September 6th NM Jewish Journal ~ L'shanah tovah u'metukah!

Cartwheeling freely across this issue are a sculptor, dancers, singers and rabbis defying the darkening skies as fall and the New Year approach. Read in "The Jewish Side of Flamenco and How to See It" by Paul Ross how Jewish, Romani and Muslim defiance in the face of oppression created the contumacy of flamenco, with star La Emi and her newest production taking flight. Wander through "Remembering Together: Scenes from the Annual Gathering at Santa Fe's Jewish Cemetery," in photos by Gay Block and Diane Joy Schmidt. In "Harvey Buchalter's Two Callings: Scholar of Yiddish, Sculptor in Wood and Stone," by Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, you will step inside a mind and a studio where alchemy takes place. And the Hebrew letter in “Reish (Seeker),” the art that Gloria Abella Ballen summoned for this issue, signifies head, beginning, Rosh Hashanah, a hidden inner mystical meaning: seeking.

Also included are news briefs: View a new post, Noteworthy, an occasional short, editor-curated compilation of news items gathered on a quick trip around the world and the block. New Mexico-based pianist Richard Atkins announces his debut at Carnegie Hall. The Yiddish Book Center is offering a tantalizing online memoir-writing class that draws inspiration from pairing "close reading of translated Yiddish literature with hands-on writing exercises." High Holiday observances and New Mexico’s Jewish community events follow.

Share this newsletter with a friend so you can kibbutz about it and maybe get them to sign up. It’s free to subscribe (don’t worry, we’ll guilt them into contributing later; we can’t do this without all of you, you know). We’re one of a cohort of ten select New Mexico news media outlets participating in NM Local News Fund’s Blue Engine/Google News Accelerator program. As such, we still need 33 new subscribers to meet one of our benchmarks before the New Year. And, join us on Facebook, where we still need at least 12 more followers to reach some sort of visibility.

The Jewish Side of Flamenco and How to See It

Story & Photos by Paul Ross In Mel Brooks’ remake of legendary director Ernst Lubitsch’s classic WWII dark comedy “To Be Or Not To Be,” a struggling Polish theatrical company learns that their Nazi occupier’s latest ban prohibits “Jews, Gypsies, and Homosexuals” from the theater. Upon hearing this, the

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Remembering Together: Scenes from the Annual Gathering at Santa Fe’s Jewish Cemetery

Photos by Gay Block, Billie Parker and Diane Joy Schmidt This year’s 2026 community gathering to remember was held on Sunday, August 30th, at 1:30 PM in the Jewish section of Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 417 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe. “In the Jewish tradition, securing a place for burial

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Harvey Buchalter’s Two Callings: Scholar of Yiddish, Sculptor in Wood and Stone

Story and Photos by Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Many people with stellar professional careers also have a creative side that provides deep satisfaction. A noted Albuquerque expert in Jewish history and translation of Yiddish literature with a respected career in education is also a fascinating artist in wood and stone,

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Noteworthy

Noteworthy is an occasional short, editor-curated selection of items from around the world. – DJS * A column I wish I’d written, in the Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026 Forward: “Why is JD Vance talking about the Antichrist?” by Mira Fox, traces how Vance’s evangelical-inflected Catholicism (and his citing

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New Mexico Pianist Richard Atkins Makes Carnegie Hall Debut This October

After more than fifty years in music, pianist, composer, and playwright Richard Atkins is set to fulfill a lifelong dream: a solo debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City on Saturday, October 24, at 8:00 p.m. Atkins, a New Mexico-based pianist, composer,

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Yiddish Book Center Offers New Online Memoir Writing Course, Centered on Rokhl Feygenberg

This fall, the Yiddish Book Center is inviting writers and readers to explore what makes a life worth putting into words. Its new online course, “Memoir Writing Then and Now: Reading and Writing with Rokhl Feygenberg’s The Winding Road,” pairs close reading of translated Yiddish literature with hands-on

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In case you missed them, here are more recent stories posted. Visit the New Mexico Jewish Journal website, where all our stories live, and where all articles can be searched by author, title and subject. Also visit our Past Issues tab where each newsletter issue is arranged by date from our very first issue.

Do You Want To Know Where You Really Come From?

By Judith Fein with Alex Denisenko When I grew up, I was mesmerized by my “foreign” grandmother. She had gray hair, sometimes wore nylon stockings that she rolled up at the top, had an accent, read a newspaper in Yiddish, and, like many other immigrants, never wanted to talk about

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Grave Visits, Stones, and Stories: Ways to Honor Our Loved Ones This High Holy Day Season

By Rabbi Deborah J. Brin Many of us visit the graves of family members, friends or teachers during the High Holy Day season. We do this to remember and honor those who came before us, to contemplate our own mortality and prepare for the season of change and t’shuvah/

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Portrait of the Artist as a Young Schlemiel

By Corinne Joy Brown Antitherapies, by Jacques Fux (University of New Mexico Press), winner of Brazil’s prestigious São Paulo Prize, is one of those books you might have never discovered on your own. But once begun, you find yourself hooked, grateful you didn’t miss it. Composed of twenty-

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An easy year for New Mexico voters

By Merilee Dannemann New Mexico voters in many districts will find that voting this November is a little simpler than they expected. Legislators are making one decision easy for about half of New Mexico voters. In our House of Representatives, there are currently 42 Democrats and 26 Republicans. Slightly more

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Three Jews + An Opera About A Trans Woman

By Judith Fein Photos by Paul Ross I was sitting at a recent event sponsored by the Wagner Society of Santa Fe. It was about the Santa Fe Opera’s American premiere of Lili Elbe, the true story of one of the first trans women ever to undergo gender-affirming

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They Never Dreamed of This: The Shalom House Sale Becomes a Gift to the Whole Albuquerque Jewish Community

Surprise and delight seem to have been the common reactions among Jewish non-profit leaders upon hearing they would share the proceeds from the sale of the David Specter Shalom House.

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Gregg Hull doesn’t trust New Mexico elections

For Rio Rancho’s municipal election in 2024, voter turnout was 7.08%. That is, at least in part, due to its former mayor, Gregg Hull, who is now the Republican nominee for governor of New Mexico.

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KEEP SCROLLING to Community Events and HHD flyers. Click on the flyers and links for more information.

HaMakom - Passionate Judaism in Santa Fe High Holiday Services with Hazzan Cindy Freeman and Rabbi Deborah Brin

LAS VEGAS JEWISH COMMUNITY High Holiday Services - All are Welcome, no charge

TEMPLE BETH-EL in LAS CRUCES High Holy Days Services

Congregation Albert High Holy Days Services led by Senior Rabbi Celia Surget and Rabbi Micah Citrin

Congregation B'nai Israel High Holy Days Services led by Rabbi Hazzan Jonathan Angress

Temple Beth Shalom High Holy Days Services led by Rabbi Neil Amswych

Congregation Albert Early Childhood Center. And read "Play First, Learn Forever: Katelyn Clark Named New Director of Congregation Albert's Early Childhood Center" by Austin Curtis.

REGISTER: Academy of Jewish Learning, Congregation B'nai Israel

Our Religious School, the Academy of Jewish Learning at Congregation B'nai Israel, is now open and accepting registration and enrollment for the 2026-2027 school year. Please reach out to our Religious School director Judith Segall for more information or with any questions. CALL 505-266-0155 or email School Director at cbi.abq.school@gmail.com Visit: https://bnaiisrael-nm.org/learn/religious-school

AND, The Academy of Jewish Learning (AJL) at CBl is seeking part-time teachers for the 2026-27 school year for our students in grades pre-K through 6th grade. For more information on the school, the curriculum, and teacher responsibilities, please contact Judith Segall, School Director, at cbi.abq.school@gmail.com 505-266-0155

The Cookbook is Here!:

WATCH NOW ON THE JEWISH LEARNING CHANNEL: https://youtu.be/ZhhoUre1hfI?si=I3pXCQJaGpvh9l1_ along with all the previous speakers!

SHABBAT WITH FRIENDS brings **SHABBAT DELIGHT**

Check out Minyan Midbar's website: https://rabbidov-site.vercel.app/programs/minyan-midbar/ and see the next gathering

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

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