And A Goat: We are now cautiously and fearfully watching the antisemitism spreading through our country's universities - including UNM.
Students, faculty, and administration. And it's not "just" about Israel (as if that would be OK). It's very clearly about us. The Jews.
And yet we are enjoying Chol HaMoed Pesach - the holiday's intermediate days - and looking forward (see April 2022's What? Nachshon Again?) to the closing days next week. Abq Jew offers two things to think about.
1. Miracles Await Us
As Abq Jew mentioned a couple of weeks ago (see A Great White Horse), he has been rereading Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin's big, BIG "magic realism" novel of 1983.
Here is a quote from the book - about the Pillar of Fire that we Israelites followed in the desert - that reminds us to think BIG. G-d is with us.
"Do you believe," Virginia asked, "that a pillar of fire actually rose in the desert?"
"No," Hardesty answered. "I don't believe that. I believe that the account of the pillar of fire was merely a metaphor, but for something so much greater and more powerful than just a pillar of fire, that the image, for all its beauty, doesn't even begin to do it justice."
2. Justice Will Come
One little goat - that Father bought for two zuzim - teaches us that actions have consequences. Chad Gadya is a light-hearted, playful song that reminds us that G-d rules the world.
Then the Holy One, Blessed be He, came and slaughtered the angel of death
who slaughtered the butcher who slaughtered the ox that drank the water that put out the fire that burned the stick that bit the dog that bit the cat that ate the goat that my father bought for two zuzim. One little goat, one little goat.
Passover Is Almost Here: A time to gather with our friends and family, to celebrate our Holiday of Freedom. And freedom, we must realize, is never - ever - to be taken lightly.
Neither should friends and family be taken lightly. And yes, Abq Jew reiterates this especially in light of the hideous attack by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the State of Israel. As South African author Howard Feldman has noted:
Saturday night? We haven't slept well - or hardly at all - since October 7th. Alas, there will be empty places at our Seder tables this year.
And thus ,as we approach Passover 2024 / Pesach 5784, we carry on. In the now-famous words of every Jewish Bubbe and Zayde in the world:
They tried to kill us.
They failed.
Let's eat!
And what would Passover be without videos? Abq Jew here thoughtfully provides three (3) of the classics. You're welcome!
For parents who (especially) miss their kids on Pesach.
Who know that Skype is never enough.
And as the Seders approach, Abq Jew must (he must! he must!) take this opportunity to remind us all that Good News, Salvation and Comfort are just one (1) Pesach visitor away.
Tonight Could Be The Night!
At our Pesach seders
we Jews have been opening our doors to Elijah for thousands of years.
We still believe that Elijah the Prophet will return tonight
and announce the Coming of the Messiah.
When that happens, our first question will be:
Did Elijah remember to send out a press release?
If he did — you may learn the Good News in a few days or weeks.
But you can always hear about Salvation and Comfort at
AbqJew.net&AbqJew.com
Your guide to Jewish life in Albuquerque and beyond
No Rapture + No Apocalypse: The BIG NEWS, of course, is about the Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024. Which was like totally viewable over much of North America, but NOT in Albuquerque!
Nope! The Duke City averages about 372 sunny days per year. Which is one reason why Mr & Mrs Abq Jew love it here! But on Monday, it was cloudy.
But never mind! Here is what the eclipse looked like at totality.
Abq Jew must point out (he must! he must!) to all the amateur and professional photographers out there that no matter where on Earth you viewed it from or whose camera you used to get the shot, this is what the eclipse looked like at totality.
There was, alas, no Rapture recorded, at least as far as Abq Jew - who remained at home, on Earth, indoors - could tell.
Which means that Abq Jew in all likelihood wasted $12.99 on the paperback edition (only $2.99 on Kindle!) of
How to Profit from the Coming Rapture
Getting Ahead When You're Left Behind
But maybe not. The first edition was published in 2008, but the wise advice it offers remains true today. And tomorrow. And even on Tuesday, April 23,when the Rapture is again on the schedule.
Yes, that's the First Day of Passover, aka the Second Seder, which leaves us all wondering how many places to set at our table.
And before the Eclipse and the Rapture, there was the Earthquake. The Great New York City Earthquake of April 5, 2024. Which, like oh so many "Great NYC" events, actually took place in New Jersey, the Garden State.
Please excuse Abq Jew (or not) - but he grew up in California, the Golden State. 4.8 on the Richter Scale is barely enough to waken you from a light nap. Hiding under the table? Standing in a doorway? Racing to an open area outside? Then let's talk.
So while we're getting ready for Passover, Lior Zaltzman of Kveller - who has written similar articles in the past - claims that
Robin Williams’ Retelling of the Passover Story Is a Must-Watch It's absolutely brilliant.
But I’m here today to propose a new addition to your family’s playlist: a Robin Williams retelling of the Passover story from his 2002 comedy special “Robin Williams Live on Broadway.”
It’s just two minutes long, but it’s so precise and so delightful, and Williams tells it with so much charisma.
Williams, who passed away in 2014, once called himself an “honorary Jew” and even tweeted a picture of himself wearing a yarmulke shortly before he died, asking if he’d missed his true career calling as rabbi.
This video certainly has us believing he would have made an awesome Jewish lay leader.
And if that isn't enough to get you and yours Pesachdik, Eliana Jordan of The Jewish Chronicle points us to this year's
The Unofficial Taylor Swift Haggadah
Which asks (and answers) such hotly engrossing questions as
So as long as we're talking about Passover and the Haggadah, let's talk about
Climate Change
Sunny Hostin of ABC's The View recently claimed - live, on air, to an audience of at least a few hundred - that Climate Change was the cause of The Great NYC Earthquake and The Total NA Solar Eclipse.
And one more thing.
Cicadas: The Eleventh Plague of 2024 Just what we needed ....
In 2024, 13-year Brood XIX, which is the largest of all periodical cicada broods, will co-emerge with 17-year Brood XIII; these two broods are adjacent (but not significantly overlapping) in north-central Illinois.
And furthermore proclaims
2024 is a special year for periodical cicadas:
For the first time since 2015 a 13-year brood will emerge in the same year as a 17-year brood.
For the first time since 1998 adjacent 13-and 17-year broods will emerge in the same year.
For the first time since 1803 Brood XIX and XIII will co-emerge.
You will be able to see all seven named periodical cicada species as adults in the same year, which will not happen again until 2037. You will not see all seven named species emerge in the state of Illinois again until 2041.
Cicadas aren’t a “Plague of Locusts.” In some areas people call cicadas locusts, but cicadas can’t eat crops like locusts. They only drink trees.
As we leave the happy, happy months of Adar Alef Adar Rishon Adar I and Adar Bet Adar Sheni Adar II, we begin the Month of Miracles: Datsun, as it was known to the ancients.
Or, as we call it today, after our exile in Babylonia: Nissan.
Actually - as we all know - none of the months, weeks, days, or nights since October 7th has been truly, deeply happy. Especially the nights. The news we receive has been terrible, and sometimes even worse.
Athansor: This winter (and even now, during New Mexico's windy days of spring) Abq Jew has been rereading Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin's big, BIG "magic realism" novel of 1983.
In which Athansor, a great white horse - the stuff of legends - gallops with Peter Lake through an imaginary New York, leaping impossible distances and effecting impossible escapes. It's a great story, and Mark Helprin's beautifully descriptive writing is such a pleasure to read.
For reasons that Abq Jew cannot even begin to explain, thinking about Winter's Tale started him to thinking about The Andrew Sisters, who had their first major hit with "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" - the world's "best-known and longest-reigning Yiddish theater song of all time" - in 1937.
Abq Jew can't remember anything anymore - he is ashamed to admit that he had to look up The Andrews Sisters to jog his memory on which one was Maxene, which one was Patty, and which one was LaVerne.
So - for those of us who also can't recall the particulars of American Yiddish theater (Mr & Mrs Abq Jew once lived a stone's throw from Second Avenue, when the 2ND AVE DELI was on Second Avenue), Wikipedia reminds us:
"Bei Mir Bistu Shein" (Yiddish: בײַ מיר ביסטו שיין, "To Me You're Beautiful") is a popular Yiddish song written by lyricist Jacob Jacobs and composer Sholom Secunda for a 1932 Yiddish language comedy musical, I Would If I Could (in Yiddish, Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, "You could live, but they don't let you"), which closed after one season at the Parkway Theatre in Brooklyn, New York City.
Five years after its 1932 composition, English lyrics were written for the tune by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin, and the English version of the song became a worldwide hit when recorded by The Andrews Sisters in November 1937.
And then there's The Bear Missed The Train, written and performed by the Smith Street Society Jazz Band sometime around 1964.
Abq Jew recalls that Al "Jazzbo" Collins used it as the theme on his late night jazz show in San Francisco - which Abq Jew and his father, Richard W Yellin z"l, listened to on their way home from Giants games at Candlestick Park.
Speaking of Aliens in America (which Abq Jew acknowledges we were not), Abq Jew would like to take this opportunity to remind all of us that there are three (3) places in the United States of America where nearly everyone agrees aliens have landed.
Abq Jew refers to (of course):
Ellis Island, New York
Grover's Mill, New Jersey
Roswell, New Mexico
Abq Jew has visited Ellis Island many times - he is, after all (actually before all), a New Yorker. And the grandson of immigrants.
And once upon a time, when Abq Jew was working on the Digital Video Interactive (DVI) project at Intel's PRO Princeton Operation (located in Plainsboro, but Princeton has more yichus), the team had a picnic lunch near the War of the Worlds historical marker down the road.
Abq Jew has visited New Mexico since 2001, owned a home here since 2008, lived here since 2010, and pleads nolo contendere to the charge that he has not yet made the opportunity to visit Roswell, right in his own backyard.
Which brings us to the Great Swiss Spaghetti Harvest of 1957, which Abq Jew remembers quite clearly. A mild winter and the virtual disappearance of pests like the spaghetti weevil had resulted in a bumper spaghetti crop in - of all places - Switzerland, otherwise known for its seafood.
Not on Passover: Those of you following the Abq Jewish Event Calendar and (of course) the Hebrew Calendar as well as the Gregorian "Civil" Calendar have probably noticed that this year Easter Sunday falls right after Purim, and not, as it does so often, right after Passover.
How, Abq Jew hears you ask, can this be? Are not the holidays of Passover and Easter semi-historically* interrelated?
* While everyone else seems to believe that the Last Supper was the Passover Seder, Hyam Maccoby (in Abq Jew's view correctly) places it during Sukkot, the Festival of Tabernacles. To learn more, see Maccoby's book Revolution in Judaea.
To which Abq Jew must (truly, he must) reply, as he did in March 2016 (see Easter on Purim):
It's complicated.
How complicated? Abq Jew hears you ask.
To which Abq Jew must (truly, he must) reply:
Very, very complicated.
For a "brief" introduction to just how complicated, Abq Jew asks that you review Nineteen and Twenty-Eight, his blog post of April 11, 2013.
Ready to continue? Here are a few important dates to keep in mind.
NOTE: Abq Jew has thoughtfully and probably, maybe, correctly, updated these dates for 2024.
So, having reviewed Nineteen and Twenty-Eight (you did, didn't you?) we understand fully why Passover falls so "late."
In the fourth century, Hillel II established a fixed calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations. This calendar, still in use, standardized the length of months and the addition of months over the course of a 19 year cycle, so that the lunar calendar realigns with the solar years. Adar I is added in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle. The current cycle began in Jewish year 5758 (the year that began October 2, 1997).The current cycle began in Jewish year 5777 (the year that began October 3, 2016).
While the Sanhedrin presided in Jerusalem, there was no set calendar. They would evaluate every year to determine whether it should be declared a leap year.
Several factors were considered in the course of their deliberations. The primary factor, which overrode all others, was the spring equinox. If the spring equinox would fall later than the first half of Nissan (i.e., on the 16th or later), then the year was automatically declared to be a leap year.
However, it wasn’t enough for Passover to fall after the equinox, when it was “officially” spring; spring-like conditions needed to be evidenced. If in the land of Israel the barley had not yet ripened, and the trees were not yet blossoming with seasonal fruit—that, too, was sufficient reason to delay Nissan by adding a second month of Adar. Spring should be felt; it should be bright and green.
There were also several non-season-related factors which the Sanhedrin considered; for example, if the roads or bridges were in disrepair due to the winter rainy season, impeding the ability of the pilgrims to travel to Jerusalem for Passover.
In the 4th century CE, the sage Hillel II foresaw the disbandment of the Sanhedrin, and understood that we would no longer be able to follow a Sanhedrin-based calendar. So Hillel and his rabbinical court established the perpetual calendar which is followed today.
In A.D. 325, the Council of Nicaea set the date of Easter as the Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the vernal (spring) equinox.
In practice, that means that Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon that falls on or after March 21. Easter can occur as early as March 22 and as late as April 25, depending on when the paschal full moon falls.
The formula was designed to place Easter at the same point in the astronomical cycle every year. And it does that quite well. But there are two key factors that are in tension:
Historically, Easter should always fall after Passover, to preserve the New Testament's recorded sequence of events.
Theologically, Easter replaces and is entirely separate from Passover, and Christians should not rely on the Hebrew calendar to determine the dates of their holy days.
Eastern Christians tend to emphasize #1, while Western Christians tend to emphasize #2. And then there's the astronomically incorrect Julian calendar that Eastern Christians follow, which throws them off from the get-go.
Which brings us to
When, Abq Jew hears you ask, should Purim be celebrated?
To which Abq Jew must (truly, he must) reply:
It's complicated.
How complicated? Abq Jew hears you ask.
To which Abq Jew must (truly, he must) reply:
Very, very complicated.
For a "brief" introduction to just how complicated, Abq Jew herewith joyfully quotes the first mishna in Tractate Megilla (OK, the English translation), which, perhaps not surprisingly, deals with the holiday of Purim and its observance.
The Megilla is read sometimes on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, or on the 15th of the month Adar, neither earlier nor later. Cities which, from the time of Joshua the son of Nun, were surrounded with walls, read it on the 15th.
Villages and large open towns should read it on the 14th, and inhabitants of villages may read it in advance on the day of assembly. 1 How is this to be understood? When the 14th fell on Monday, inhabitants of villages and of large open towns used to read it on that day, and those of walled cities on the day following.
When it fell on Tuesday or Wednesday, the inhabitants of villages used to read it in advance (the preceding Monday) on the day of assembly, those of large open towns on that day (the 14th), and those of walled towns on the morrow. When it fell on Thursday, inhabitants of villages and large open towns used to read it on that day, and of walled towns on the following day.
If it fell on the eve of Sabbath, inhabitants of villages read it in advance on the preceding or day of assembly, and those of large open towns and of walled towns on that day (14th). When it fell on Sabbath, inhabitants of villages and large open towns read it in advance on the preceding Thursday, the day of assembly; and of walled towns on the morrow (the Sunday).
When it fell on Sunday, in villages they read it on the preceding day of assembly (Thursday), and in large open towns on that day (14th), and in walled cities on the morrow.
In the modern world, such as it is, we've got the the observance of Purim down to
The 15th of Adar in Jerusalem.
The 14th of Adar everyplace else.
Of course this year this means that
Western Christians will observe Good Friday just days after Jews celebrate Purim.
Of course this usually means that
Western Christians will be solemn and sad while Jews are lighthearted, merry, and cheerful.
The exact opposite of the way most Jews remember their European history.
But that was there and then, and we are blessed (but not as blessed as we thought) to be living in the here and now. In Jerusalem and everyplace else, Jews should be dancing!
A Rainbow of Hope: Yes! We happy New MexiJews have a new, independent [online] paper, the New Mexico Jewish Journal, keeping us connected with news, arts, culture, and spirituality.
Among the collateral damage inflicted upon the New Mexico Jewish community by the Federation's demise was the defenestration of the New Mexico Jewish Link, which suddenly found itself without a publisher. Or an editor. Or writers.
You may also remember that Shlomo Karni founded the New Mexico Jewish Link way back in 1968, just as Abq Jew was graduating high school. And that it had been going strong for more than 50 years when it met its untimely end.
There was even a time (2014-2016) when the New Mexico Jewish Link went online and added the New Mexico Jewish eLink. Yes, Abq Jew was the Webmaster. There was even talk of dropping the paper edition altogether - which never happened. Instead, the New Mexico Jewish eLink was dropped.
And thus, it is with great pleasure that Abq Jew announces the exciting development you've all been waiting for:
Live in New Mexico!
New Mexico Jewish Journal
The force behind the creation and development of the New Mexico Jewish Journal is - no surprise here! - renowned photojournalist Diane Joy Schmidt (see July 2019's Asylum Seekers in Albuquerque, et al).
On the New Mexico Jewish Journal's website, Diane writes:
Many in the community have wanted to see a new publication happen. I was the senior writer for the Linkfor over a decade and finally, felt compelled to do something.
This past November, I gathered a group of ten* Jewish citizens from across the state and we began meeting online to discuss creating a paper. The volunteer group included journalists, editors, writers, professionals and board members of Jewish organizations, and a rabbi/chaplain connected across many Jewish groups. Her wisdom helped us bridge our differences in those first meetings.
We agreed that, yes! we want a new, independent paper, and to call it the New MexicoJewish Journal: keeping us connected with news, arts, culture and spirituality
Our mission statement is to connect, inform, enrich and celebrate the vibrant and diverse Jewish communities of New Mexico and the region.
Our editorial policy will follow the Society for Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, with a commitment to maintaining journalistic independence and the highest standards of accuracy and fairness.
For our theme I chose the Sandhill Cranes, who winter in New Mexico along the Rio Grande and who have been here on earth for more than two million years.
A sighting of cranes is said to bestow healing, blessings, good fortune and longevity to Native Americans and to other cultures around the world. And, since WWII, through the story of a Japanese girl exposed to radiation who set out to fold a thousand origami cranes, cranes symbolize peace and the innocent victims of war.
Our favicon (the circular icon) is a paper cut art design made by Nan Rubin reflecting our long Jewish history in New Mexico. As she explains, "In the center is the six-petal flower, a symbol used by the hidden Jews of New Mexico, which is overlaid with a Star of David."
Now, as a volunteer committee, we have decided to take a first step — so here our story begins, again, with our first online New Mexico Jewish Journal.
We plan to come out online with four primary quarterly editions and intermediate emails with new articles, and to eventually have a print edition.
The New Mexico Jewish Journal'sEditorial Committee* is thrilled to announce:
If you sign up with your email, you'll be assured of getting our publication, the New Mexico Jewish Journal, free. Every reader counts!
And if you subscribe today with a payment, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you are a founding member! Your subscriptions and community support are only what makes your very own state-wide community paper, the New Mexico Jewish Journal, exist, survive, and flourish.
Thank you!
The members of the Editorial Committee are:
Diane Joy Schmidt Publisher and Editor
Sara Koplik, Ph.D.
Director, Hillel University of New Mexico
Rabbi Min Kantrowitz Rabbi/Chaplain,
Albuquerque
Michael Wald Lawyer; Board, Jewish Community
Foundation of New Mexico
Norma Libman Journalist, author and public speaker; Board, New Mexico Jewish
Historical Society
Claudette Sutton Editor and writer,
Santa Fe
Ron Duncan Hart, Ph.D. Director,
Institute for Tolerance Studies, Santa Fe
Nan Rubin Media consultant; Past
President, Temple Beth-El Las Cruces; Co-founder Radio KTAL 101.5 FM Las Cruces
Marla Cohen Director, Jewish Federation of El
Paso and Las Cruces
Abq Jew and the New Mexico Jewish community thank you all for your dedication!
