From the Peak of Mount Scopus

Peace To You, Jerusalem: As Abq Jew is sure you are aware, there have recently been "increasing tensions" concerning the Temple Mount - known in Hebrew as Har haBáyit (הַר הַבַּיִת), and in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif (الحرم القدسي الشريف‎), the Noble Sanctuary.

When Israel regained political control over all of Jerusalem in 1967, General Moshe Dayan (others: Prime Minister Levi Eshkol) gave control of access to the Temple Mount to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf.

At the time, this seemed to many like the right thing to do. The Chief Rabbinate had forbidden any Jew from ascending to the Temple Mount before the Messiah came to guide the way. And in the meantime - we had the Kotel.

But since then, all we've had is tsuris. Disaster, debacle, catastrophe, and near-disaster. And now, there are Jews who wish to ascend to the Temple Mount for prayer.

Reasonable people with an abundance of good will can agree - or learn to agree - to share. But in the absence of reason and good will, Abq Jew has a plan.

Let's turn the Temple Mount into a Senior Center.

Actually, Israel has already tested this plan. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Temple Mount / Noble Sanctuary was - for one day - only open to those over the age of 50.

Since most of the trouble comes from those under the age of 50, this plan successfully reduced the overall level of violence in the area - for one day.

Abq Jew proposes that the Temple Mount Senior Center plan be adopted immediately and sent out for bid.

1. Access to the Senior Center would be granted only to those with a valid IIIARP (International Israeli and Islamic Association of Retired Persons) card.
2. The entire Temple Mount would be made wheelchair- and walker-accessible, and would be upgraded to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar international measures.
3. The outside areas would be covered with greenery, shrubbery, walkways and tennis courts - as well as an urgent care center, drinking fountains, and public restrooms.
4. The Dome of the Rock would go GREEN - and be transformed into an indoor swimming pool, complete with a delightful water-flowing-over-rock sculpture. Electricity to keep the water warm would be provided by a series of high-tech solar panels (see Abq Jew's idea of how this might look).

Just kidding.

Abq Jew threw in the "Just kidding" because citizens and aliens who land in the Land of Enchantment have been forced to jettison their sense of, and appreciation for, sarcasm - before they are permitted to set up shop here.

Abq Jew prays that Jerusalem will again be the City of Peace, and the Temple Mount a House of Prayer for All Nations.

Which brings Abq Jew back to Yehoram Gaon.

For those of you too young for IIIARP, please see Iran, Shmiran and One Little Goat. In addition, the Yehoram Gaon website tells us:

Yehoram Gaon is considered one of the major proponents of the Israeli culture and entertainment worlds. As Israel's all time most popular singer, gifted actor, TV and radio host, writer, poet and publicist, Gaon has a long list of performances on stage and screen in both movies and on television. He has produced and directed plays and movies and written and edited books on Israeli culture and tradition.

Yehoram Gaon was born and grew up in Jerusalem. One of his (many) famous songs is Me'al Pisgat Har HaTsofim - From the Peak of Mount Scopus - whose translated lyrics you can view here.

The song ends with the words

Jerusalem, Jerusalem
I won't move from here,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem
the Messiah will come, will come.

And even though it's only Thursday ...

Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!

Good Shabbos, New Mexico!

Global Day of Jewish Learning

The Jewish World Learns: Congregation Albert School of Jewish Studies will be joining over 500 communities worldwide in 40 countries on 6 continents for the Global Day of Jewish Learning.

The Global Day of Jewish Learning brings the Jewish people together once a year to celebrate our shared Jewish texts through community based learning. The guiding values of the Global Day of Jewish Learning are: fostering Jewish unity, empowering individuals through increased Jewish knowledge, and creating meaningful shared experiences.

The Global Day of Jewish Learning's 2014 theme is

Heroes, Villains, Saints and Fools:
The People in the Book

Each curricular unit will explore a biblical character and use a variety of Jewish texts. Biblical characters provide an accessible entry point to Jewish texts for the beginners in your community and represent a deep well of wisdom for all.

What do the heroes and villains of our stories have to teach us about ourselves, today? Focusing on biblical characters will allow you to explore topics like human nature, family dynamics, and leadership.

Here in Albuquerque we'll have three classes:

Rabbi Min Kantrowitz

Abraham: Journey into the Unknown
We meet Abraham as he embarks on a journey. The command “go forth” presents him with numerous challenges and opportunities. What does it mean to go forth? Why is the destination unknown? This session explores what Abraham’s journey reveals about his character and how it inspires us to stride boldly into the unknown. 

Eve: Separation and Wholeness in the Garden of Eden
Explore the creation of human beings through the story of Eve and how she came about through an act of splitting. This session will look at how the first people became independent, separate beings with conflicting desires, and the resulting quest for wholeness.

Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld

Balaam: To Bless or To Curse
Balaam is known as a villain – a prophet hired to curse the Children of Israel in the desert. There is more to his story, however, and the complexity leads us to significant questions about power, ability and how we choose to act. In this session we explore Balaam’s motivations and prophetic ability to understand how one can use – or misuse – one’s talents. 

Abq Jew strongly encourages you, the Jewish Community of Greater Albuquerque, to

Support Your Local Rabbis

But if you suffer from the Paseo / I-25 Interchange Project, illness (refuah shleyma!), a general inability to get your act together, or even None of the Above -----


You can still participate in the Global Day of Jewish Learning through

24 x 24 is a series of about 24 People in the Book topics presented by around 24 noted Jewish scholars, educators, rabbis, and miscellaneous interesting people at various times over a 24-hour period.

This year's lineup includes, but is by no means limited to, such distinguished personalities as:

• Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, a teacher, philosopher, social critic and prolific author who has been hailed by Time magazine as a “once-in-a-millennium scholar”  - and the founder of the Global Day of Jewish Learning.
• MK Dr Ruth Calderon, one of Israel’s leading figures spearheading efforts to revive Hebrew Culture and a pluralistic Israeli-Jewish identity (see There Is A Future). 
• Arthur Kurzweil, a writer, teacher, and magician.
• Sarah Lefton, the founding Director of G-dcast, a Jewish new media studio the press calls “the Schoolhouse Rock for Jews"(see G-dcast on Parshat Ki Teitzei, et al).
• Salvador Litvak, who blogs as the Accidental Talmudist!
• Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan, the Senior Educator off the San Francisco Bay Area's renowned Lehrhaus Judaica.

As he explained this year’s theme, Rabbi Steinsaltz said,

The men and women of the Scriptures are more than mere life portraits: they continue to live and function long after their deaths in this world.  

These are not ordinary historical figures but archetypes; as such, their lives are carried on and continue not only in literature and philosophy but in the lives of their descendants throughout the generations.

 

Kristallnacht Remembrance 2014

Night of Broken Glass: The Holocaust and Intolerance Museum of New Mexico invites you to remember Kristallnacht, "The Night of Broken Glass", which took place on November 9 and 10, 1938.

Kristallnacht Remembrance

Congregation Albert

Sunday November 9 ~ 2:00 pm

Experts and speakers will be on hand to lead discussions and Q&A sessions.

• Keynote speaker Lecia Brooks from the Southern Poverty Law Center
• Holocaust survivors Frank Hess and Werner Gellert,
• Bonnie Weinstein from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation
• Jerry Small of the Holocaust and Intolerance Museum of New Mexico. 

Music and a reception will also be provided.

Lecia Brooks leads the Southern Poverty Law Center’s outreach efforts on key initiatives and social justice issues.

As outreach director, she frequently gives presentations around the country to promote tolerance and diversity.

She also serves as director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Ala., an interpretive center designed to provide visitors to the Civil Rights Memorial with a deeper understanding of the civil rights movement.

She joined the SPLC staff in 2004 as director of Mix It Up at Lunch Day, a Teaching Tolerance program designed to help break down racial, cultural and social barriers in schools.

Previously, she worked for 12 years in a number of capacities for the National Conference for Community and Justice in its Los Angeles office. She is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University.

NMJHS Fall Conference in Abq

New Mexico Jewish Historical Society Conference:  The theme of the 2014 Fall Conference of the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society is "The Jews of Albuquerque: Building Businesses and a Community."

New Mexico Jewish Historical Society
2014 Fall Conference
Albuquerque JCC
Sat-Sun November 15-16

The conference will feature discussions of merchant families who emigrated to Albuquerque and environs 1930 - 1950.

Keynote speaker, Yiddish scholar and historian Harvey Buchalter investigates “Why Albuquerque?” examining the migration of urban American and European Jews who put down roots in the desert southwest.

Subsequently, a panel of descendants of these original merchant families will discuss their family businesses and reminisce about growing up in Albuquerque. Another panel of descendants will focus on Jewish Indian arts merchants of the era. Cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner and entertainment will follow.

Sunday’s program will include brunch, a film of Jewish merchant settlement in the West, wrap-up discussion and a Downtown walking tour led by author Sharon Niederman.

The tour will end at the New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum with Dr Noel Harvey Pugach’s presentation on Holocaust survivors rescued by New Mexicans.

Please call (505) 348-4471 to register

Members $125 ~ Non-Members $145

Lodging available at $79 per night at Hilton Garden Inn