Wednesday, November 30, 2022

The Federation's Last Day

But Don't Say Kaddish Yet: As we shocked and saddened New MexiJews have come to realize, the days of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico have come to a painful end. 

The Federation's Board has recently voted to dissolve the Jewish Federation as a New Mexico non-profit corporation, and is filing paperwork with the State to that effect.

And, as Abq Jew has previously reported (see Before the Law and Train Wreck at Federation), the Federation has no money and no employees. And - as of midnight - no directors and no 501(c)(3) operating insurance. 

JFNM OBM

In short - the Federation is kaput.

Kaput

Kaput (broken and useless; no longer working or effective) is, of course, a technical term. Lili von Shtupp put it - more, shall we say, colloquially - in Blazing Saddles. As we all remember.

Madeline Kahn

Fertig! Verfallen! Verlumpt! Verblunget! Verkackt!

Temporarily, for the next short period of time, while the State of New Mexico processes the paperwork and the Federation cleanly shuts down - 

Cat

The Jewish Federation will both
continue to exist and cease to operate.
Sorta like Schrödinger's cat

Community Calendar

You may be wondering - what happens to Jewish New Mexico's Community Calendar now that it is no longer supported (or displayed) by the kaput Jewish Federation? 

The answer: For the time being, as new community support is being collected, the complete Community Calendar will still be available on Abq Jew's website, right here.

Upcoming Community Events

And you may be wondering - what happens to Abq Jew's Upcoming Community Events weekly eblast now that it, too, is no longer supported by the kaput Jewish Federation? 

The answer: For the time being, as new community support is being collected, Abq Jew will continue to send out the Upcoming Community Events weekly eblast to current subscribers. 

If you no longer wish to receive the weekly eblast, you can easily unsubscribe. If you haven't subscribed but wish to - click here!

Green Microphone

And you may also be wondering - 

What happens to the New Mexico
Jewish Community's singular moral voice
now that the Jewish Federation is kaput?
 
The answer: That remains to be seen. Other communities have put together a Jewish Community Relations Council. Will that model suit us New MexiJews?

End Beginning

The messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary;
 he will come only on the day after his arrival;
he will come, not on the last day, but on the very last.
- Franz Kafka -

Monday, November 21, 2022

Thanksgiving 2022

Happy Thanksgiving: This Thanksgiving week, let's be happy.

Thanksgiving Turkey

And let's give thanks - to God, to the Fates, or to Fortune - for who we are, for where we stand, and, yes, for what we have.

And let us pray that hard times - poverty, war, destruction, disease, or random events that just seem to happen in the world - come again no more.

Here is the song Hard Times Come Again No More, written by Stephen Foster in 1854, performed by Kate & Anna McGarrigle and friends: Rufus Wainwright (son of Kate), Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, Karen Matheson, and Rod Paterson.


Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh! Hard times come again no more.

'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh! Hard times come again no more.


Happy Thanksgiving!


Or, as we say in Yiddish:
Only Simchas!

Alex Jake
Alla famiglia

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Before the Law

Sits a Gatekeeper: Yes, there will be much, much more about that gatekeeper in just a bit. But first, Abq Jew would like to say yasher koach to ... let's keep him anonymous, for now. 

For emailing Abq Jew the Zoom link to Monday's Motion Hearing for Bernalillo County Case D-202-CV-202105917, which, Abq Jew is sure you'll recognize, is one of the cases in which the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico is, to an extent still to be determined, "involved."

Soccer Kick

What a kick!

Abq Jew has mentioned, as he is sure you'll recall, that Abq Jew is not a rabbi, even though he did, for a time, attend Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (see May 2011's Wanna Be A Rabbi?).

In addition to not being a rabbi, Abq Jew is proud to say that he is also not a) a lawyer; or b) a Latin scholar. Which is why it was a special treat for him to attend Monday's hearing and hear all about the legal concept of

Ultra Vires

Ultra Vires. Which may or may not be a factor in the JFNM case being ... heard. Just don't ask Abq Jew - who, as previously and proudly stated, is neither a) lawyer; nor b) a Latin scholar. 

Besides, when Abq Jew heard "Ultra Vires," all he could think of was Ultra Violet for Sixteen Minutes, the remarkable film that his son, Dov Yellin the Film Editor, was honored to edit. Way back in 2011!

So let's talk about gatekeepers. The Chief Gatekeeper at Monday's Motion Hearing was, of course, the Judge. Alas, not current free agent Aaron Judge - that would have made it much more lively. Judge Joshua A Allison.

Other speakers at the hearing included Renni Zifferblatt, Esq, Attorney for the Plaintiffs; and Charles J Vigil, Esq, Attorney for the Defendants. Ms Zifferblatt is credited in IMDb for the 2007 film Garbage Warrior; an IMDb search yields no results for Mr Vigil or Judge Allison.

There were lots of silent observers at Monday's hearing, which was expected by many to produce the Final Answer(s) to the question(s) raised in last week's Train Wreck at Federation.

However -

No Final Answer was produced. No Final Answers were produced. But more questions were raised! What could Abq Jew do, before the law? He turned to Before the Law, a parable contained in Franz Kafka's novel The Trial.


Hockey Goalie Black

Before the Law

Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment. The man thinks about it and then asks if he will be allowed to come in later on. 

“It is possible,” says the gatekeeper, “but not now.” 

At the moment the gate to the law stands open, as always, and the gatekeeper walks to the side, so the man bends over in order to see through the gate into the inside. When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: 

“If it tempts you so much,
try it in spite of my prohibition.
But take note: I am powerful.
And I am only the most lowly gatekeeper.
But from room to room stand gatekeepers,
each more powerful than the other.
I can’t endure even one glimpse of the third.” 

The man from the country has not expected such difficulties: the law should always be accessible for everyone, he thinks, but as he now looks more closely at the gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides that it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside. The gatekeeper gives him a stool and allows him to sit down at the side in front of the gate. 

There he sits for days and years. He makes many attempts to be let in, and he wears the gatekeeper out with his requests. The gatekeeper often interrogates him briefly, questioning him about his homeland and many other things, but they are indifferent questions, the kind great men put, and at the end he always tells him once more that he cannot let him inside yet. 

The man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper. The latter takes it all but, as he does so, says, 

“I am taking this only so that you do not
think you have failed to do anything.”

During the many years the man observes the gatekeeper almost continuously. He forgets the other gatekeepers, and this one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law. He curses the unlucky circumstance, in the first years thoughtlessly and out loud, later, as he grows old, he still mumbles to himself. He becomes childish and, since in the long years studying the gatekeeper he has come to know the fleas in his fur collar, he even asks the fleas to help him persuade the gatekeeper. 

Finally his eyesight grows weak, and he does not know whether things are really darker around him or whether his eyes are merely deceiving him. But he recognizes now in the darkness an illumination which breaks inextinguishably out of the gateway to the law. 

Now he no longer has much time to live. Before his death he gathers in his head all his experiences of the entire time up into one question which he has not yet put to the gatekeeper. He waves to him, since he can no longer lift up his stiffening body.

The gatekeeper has to bend way down to him, for the great difference has changed things to the disadvantage of the man. 

“What do you still want to know, then?”
asks the gatekeeper. “You are insatiable.”

“Everyone strives after the law,” says the man, “so how is it
that in these many years no one except me has requested entry?
” 

The gatekeeper sees that the man is already dying and, in order to reach his diminishing sense of hearing, he shouts at him, 

“Here no one else can gain entry,
since this entrance was assigned only to you.
I’m now going to close it."

What Abq Jew

The talking and the hearings will continue. Decisions that affect Abq Jew and the New Mexico Jewish Community will be made - they will have to be. In the meantime, Abq Jew continues to support the community -

The complete Community Calendar is still
available on Abq Jew's website, right here.

Abq Jew Community Calendar

Please support Abq Jew!

Abq Jew Ko-fi

Monday, November 7, 2022

Train Wreck at Federation

Hope For The Future: As many of us New MexiJews recall, January 28, 2013 was not a good day for the Jewish Family Service of New Mexico (JFSNM). And it was a terrible day for the New Mexico Jewish Community. That was the day that the JFSNM Board announced that the organization would soon cease operations.

As many of us New MexiJews recall, January 13, 2015 was not a good day for the Jewish Academy of Arts & Sciences. And it was a terrible day for the New Mexico Jewish Community. That was the day that the Jewish Academy Board announced that the school would soon cease operations.

Train Wreck

But now, as many of us New MexiJews are suddenly aware, November 4, 2022 - last Friday - was not a good day for the Jewish Federation of New Mexico. And it was a most terrible day for the New Mexico Jewish Community.

Worse than the closing of the Jewish Family Service of New Mexico (JFSNM). Worse than the closing of the Jewish Academy of Arts & Sciences. 

The absolute worst.

Last Friday, many of us New MexiJews received this email letter from Robert Efroymson, President of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico (JFNM).

Dear members of the New Mexico Jewish Community,  

 I am proud to have recently been elected President of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico by its board of directors. The Federation has played an important role in the life of Jewish New Mexico for decades. However, I must be blunt: my tenure will be a short one. The main task we face is an orderly shutdown of the organization. 

There have been news articles and rumors aplenty, so I will be brief, and make only a few points. We are almost out of money. We have no employees. Critical insurance has been canceled. We cannot fulfill the purposes for which the organization was founded. 

 You might ask if we can recover. Surely, we can raise money again, hire new employees, get another insurance carrier? That might be true, but we must be honest. Decisions made by the prior leadership of the organization have placed us in a very poor position.  It is regrettable that it has been months since the former Executive Director sent his “report” to the community.  It is also regrettable that it was sent. 

I would like to say more about how we came to this pass. The truth is that there is much we still don’t know. One of the chief tasks the board has undertaken is to conduct an independent accounting review so we can report to the community what has happened.   

 In the meantime, I would ask members of the community to continue the charitable activities which the JFNM has historically facilitated. The Jewish Care program is now under the auspices of the Jewish Community Center, and money to support it can be directed to them. Organizations like UNM Hillel and others that previously were supported by JFNM can accept contributions directly.  

 There are many other charities that we have supported, both locally and internationally, over the years. You will have your favorites among them, and I urge you to look up the best way to give. Now is an excellent time to contact the Jewish Community Foundation about setting up a Donor Advised Fund.  

 I know this is not the news you wanted to hear. We will communicate further as we have more information. 

Robert Efroymson
President, JFNM 

Many of you have known for months that things were not good at the Jewish Federation. But many of you may not have been informed, may not have read about it, and therefore may not have known. 

And now, the Big Question seems to be

What's Going On Here

The first thing you may have noticed is that the Jewish Federation of New Mexico's website is down, and has been down for a while.

JFNM Website

One immediate effect of JFNM's "temporary maintenance" period is:

 The Jewish New Mexico's Community Calendar of events and classes,
which is powered by Abq Jew and shared with the Jewish Federation,
appears to be unreachable.

Therefore, let Abq Jew assure you:

The complete Community Calendar is always
available on Abq Jew's website, right here.

Abq Jew Community Calendar

But that, as we are now all aware -

Tip of the Iceberg

was just the tip of the iceberg.

Where JFNM?

The Jewish Federation of New Mexico
was in trouble. Deep trouble.

JTA Logo

To begin to understand what has happened and (at least, to some extent) why, Abq Jew points you, his loyal readers, to a series of three articles written by JTA's Asaf Elia-Shalev.

Sephardic citizenship bids at risk amid ‘implosion’
of New Mexico’s Jewish community leadership
March 30, 2022

Read More



New Mexico’s Jewish federation is on brink of collapse
with no staff or funding for programs
September 19, 2022

Read More


Three
New Mexico’s cash-strapped, lawsuit-plagued
Jewish federation announces closure
November 4, 2022

Read More

At this point, Abq Jew is sure that many of you are asking -

What, Abq Jew hears you ask, is gonna happen next? To which Abq Jew can only reply, in the now-famous words of Tevye der Milkhiker -

Don't Know

However -

In the past few weeks, a new JFNM Executive Board has taken office, and some progress has been made.

Want to help your favorite programs?
Please contribute to them directly.

  • And, as stated above, 

The complete Community Calendar is always
available on Abq Jew's website, right here.

Abq Jew Community Calendar

Abq Jew chooses to conclude with the hopeful words of Shelly Prant, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque - as reported by JTA's Asaf Elia-Shalev in his September 19, 2022 article. 

... she believes the community will rally to ensure essential programs will continue and that her organization and others are prepared to pick up any slack created by the problems at the federation.

“There’s a core group of people in Albuquerque and around the state that are really caring, passionate and philanthropic,” Prant said. 
“And they’re really taking all this very seriously and trying to help, and so at the end of the day, we’ll be okay even though right now, it is challenging.”
OK In The End


Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Remembering Mike Patterakis

A Fight Song, A Love Song: Once upon a time, many years ago, Abq Jew attended Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, California, Home of the Pirates. During football season, he was a proud alto sax player in the Marching Band. And during basketball season, he was the proud leader of the Pep Band. 

And Abq Jew was also the founder, leader, banjo player, and vocalist (no one else knew the lyrics) for the Motherhood and Apple Pie Skiffle Band. He was proud of that, too - we were "in demand" in the Bay Area folk music scene.

Mike Patterakis

Behind all that love for music was Mike Patterakis, the Music Director at Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, California. Abq Jew was far from the only student who felt that way. - just about everyone loved Mr Patterakis. (Everyone loved Mr Baer, too - see October 2017's A Paean to Mr Baer).

So. One day last week, as Abq Jew was doing ... research ... on the Web, he came across the following comment and question in his Peterson High School Facebook Group:

I was watching college football the other day, passively listening to a college marching band play their  fight song. It prompted the question, 

“Where did the Peterson High School Fight Song come from?” 

It’s no secret that high school fight songs are adopted from colleges. For instance, Buchser High School used “On, Wisconsin.” Sunnyvale High School used the United States Air Force song. 

So, how about the Peterson Fight Song? Perhaps, some of our band alumni know the answer. The song itself has been rattling around, in my head.

The answer quickly came back:

Mr Patterakis wrote it. 

Well. Of course he did. And Abq Jew added his memories to that simple statement:

Yes, Mr Patterakis wrote the fight song. I remember (I was in the band) discussing the chord progressions with him. I did make one suggestion for improvement [switching a dominant chord to a subdominant], which he agreed was musically correct. But he never changed it. 

And, for the record, 'twas I who wrote the fanfare that introduced the marching band. Yes, Mr Patterakis was a great guy. One of a kind, of blessed memory.

I also remember creating a bluegrass banjo version of the fight song. Dear Lord, what memories. BTW, I'm Class of '68.

And then things got really interesting. Another of Mr Patterakis's more knowledgeable students wrote:

Mr Patterakis used the tune from a Greek folk song, and then wrote the words to fit. Here it is.

"Aha!" said Abq Jew. And did more Web research, then wrote back:

Wow! I never knew that! I went to your YouTube link and ... my God, this is (mostly) our fight song! Thank you for sharing this! 

And here's another video, from world-famous Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, with lyrics: 

Σαμιώτισσα,Samiotissa

Σαμιώτισσα, Σαμιώτισσα, πότε θα πας στη Σάμο
Samiotissa, Samiotissa, pote tha pas sti Samo?
O Samos girl, when will you return to Samos?

As it turns out, Samiotissa is a traditional (Δημοτικό/Παραδοσιακό) song from Samos, one of the Aegean islands of Greece. 

In the eastern Aegean Sea, Samos is separated from Turkey by the mile-wide Mycale Strait - thus making it the closest island to Turkey. 

Samos was the birthplace of Mathematician Pythagoras and Philosopher Epicurus, and is known for producing world famous sweet Muscat wine.

Peterson Pirates

Here is Mr Patterakis's obituary:

MANUEL (MIKE) PATTERAKIS    AUGUST 19, 1933 - APRIL 8, 2012

Manuel (Mike) Patterakis passed away on April 8, 2012 at the Garden City convalescent facility after a lengthy illness. He will be missed by loved ones and friends and is fondly remembered as a talented, thoughtful and caring man. 
Born in Van Houten, New Mexico on August 19, 1933, he moved with his family from Hiawatha, Utah to Modesto in his youth and graduated from Modesto High School before going on to obtain a degree in music from San Jose State University. After two years of army service in Germany, he returned to become a music teacher in the San Jose area. 
His life was marked by an abiding love and devotion to music beginning with participation in his church choir and local high school musical productions, followed by a career as a high school music teacher, and in retirement as a choral director of the Greek Orthodox Church in Stockton. He will be remembered by many in Modesto for his frequent appearances as emcee and singer at the annual food festival of the local Greek Orthodox Church. 
As a teacher he made a real difference in many young lives, and a large number of his former students and faculty from Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, came to Modesto recently to honor him at a joyful and emotional reunion luncheon. 
He is predeceased by father and mother, Gregory and Helen Patterakis, and sister and brother, Grace Capobianco and Col. Chris Patterakis. He is survived by sister-in-law and care-giver, Vicki Patterakis; nieces and nephew, Alicia Rodahaffer, Donna Martin, Patti Perea, Mark Patterakis and their children, godson, George Katsufrakis, and numerous cousins and aunts. 

As mentioned above - on January 7, 2012, many of Mr Patterakis's students visited him - and sang with him. There are lots of videos and more on Facebook's Mike Patterakis Fan Page

The video shown here (courtesy of Meg (Conly) Dondero, Class of '74), presents Mike Patterakis and his students singing the Marian A Peterson High School Alma Mater. Yes, Mr Patterakis wrote that, too. And this may be the only recording of the MAPHS Alma Mater on the Web.

Rebbe Nachman

The concept of simcha (happiness) is an important one in Jewish philosophy.

A popular teaching by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a 19th-century Chassidic Rabbi, is "Mitzvah Gedolah Le'hiyot Besimcha Tamid," it is a great mitzvah (commandment) to always be in a state of happiness.

When a person is happy, he is much more capable of serving God and going about his daily activities than when depressed or upset.

Happy is how Abq Jew will always remember Mr Patterakis.
May his memory be for a blessing.

Memory Blessing