Rabbi Min on Nedivut

Generosity, Expansiveness - Basic Jewish Value #17:  The mission statement of Jewish Family Service of New Mexico reads: “Guided by Jewish values, we offer targeted social services that help preserve and improve the quality of life for New Mexicans.” What are these Jewish values? How do they help guide the day-to-day work that we do at JFS? When new employees join the staff of JFS, they are introduced to eighteen of these basic Jewish values.

The Hebrew word, Nedivut, which describes this Jewish value, is derived from the Hebrew root n-d-v, meaning doing something willingly, a voluntary rendering, often described in religious traditions as a “free-will offering”. The same root is used to describe abundance, as when in Psalm 68:9, the Bible mentions plentiful rain. At this season of the year, when capitalism and tradition combine to urge us to spend exorbitantly, it is useful to reflect on what giving generously of our own free will is really about: recognizing our responsibility to share our abundance, feeling gratitude for all we have, and giving from our hearts.

JFS is grateful for all the generosity we have been blessed to receive: the donations of money, in-kind donations, and of creative ideas, the gift of volunteers being willing to share their time, talent and expertise, the contributions of food for the food pantry, cooking oil for the Chanukah oil campaign, diapers for needy families. We are grateful for our treasured partnerships with other organizations across the state, Jewish congregations and non-profits as well as the many governmental and organizational funding groups which support our work. We are grateful for our supportive work environment, in which staff willingly helps each other help the clients we serve. We are grateful to our clients, who teach us every day about the importance of human connection and caring. And, we thank you, the readers of this monthly e-newsletter, for your readership, thoughtfulness and caring.

End the Year with a Blessing

Start the Year with a Blessing:  It has become Abq Jew's tradition that the last checks written (or online donations entered) for one year and the first for the next year should be charitable donations to organizations, institutions, and causes that Abq Jew supports.

If you are looking for ways to give - or whys - you might wish to look here and here. In any event, here is one new-to-Abq Jew venture: 

Pioneers For A Cure - Songs To Fight Cancer is the largest showcase of cancer charities on the web. Pioneer artists revive pioneer songs to pioneer a cure for cancer.  Music and memories and mitzvot!   Here is how Pioneers for a Cure works:

There are plenty of artists who are taking part in this effort, including Yehoram Gaon, David Broza, Alicia Svigals, Suzanne Vega, and ... Ilanit, who contributes Shir Eress (aka Numi, Numi).

For those of a certain age ... ok, for men of a certain age ... Ilanit, of Ilan & Ilanit 1970's fame, will always be the quintessential female Israeli pop star.  Ilanit twice represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest - in 1973 (the first time Israel participated) and in 1977. She was named Israel's top female singer every year from 1971 to 1977.

For the new year, here are Ilan & Ilanit singing - what else? - Bashanah HaBa'ah:

אילן ואילנית - בשנה הבאה

Next year we will sit on the porch and count the migrating birds
Children on vacation will play catch between the house and the fields
Red grapes will ripen till the evening and will be served chilled to the table
And languid winds will carry to the crossroads old newspapers and a cloud

You will see how good it will be next year!

Adrienne Cooper, Yiddish Singer, Dies at 65

But Yiddish Culture Continues:  From The New York Times:

Adrienne Cooper, an American-born singer, teacher and curator of Yiddish music who was a pioneer in the effort to keep the embers of that language smoldering for newer generations, died on Sunday in Manhattan. She was 65.  

The Times obituary continues:

Though the movement Ms. Cooper helped start in the 1970s and ’80s was often described as a Yiddish revival, less sentimental observers acknowledged that a true revival of the spoken language among secular Jews was unlikely, given that people who had learned it in their homes, like Holocaust survivors and children of turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants, were dying out. But because of the teaching and organizational work of Ms. Cooper and a handful of others, klezmer has become a popular current of the music mainstream and Yiddish courses are given at scores of colleges.

“She was in a way the mother of the revival,” said her friend Alicia Svigals, a klezmer violinist. 

The Times obituary concludes:

While many looked on the revival efforts as quixotic, Ms. Cooper, her daughter said, “was fearless” and was “not burdened by counting numbers.”

“She was interested in people expressing their Judaism through their language and their culture,” Ms. Gordon said. “She taught people how to do that.”

For but one example of what the Jewish world has lost, here is a video of Adrienne Cooper z"l singing with (lehavdil) Sharon Bernstein and Jeanette Lewicki:

But all is not lost - thanks to the work of (among many others) the Yiddish Book Center and its Wexler Oral History Project. 

In this video, Adrienne Cooper z"l talks about the new generation of Yiddish learners and the importance of the next generation for the survival of Yiddish language and culture. She stresses the role that the next generation will have to play in preserving Yiddish.

May the memory of Adrienne Cooper be for a blessing.

Xtreme Komedy Comes to Abq!

Happy New Year!  Come on, do you really want to spend another New Year’s Eve eating microwave popcorn and watching Ryan Seacrest on Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve?  Or crammed into a movie theater with all those irritating cell phones going off every two seconds, ruining the film?

Here's a fascinating alternative:

New Year's Komedy Showcase
Embassy Suites Abq
Saturday 31 December 2011

9:00 pm - 1:00 am

XtremeKomedy.com, whose ownership is 2/3 Jewish, will be producing a professional, clean comedy show on New Year's Eve at the Embassy Suites Hotel. 

The cost for the show itself is only $20, a pittance for professional comedy. An After Party hosted by a DJ, which costs $5, will continue the fun until 1:00 am New Year's Day. 

Doors open at 8:30 pm. The age limit is 18 and over, and alcohol is available for those with proof of being at least 21. 

As part of its commitment to the military, Xtreme Komedy proudly supports the Wounded Warrior Project, and hopes you will, too.

Tickets:  For advance tickets, please call (505) 312-4LOL (4565).  For room reservations and packages, please call Melinda James (505) 353-5381.

Still not convinced? What do you need, a personal invitation?  OK!  Here it is: