially I was just curious about Tahara…how are we supposed to care for our recently deceased friends, relatives and congregants? Is there a formal process? Specific liturgy or instructions…..but then I realized what I was really concerned about was how I would react to
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Hidden in Plain Sight: Amsterdam Honorable Mention, Photo/Story NMPW

Hidden In Plain Sight, Amsterdam
Story and Photos by Lena S. Keslin Just the name Amsterdam conjures up images of a quaint city with its picturesque canals and bridges. Each of the 17th century Dutch colonial homes is different from the next as they line the canals. There are narrow cobblestone streets with more bicycles
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