APRIL 1, 2026 ~ NM Jewish Journal ~ 14 Nissan 5786 Happy Passover!

Happy Passover and Chag Sameach! Seven new stories! Our new series, New Mexico Jewish voices across the Spectrum, is introduced with three articles. The first Spectrum profile, by Ron Duncan Hart, highlights the work of Mikey Weinstein, Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder, whose battle against religious coercion in the U.

From the Reagan White House to a Watchdog for Religious Freedom: The Life and Times of Mikey Weinstein

By Ron Duncan Hart I first learned about “Mikey” Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation from a Harper’s Magazine article entitled, “Jesus Killed Mohammed: The Crusade for a Christian Military.” In that 2009 article the author Jeff Sharlet wrote about an American military squadron in Iraq that had

His Card Sat on My Desk: Introducing the Spectrum Series

Editor's Letter by Diane Joy Schmidt Preparing for presenting the article about Jeffrey Haas that appears in this issue was difficult for me on both a personal and political level. His life had cast a shadow on mine twice before, though we never met until this year. I

Jeffrey Haas: Civil Rights Lawyer, Anti-Zionist

By Ellen Marks If it’s noon on Wednesday, you’re sure to find Jeffrey Haas at the corner of Paseo de Peralta and Old Santa Fe Trail in Santa Fe, protesting on behalf of Palestinians. The 83-year-old Jewish co-founder of the group now called Santa Feans for Justice in

SNAILS, AN ANTI-SEMITIC PLAY, ROMAN SOLDIERS, A SEDER,  AND CATALONIAN SECRET JEWS

by Judith Fein When I met an affable local guide in Catalunya, I innocently asked if anything unusual was happening during the current Semana Santa or Holy Week, which included both Easter and Passover.   “Well,” she began, “perhaps you have heard of the Catalonian desserts called brunyols, which are fried

Jewish Funeral Traditions on Film

By Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death ® Gail Rubin’s new book, 98.6 Mortality Movies to See Before You Die will be published April 16. It is available now for pre-sale at: https://agoodgoodbye.com/product/pre-sale-98-6-mortality-movies-to-see-before-you-die/The Albuquerque Chevra Kaddisha will hold its (very approximately!) annual meeting

Republicans for fair elections?

by Merilee Dannemann President Trump is talking publicly about his plans to undermine the 2026 midterm election. I’m relieved. Why relieved? Because now that he is talking about it openly, we are also starting to hear about what’s being done, mostly by the states, to counteract those plans.

New Mexico Jewish Journal: The 2026 Awards Are Already Rolling In

Oh the Suspense! We have preliminary results from two professional journalist contests for our stories published in our second year: the regional Society of Professional Journalists and the New Mexico Press Women awards – 17 first-place and recognized entries so far, with more to come. And we will also be hearing

15 PASSOVER SEDERS TO ATTEND IN NEW MEXICO & Trinidad, CO!

15 Passover Seder events are listed in our Passover Seder Guide to NM, w RSVP deadlines. First Night Seders are April 1st. Second Night, April 2nd. Also, an early Community seder March 28 and a Pesach BBQ April 5th. Sign up to read and receive our newsletter and future Holiday Resource Guides!

Yom HaShoah

By Ron Duncan Hart April 18, 2026 Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a day to remember the unthinkable killing of 6 million Jews and other millions of Roma, communists, gay people and political dissidents by Germans crazed by Nazi supremacy ideology in the 1940s. Why have some groups

What is it like in Iran — really?

“You’ll never get out alive. You’re Jewish. You’re female. They’ll behead you, and they’ll post it on youtube.” "There’s NO American Embassy. You’ll rot in a rat-infested jail for the rest of your life” Those were some of the cheery reactions my friends had when I said I was going to Iran.

The Spiritual Path of a Maestro: Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

by Ron Duncan Hart Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was a unique influential rabbi of the late twentieth century, and his foundational book, Fragments of a Future Scroll: Hasidism for the Aquarian Age, published in 1975, has just been republished after fifty years.[i] Reb Zalman was born in Poland in 1924