Jewish Holidays
By Misha Sauceda We come in everyday clothes—worn jeans, scuffed sneakers, T-shirts, warm hoodies. Children play in the Social hall. We talk and laugh. The atmosphere feels charged, different from an ordinary Shabbat morning. Then all the Torahs come out. Usually, opening the ark is a special moment.
Community News Feature
Story and Photos by Paul Ross One of THE big questions — right up there after “What is the Meaning of Life?”— is “Is There Life After Death?” Most religions have answers but seances try to put you in touch with the only ones who really know: the dead. And now
Op-ed
By Merilee Dannemann | Triple Spaced Again If you have never heard of the term “loss ratio,” consider yourself lucky. That means you have never had to learn a certain unpleasant truth. “Loss ratio” means how much insurance companies have to pay for losses and other expenses compared to how much
Op-ed
By Sherry Robinson | All She Wrote After years of debate, voters will have the chance to weigh in on a paid Legislature in Constitutional Amendment 4. In all the pros and cons so far, however, nobody has raised the big question: Who benefits by having volunteer legislators? Supporters (mostly Democrats)
Awards
The New Mexico Jewish Journal has won two awards in the 2026 NMPA Foundation Better Newspaper Contest, the statewide competition of the New Mexico Press Association, which has served New Mexico newspapers since 1900. This was the first year NMJJ joined NMPA and entered the contest. As a digital-only
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RSVP BY OCT. 7th: RAISE THE ROOF on Oct. 11 All NMJJ readers, friends, and family are invited to RAISE THE ROOF, a good old-fashioned HOEDOWN at Congregation B’nai Israel on Sunday, October 11, 2026. The lively community-oriented event, featuring square dancing and a barbecue, is a
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REGISTER HEREREGISTER HERETIP JARRETURN TO HOME HERE FOR MORE STORIES 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&
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By Judith Fein “Oh Jonah he lived in a whale. He made his home in that fish’s abdomen,” sings Spo’tin’ Life in the song “It Ain’t Necessarily So” from George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy & Bess.” In familiar adaptations of the Pinocchio story, the wooden puppet and
By Rabbi Min Kantrowitz - Jewish Values #9: Talmud Torah 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. They
By Carina Julig This article was originally published in the Santa Fe New Mexican on September 12, 2026, and is republished here with permission. The folks who established Santa Fe’s first Jewish temple might be called pragmatists: The modest synagogue they built on East Barcelona Road in 1956 was
By Merilee Dannemann General election season is now in full swing, and without doubt the hottest contest in New Mexico this year is the race for Congressional District 2 between Democratic incumbent Gabe Vasquez and businessman Greg Cunningham. While only voters in that district can vote for that member of
by Aidan McGloin "This day 476 years ago: Early Copyright Case Decided by Rabbi" This article was originally published in the Inland Empire Law Weekly, August 16, 2026, and is republished here with permission. 💡Editor's Note: At the LION (Local Independent Online News) publishers conference in
We have five new stories for you: * What the Story of Jonah Reveals, by Judith Fein * "Let your learning be sweet," a teaching from Rabbi Min Kantrowitz * What the Ancient Romans can teach us about Elections, by Merilee Dannemann * How the Talmud shaped copyright law, by Aidan McGloin
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
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,
Photos by Gay Block 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 is
Story and Photos by Ruth E. Thaler-Carter 💡Buchalter will be showing his sculptures at “Jewish Life in NM through the Arts” in Santa Fe at the NM Jewish Historical Society Fall Conference, Oct. 25th. Many people with stellar professional careers also have a creative side that provides deep satisfaction.
Noteworthy is an occasional short, editor-curated selection of events: a quick trip around the world and the block. – 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