HaMakom Continuing Education Announcements
Volunteers Needed
The volunteer needs to be there at 5:30 to help set up, which is a simple matter of putting chairs in place and putting utensils on the table, and greeting the teacher. Closing keeps us there about 10 minutes after the class is over at 8 p.m.
To assure that we can continue to have a program, your volunteer help is needed. Marge Lazar, marge42@cybermesa.com
Thursday, August 21, 2008, "Jews in Strange Places," 7-9 p.m. at RainbowVision, Oscar Wilde Room, 500 Rodeo Drive.
Forthcoming classes
Thursday, September 18, Myself as a Jewish Woman Photographer, taught by Gay Block
Thursday, November 20, "Jewish Shamanic Consciousness and Practice in Contemporary Life," taught by Dr. Karen Milstein
Our class for Thursday, August 21, 2008, "Jews in Strange Places," is one that has already generated considerable interest–and why not? As you can see from the class description, it promises a fascinating account of unique Jewish communities, such as those in China and Japan. Be sure to join us in this adventure. We have changed our class hours. We will meet from 7-9 p.m. at RainbowVision, Oscar Wilde Room, 500 Rodeo Drive.
The Board of HaMakom has invited other groups in the Santa Fe Jewish community to attend this class, in a gesture of sharing and community spirit. The plan is to open classes to the community whenever feasible. We are excited about this new direction and curious to see how many new people will attend.
Please do not bring a contribution of food, since by State law we may not bring food into the facility. Water will be provided.
Suggested donation at the door: Members, $5.00. Non-Members, $10.00.
Class Description
"Jews in Strange Place" begs questions such as these: Why are some African tribes claiming to be Jewish? Why do ethnically Chinese citizens of Kaifeng want to identify with their 12th century Jewish ancestors–or are they truly Muslims? What are the roots of black Jewish congregations in the U.S.? Why are Jews in Sydney, Australia proud of their convict ancestors? And what are the startling similarities between Hebrew scripture and Japanese Shintoism?
Biographical Information
Thomas (Tom) Ruby, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Albuquerque, where he's active on the board and various committees of Congregation Albert, in addition to serving on the Jewish Family Service and Hillel boards.
Lois Ruby is the author of 13 novels for middle grade and teen readers. A retired librarian, Lois has organized at least three synagogue libraries and is currently helping to catalog the Library at the NM Holocaust and Intolerance Center and is a member of the JCC Jewish Book Month Committee.
Tom and Lois both serve on the board of the Martin Luther King Multicultural Council. They've traveled to interesting places in the world and have focused much thought on Jews in China–past and present. They're the parents of three sons who've chosen remarkable wives, and are the proud grandparents of four brilliant children.
Participants looking at artwork by Dr. Karen Milstein - Continuing Education, presentation on Creativity, Kabbalah and Clay
Continuing Education: April 19, Rabbi Min Kantrowitz on Chaplaincy and some of the congregants
Rabbi Malka Drucker on Right Speech, September 14, 2006
Joy Silver teaching the book of Ruth, June 15, 2006
Previous Continuing Education:
What is Tisha b'Av?
Thursday, July 17, 6-8 p.m. in the St. Bede's library
We are privileged to have Rabbi Min Kantrowitz back with us to teach our next continuing education class, What is Tisha b'Av, why do we lament and what does it mean today? The class is to be held on Thursday, July 17, 6-8 p.m. in the St. Bede's library.
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
Class Description
Tisha b'Av, or the ninth of Av, is considered a day of mourning for the tragedies of the past in Israel . It marks the day when both temples were destroyed--the first temple by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E and the second temple by the Romans in C.E. 70–as well as other catastrophes. The class will address the question "Does it have any relevance to modern Jews living in New Mexico today?"
Rabbi Min Kantrowitz
Rabbi Min Kantrowitz is the Director of the Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program of Jewish Family Service of New Mexico. She received her Rabbinic Ordination in May, 2004 from the Academy of Jewish Religion , in Los Angeles . In addition, she has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology, and Masters Degrees in Psychology and Architecture as well as a Masters of Science in Jewish Studies from Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.
In her work as the Director of the Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program, she provides pastoral care and chaplaincy services to Jews in the Rio Grande Valley in private homes, nursing homes, hospitals, jails, hospices and mental health institutions. In addition, she is involved with education and outreach to unaffiliated Jews, teaching staffs of hospitals, hospices, senior living facilities, schools, and funeral homes about Jewish traditions and practices. She directs the Albuquerque Community Chevre Kaddisha, conducts grief groups and a monthly healing group for Jewish women survivors of domestic violence through the DVora Project. She is active in the Jewish-Catholic Dialogue and other interfaith groups and writes regularly for the New Mexico Jewish Link and the Bnai Israel Shofar.
On Thursday, May 15, 2008 our class is Revelation, with Rabbi Malka Drucker as our inspiring teacher. The class will be held from 6-8 p.m. in the library at St. Bede's. Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class. Also, please note that we are asking for a small voluntary donation at the door to help defray the cost of the continuing education program.
Class Description
Because we celebrate Shavout on 9 May this year, and the holiday that celebrates the revelation we received at Mt. Sinai in the form of the Big Ten on stone tablets, the class will explore the BIG question of revelation. Revelation is what makes Judaism a religion. Revelation is the profound, intimate, and mysterious relationship that the eternal community of Israel has with God. Being a Jew is not just peoplehood and culture. In our class, we will share visions of our collective dream of standing at the base of the mountain; what happened? We'll examine the question of religious authority, i.e. Who says I can't eat cheeseburgers?. What does "God's will, not mine" mean? Finally, we'll share how we experience God's presence personally and communally. Bring your child's heart to the investigation of revelation.
Rabbi Malka Drucker
Our Rabbi, Malka Drucker, attended the Academy for Jewish Religion, a non-denominational Jewish seminary. She was ordained in 1998, and has been the rabbi of HaMakom since its founding in 2002, in which she was instrumental. She has authored over 20 books. White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America, won the prestigious 2005 PEN award for the best nonfiction book by a southwest author. Her most recent book is Portraits of Jewish American Heroes, for children 8-12.
Thursday, April 10, 2008: Metaphors of the Holocaust. Teacher: Geraldine Fiskus. Location, St. Bede's.
On Thursday, April 10, we are privileged to have artist Geraldine Fiskus make a presentation entitled Metaphors of the Holocaust. The presentation will be held from 6-8 p.m. in the common room at St. Bede's.
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with those in attendance.
We are asking for a small voluntary donation at the door to help defray the cost of the Continuing Education Program.
The Presentation
Geraldine Fiskus will present slides of her paintings from the Jewish Stele Series, which she began in 1995, after completing a year long Artist-In-Residence at the Arad Arts Project in Israel.
Inspired by the Russian ethnographer and photographer, David Goberman's book Jewish Tombstones in Ukraine and Moldava, Geraldine has created a body of work, rooted in the tradition of Eastern European Jewish gravestones. In keeping with this tradition, these narrative paintings rely on metaphor as a powerful way to reflect communal suffering and express grief, while at the same time safeguarding the fears and ever present anxieties about imminent danger and mortality. The implications of these paintings extend beyond the Jewish Holocaust to all genocide. While traditional gravestones memorialize the individual, these paintings are intended to express a much larger cultural grief that will never go away.
The artist will talk about her thoughts and inspirations when working on these paintings from a personal perspective as well as a historical view. Her expressionist painting style reflects a unique dark palette and bold brushwork.
Geraldine Fiskus
Geraldine Fiskus received her BFA from Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture in 1965. Her distinguished career includes eight solo exhibitions. In addition her work has been shown in numerous international and national exhibitions, regional exhibitions and New Mexico exhibitions. A list of the international and national exhibitions is given below:
INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL EXHIBTIONS
WOMEN OF THE BOOK: International collaborative art installation, June 2008
SOMARTS GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, South of Market ReShow, Brian Mcpartlon, Curator, 2006
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ARTS CENTER, From Sea to Shining Sea, Ori Z Soltes, Curator, 2006, *catalogue
CAPITOL ARTS NETWORK, Bethesda MD, Introspective Images, 2004
CAPITOL ARTS NETWORK, Bethesda MD, Looking for America, 2004
YESHIVA UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, NY, NY, Jewish Artists: On the Edge
Ori Z Soltes, curator 2001-02, *catalogue
OMANUT LA'AM, Jerusalem, Akko, etc. Passageways: Growing Up in the World*
Shari Davis/Benny Ferdman, curators, traveling art installation 2001-04, *catalogue
UNITED NATIONS 4th WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN, Beijing, China, World's Women on Line 1995
KNESSET, Jerusalem, Israel, Arad Arts Project 1994
LINDA ZISQUIT GALLERY, Jerusalem, Israel 1994-present
MUSEO de ARTE E HISTORIA, Juarez, Mexico, Esposicion Collectiva Artistas de Roswell, 1973
LINDA KARSHAN GALLERY, London, England 1972
BOLLES GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, 3 Person Invitational 1972
The paintings of Geraldine Fiskus reside in a number of private and public collections. She is featured in several books, including FIXING THE WORLD: Jewish American Painters in the Twentieth Century, by Ori Z. Soltes. Finally, it should be noted that she has extensive teaching experience and has served as an art facilitator, curator, juror and foreign film coordinator.
Monday, March 17, we will have a class on The Sephardic Legacy in New Mexico: A History of the Crypto-Jews, taught by Dr. Stanley M. Hordes. The class will be held from 6-8 p.m. at Rainbow Vision in the Oscar Wilde room.
Please do NOT bring a contribution of food because Rainbow Vision does not allow us to bring food in. So grab a bite before the class. Water will be supplied.
In this class we will learn the fascinating history of the secret Jews of New Mexico, descendants of those Spanish Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, continued to practice Judaism secretly and then migrated to the Spanish colonies of the New World .
We are privileged to have as our teacher Dr. Stanley Hordes, Adjunct Research Professor at the Latin American and Iberian Institute of the University of New Mexico and a leading authority on the subject. An abstract of the class and a biography have been supplied by Dr. Hordes and are reproduced below.
Directions to Rainbow Vision are as follows: From St, Bede's, go south on St. Francis to Sawmill Rd. Turn right on Sawmill. Turn left on Rodeo to 500 Rodeo Rd.
We are now asking for a small voluntary donation at the door to help defray costs of the Continuing Education Program. Hoping to see you there!
Forthcoming class. Please mark your calendar for our class on Thursday, April 10 when Geraldine Fiskus will talk about her paintings in a class called Metaphors of the Holocaust. The class will be at St. Bede's.
ABSTRACT OF PRESENTATION BY DR. STANLEY M. HORDES
THE SEPHARDIC LEGACY IN NEW MEXICO :
A HISTORY OF THE CRYPTO-JEWS
My comments will deal with the history of the crypto-Jews of New Mexico , from their origins in the forced conversions of Spain in the fourteenth and fifteenth century, down to the recent past.
During my tenure as New Mexico State Historian (1981-1985), I began to encounter several individuals within the Hispanic community who displayed practices suggestive of vestigial Jewish customs, such as lighting candles on Friday night in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, following Jewish dietary laws, etc. Further investigation revealed that this phenomenon could be found in several communities throughout the state. Conversations with colleagues the fields of sociology and anthropology corroborated these preliminary observations. These conversations led to the establishment of a project, sponsored by the Latin American Institute at the University of New Mexico , to research the history of New Mexican crypto-Jews.
My comments will touch on the origins of the conversos from their Jewish origins in Spain and Portugal , through the forced conversions of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, to their migration to the New World in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They will describe the demographic, occupational, social and religious life of the crypto-Jews in New Spain , as well as the sporadic campaigns of the Holy Office of the Inquisition against this community in the late sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries. Some attention will be devoted to the early colonization efforts northward from central Mexico into New Mexico , and the possible cause and effect relationship between the persecution of crypto-Jews and converso participation in the establishment of the new colony. My remarks will also treat the evolution of the crypto-Jewish community in New Mexico through the succeeding three centuries, and will describe the customs and consciousness that appears to have survived. The presentation will be accompanied by slides showing the possible manifestation of this consciousness on cemetery headstones and other aspects of material culture.
BIOGRAPHY - DR. STANLEY M. HORDES
Dr. Stanley M. Hordes, Adjunct Research Professor at the Latin American and Iberian Institute of the University of New Mexico, received his B.A. in History from the University of Maryland in 1971, his M.A. in Latin American History from the University of New Mexico in 1973, and his Ph.D. from Tulane University in 1980. His doctoral dissertation, "The Crypto-Jewish Community of New Spain, 1620-1649: A Collective Biography," was based on research conducted in the archives of Mexico and Spain , supported by a Fulbright dissertation fellowship.
His study on the secret Jews of Mexico revealed a considerable amount of information about the religious customs and career patterns of the descendants of those Spanish Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Many of these conversos continued to practice their old ancestral faith in secrecy, and moved to the Spanish colonies in the New World in order to avoid detection by the Inquisition.
When Dr. Hordes assumed the position of New Mexico State Historian in 1981, he began to encounter Catholic and Protestant Hispanic New Mexicans whose families observed customs suggestive of a Jewish background, such as maintaining dietary laws, celebrating the Sabbath on Saturday instead of Sunday, performing ritual male circumcision, etc. Interviews with several dozen informants revealed that while many of these people engage in these practices without knowing why, others, indeed, express an awareness of a Jewish heritage, and regard themselves as secret Jews. Preliminary documentary evidence, conducted in the archives of New Mexico , Mexico , Spain and Portugal , indicate that some of these individuals descend from secret Jews who had been persecuted by the Inquisition in Mexico and Spain .
Dr. Hordes's book, To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico, was published by Columbia University Press in 2005 with a generous grant from the estate of Eva Feld. In 2006 the book was awarded the "Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá Prize" by the Historical Society of New Mexico for outstanding historical publication of the year. In 2007, the book won the Southwest Book Award, given by the Border Regional Library Association.
Our class for Thursday, February 21 is Resistance / Hakol Beseder: Two Art Installations Exploring Jewish Identity. It will be taught by J. Barry Zeiger, a sculptor whose creative work includes site-specific installations and assembled sculptural objects for which he has received great praise. The class, based on work he has done, will be held from 6-8 p.m. in the Common Room at St. Bede's. Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
Class Description
Zeiger will present slides and discuss installations that explore his own Jewish identity and other issues revolving around Jewish identity – in Israel and here in the USA. These installations precipitated from his first encounter with Israel as an artist in residence at the Arad Arts Project in 1993-94, his exploration of the crypto-Jewish phenomenon that was surfacing in the late 1990's and a commission to explore the natural and cultural environments of Tel Aviv and Rehevot.
J. Barry Zeiger
J. Barry Zeiger has been creating site-specific installations and exhibiting assembled sculptural objects at art centers and galleries throughout the U.S. and Israel since 1989. He received an NEH grant in 1992 for research into the Texts of the Pre-Columbian / Spanish Encounters, 1492-1650 and was then awarded an 8 month Artist Residency at the Arad Arts Project in Israel, 1993-94. Zeiger recently received an artist grant from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Change Inc. Zeiger holds an MFA from Claremont Graduate University and a BFA from the Cooper Union College of Art.
Two highly charged and complex site-specific installations: Hakol Beseder (A-Okay) at the Arts & Cultural Center in Rehovot, Israel, 1995 and Resistance at the Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1997 were built upon his research into Jewish identity in Israel and New Mexico. They received excellent press and public comment. In 1999 Zeiger produced Jewish Artists: On the Edge, a path-breaking exhibition of 50 artists from the continental United States, Canada and Israel, exhibited at the Marion Center / College of Santa Fe with lectures at SITE Santa Fe by Donald Kuspit, Critic / Historian and Ori Z. Soltes, Curator of the exhibition. The exhibition subsequently traveled to the Yeshiva University Museum in NYC, 2000-02
Zeiger's recent assembled sculptural objects while smaller in scale and simpler in form, present complex images locating issues that multiply and migrate within each piece. Currently, his work is on view in Art From Detritus at the Synagogue for the Arts, Tribeca, NYC. Recent exhibitions include the Viridian Gallery in Chelsea, NY, the Washington DC Center for the Arts and the Torpedo Factory also in Washington where he was awarded Best in Show by the curator Twylene Moyer, Managing Editor of Sculpture Magazine.
On Thursday, January 24, 2008 Michael Margolis will teach a class titled The Kabbalah of TuB'Shevat using the Wheel of the Earth. The class will be taught in the library at St. Bede's from 6-8 p.m. The holiday of TuB'Shevat, also known as the as The New Year for the Trees, or Jewish Earth Day, is one of four Jewish "new years." It is a minor holiday marking the rising of the sap in the trees and is a harbinger of spring. An explanation of the holiday in Kabbalistic terms is the fascinating theme for the class. Our class falls close to the date of TuB'Shevat for this year, which began at sunset January 21 and concludes at nightfall on January 22.
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class. Traditionally, fruit is eaten on TuB'Shevat, so a small contribution of fruit would be appropriate, or you may bring other snack foods.
Class Description
The Kabbalah of TuB'Shevat using the Wheel of Earth. We will use original texts of Kabbalah and aggadah / legends, to understand the nature of the wheels in our life. These include the wheel of day and night, the circle of days of the week, and the yearly cycle of the Jewish festivals. We will learn how to find our individual places and life journey on the wheel of the Shanah / year, the Hebrew circle of transformation, by using our personal birth data. We will delve into the deeper nature, the very roots of the living Tree of Earth, celebrated by Kabbalists for centuries at the full moon of the month of Shevat. Through prayer, story and discussion we will rekindle the flame that illuminates our understanding of the Etz Chaiim, the Tree of Life.
Michael Margolis
The facilitator of this seminar has been a student of the Jewish wisdom tradition since he was first told by his Hebrew School teachers / Rabbis, that"no one really understands this part of the Jewish 'literature' anymore – You have to be forty anyway before you would even be allowed to study the texts!" He has learned since that the real Kabbalah is as much a work in progress as is the life of an individual. The conditions for receiving this wisdom are as delicate and complex as the growing of a fruit tree.
Thursday, December 20– Pioneer Jews in Northern New Mexico: The Early Decades, and will concentrate on Santa Fe and the Spiegelbergs. Our teacher is Dr. Noel Pugach, Professor Emeritus at UNM. The class is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. in the library at St. Bede's.
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
Class Description
The class will provide an overview of Jewish Pioneer families who arrived in New Mexico in the 19th century and will discuss their achievements and the challenges they faced. It will then focus on the Spiegelbergs, probably the most important family to settle in New Mexico in the mid-19th century. They would in turn serve as a magnet for numerous relatives (Staabs, Zeckendorfs) and non-related families who made their home in Santa Fe and other sites in New Mexico.
Dr. Noel Pugach
Dr. Noel Pugach is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico where he taught for 38.5 years. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and attended Brooklyn College. He then received his M. A. and Ph.D.in history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Noel specialized in U.S. Foreign Relations, but also taught courses in Jewish History. Most of his scholarly writing has been in the area of Sino-American relations,on which he has published two books and numerous articles and book reviews. More recently, he has been studying Pioneer Jewish families in New Mexico and served as lead historian for the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society's Video Archive Project. Dr. Pugach has lectured and performed first-person characterizations (Harry Truman, Lew Wallace, John Steinbeck, and Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise) widely in New Mexico and throughout the United States. He has taught classes at Congregation Albert and will be offering a course in the spring.
Our class for Thursday, November 15 is Creativity, Kabbalah and Clay.
Our teacher is Dr. Karen Milstein, a member of our HaMakom community.
Dr. Milstein taught a wonderful class for us in January on Judaism and Ecology, and this class promises to be no less inspired. The class is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the library at St. Bede's.
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
Class Description
A brief introduction to Kabbalah will be presented, with a focus on the creation story and the place of humans in the scheme of all that exists. Visual images of clay pieces which have been inspired by and which convey the wisdom of Kabbalistic and Jewish shamanic teachings will be woven throughout the presentation. Participants will have the opportunity to consider their own creative processes and the implications of that for personal healing.
Dr. Karen Milstein
Dr. Karen Milstein, trained as both a social worker and a psychologist, is a psychotherapist in private practice. She has been studying Kabbalah and Jewish healing for over a dozen years, applying that learning professionally where appropriate. For the past 8 years, she has been taking clay courses and exploring her own creative impulses. Observing her ongoing tendency to express Kabbalistic, nature-based, and other healing images in her clay work, she began more systematically to map her personal creative experiences onto the broader map of the Kabbalistic creation story and its implications for healing.
HaMakom Continuing Education Announcements
Our class for Thursday, October 18 is Jewish Family Constellations. Our teacher will be Naomi Fiske, a licensed pastoral counselor and member of the HaMakom community. The class will be held from 6-8 p.m. at St. Bede's Episcopal Church, 1601 St. Francis Drive at San Mateo .
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
Class Description
The class deals with transgenerational psychology. We all belong to a family system. We have inherited or taken on traditions and fates; especially of those that were not acknowledged or had to suffer severely. Children, out of their purity of love try to restore the order of love without the consciousness of what they are acting out. In family constellations, the movement of the soul unfolds and finds its way towards completion and healing. This method is a way of honoring the traumas that have occurred in our lives without being oppressed by them. We learn to open our hearts, our minds, and our bodies, accepting the life force that has been past on generation to generation and blesses us and all our relations.
Biographical Information: Naomi Fiske
Naomi Fiske was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany . As a result of her parents losing most of their relatives, Naomi was inspired to heal her grief and the grief of her family. Her father was a Cantor and instilled the beauty of the Hebrew melodies and prayers in her soul. She is a trained hospice care giver, ordained minister, and a licensed pastoral counselor. She has counseled individuals and couples for the past 25 years and now facilitates groups, incorporating family soul constellations in a prayerful way.
"What Happens before the Barchu? Waking up in Jewish Life", is the title of our next Continuing Education event. It is a mini-course consisting of two classes on consecutive nights: Wednesday, August 22 and Thursday, August 23, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Bede's. The course will be taught by Lia Rosen, our member from Albuquerque and a fine scholar of Jewish tradition and life.
The Music of the High Holidays is our next Continuing Education class. It will be taught by Cantor Caitlin Bromberg of B'nai Israel in Albuquerque. The class will be held on Thursday, July 19, from 6 p.m. to 8.p.m. in the library at St. Bede's.
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
This is a class to look forward to, most timely because the High Holidays are fast approaching. We are honored to have Cantor Bromberg to deepen our knowledge and appreciation of High Holiday music, and to teach us some beautiful songs.
May 17, 2007 , 6:00 p.m. Thursday in the library at St. Bede's
Continuing Education class with Rabbi Jack Shlachter featuring "Shavuot: A Marriage Made In Heaven."
Come Learn about the Upcoming Holiday of Shavuot
Shavuot: A Marriage Made in Heaven is our next Continuing Education class, a class appropriate to the season (Shavuot begins this year on May 22). The class will be taught by Rabbi Jack Shlachter, rabbi of the Los Alamos Jewish community. Rabbi Shlachter led Kabbalat Shabbat services for us in January, and we are happy to welcome him back to teach this class in our Continuing Education program. The class will be held on Thursday May 17, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the library at St. Bede's. Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
A more detailed description of the class follows:
Shavuot: A Marriage Made in Heaven The holiday of Passover is the most widely observed Jewish event of the year, beating the "High Holidays" hands down. On the second night of Passover, we begin counting seven full weeks leading up to one of the most ignored holidays of the year, Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks. This class will explore the agricultural, historical, and spiritual dimensions to Shavuot, and we will examine modern observances of this potentially cholesterol-laden two-day holiday which begins this year on Tuesday, May 22.
Jack Shlachter is privileged to serve as the rabbi of the Los Alamos Jewish community. He received ordination in 1995 from Rabbi Gershon Winkler. Rabbi Shlachter is an experimental physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and is married to Kate Bowman. They have the two most wonderful children in the universe according to objective observers, viz., Dov (age 15) and Orli (age 12).
April 19, Rabbi Min Kantrowitz on Chaplaincy
Jewish Community Chaplaincy is our next Continuing Education class. We are fortunate to have Rabbi Min Kantrowitz, Director of the Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program, Jewish Family Service of New Mexico, as the teacher for our class. The class will be held on Thursday, April 19, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the library at St. Bede's. Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class. A more detailed description of the class follows.
Class Description
The class will focus on the question "What Kind of Rabbi is This? Jewish Community Chaplaincy." In addition to presenting a taste of the range of issues encountered in the chaplaincy field, the program will showcase some particularly interesting and difficult situations, dealing with illness, death and dying, family relationships and ethical conflicts. The questions of congregational and community responsibility for helping Jewish people will be considered. Rabbi Kantrowitz hopes to involve participants in wrestling with challenging issues along with her, and welcomes questions and dialogue.
Rabbi Min Kantrowitz is the Director of the Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program of Jewish Family Service of New Mexico. She received her Rabbinic Ordination in May, 2004 from the Academy of Jewish Religion, in Los Angeles. In addition, she has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology, and Masters Degrees in Psychology and Architecture as well as a Masters of Science in Jewish Studies from Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.
In her work as the Director of the Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program, she provides pastoral care and chaplaincy services to Jews in the Rio Grande Valley in private homes, nursing homes, hospitals, jails, hospices and mental health institutions. In addition, she is involved with education and outreach to unaffiliated Jews, teaching staffs of hospitals, hospices, senior living facilities, schools, and funeral homes about Jewish traditions and practices. She directs the Albuquerque Community Chevre Kaddisha, conducts grief groups and a monthly healing group for Jewish women survivors of domestic violence through the DVora Project. She is active in the Jewish-Catholic Dialogue and other interfaith groups and writes regularly for the New Mexico Jewish Link and the Bnai Israel Shofar.
March 15, ADL Workshop on Anti-Semitism
Our program for Thursday, March 15 is "Confronting anti-Semitism", a workshop led by ADL Director Susan Seligman. The workshop will be held from 6.p.m. to 8.p.m. in the library at St. Bede's. Please bring a small contribution of food to share with others in attendance.
Class Description
Have you ever been stopped short by an insensitive or anti-Semitic comment? What would you do if a swastika were painted on a synagogue door? Join us for a stimulating interactive program on "Confronting Anti-Semitism" with long time ADL Director Susan Seligman, Thursday, March 15th at 6:00 p.m. Using videos and discussion, we will explore ways to deal with anti-Semitism when it rears its ugly head in our lives and our community.
Susan Seligman
Susan Seligman is marking her 18th year as New Mexico Director of the Anti-Defamation League, an international organization that fights prejudice, discrimination and anti-Semitism. Highlights in her long career include passing the New Mexico hate crimes bill into law, training law enforcement on extremism, facilitating anti-bias programs for teachers and students, removing a nazi doctor from the New Mexico Space Museum Hall of Fame and hosting a television interview program on issues of diversity in New Mexico.
Seligman has received many awards for her work with the ADL, including the Governorâs Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women, The Trailblazer Award from the NM Commission on the Status of Women , the City of Albq. Human Rights Award and the Golda Meir Award from Israeli Bonds. She holds a degree in communications from the University of Illinois.
What many people don't know, is that she published her first book before she was 30, became a champion equestrian in her late 40's and currently is a free lance adventure travel writer for a variety of publications.
February 15, Cindy Freedman taught new songs
January 18, Karen Milstein on Judaism and Ecology
Participants are asked to bring a small contribution of food to share with the class.
Taking good care of ourselves and maximizing our health is related to how we take care of planet Earth. We'll have an introduction to the field of ecopsychology, which is the field which looks at the interconnections between ecology and psychology. Issues such as our relationship with Earth, implications of that relationship for psychology and psychotherapy, and ecological imperatives for mental and physical health are addressed. Judaism's teachings which inform these issues will be examined. Come prepared to learn through lecture, discussion, and an experiential exercise or two!
Karen Milstein, PhD, LISW
I am a psychotherapist educated as a psychologist and social worker with a special interest in health psychology, and have taught Ecopsychology at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, as well as teaching many related adult education classes and courses. My delving into Jewish teachings and Kabbalah contextualize and deepen this understanding for me, and I look forward to sharing that perspective with you.
Thursday, November 16
35 Years of Living in Israel
Bonnie Ellinger
On Thursday, November 16, Bonnie Ellinger will be making a presentation about her life in Israel through personal stories and anecdotes against a backdrop of important dates in modern Israeli history during the 35 years that she lived there.
The presentation will be held in the library at. St. Bede's from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Please bring a small contribution of food if you are so inclined.
Bonnie Ellinger has a Ph.D in Applied Linguistics and taught at Bar Ilan University in Israel for 20 years before moving to Santa Fe 4 and years ago. At Bar Ilan she headed a committee that integrated computer assisted language learning with the teaching of reading of academic texts for non-native speakers of English. During her academic career in Israel she gave papers at international conferences in Israel, the US, Spain, Germany and Holland and has been a reviewer for the Anthropology and Education Quarterly. In 1999 and 2000 she received the Bar Ilan Rector's grant for excellence in teaching.
After arriving in Santa Fe she taught English for several semesters at the Northern New Mexico Community College in Espanola but for the last few years has happily devoted her teaching energies to Hebrew instead of English.
Saturday, November 4, 5 p.m. in the Common Room at St. Bede's .
HaMakom has joined with St. Bede's and The Jewish Historical Society to sponsor a lecture and book signing by Robert N. Rosen on his new book, Saving the Jews: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Holocaust. We anticipate a lively presentation and discussion.
September 14, Rabbi Malka Drucker on Right Speech
Our class for September 14 is The Powerful Practice of Right Speech, to be taught by Rabbi Malka Drucker. (Note that due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday the class is scheduled on the second rather the third Thursday of the month). The class will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the home of David and Ava Salman.
Call for directions: 982-5662
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class, if you are so inclined.
Class Description
The Powerful Practice of Right Speech. Rabbi Drucker will be teaching The Jewish ethics of speech as a spiritual practice as powerful as prayer, meditation, study, and good deeds. Beyond libel and slander, Lashon HaRa (literally 'bad tongue') includes saying anything negative about another person, even if it's true and you've read it in the newspaper. This isn't easy. Our tradition concedes that we're all going to violate these laws at least once a day! Come and learn how the effort to speak rightly brings peace of mind and peace into the world.
Our Rabbi, Malka Drucker, attended the Academy for Jewish Religion, a non-denominational Jewish seminary. She was ordained in 1998, and has been the rabbi of HaMakom since its founding in 2002, in which she was instrumental. She has authored over 20 books, the last of which, White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America, won the prestigious 2005 PEN award for the best nonfiction book by a southwest author.
This is our last opportunity for a class with Rabbi Malka until after she returns from her sabbatical next summer, so do join us for a transformative experience as she teaches about right speech as a spiritual path.
The subject for our Thursday, August 17 class is Reconstructionism. Our teacher will be Rabbi Deborah Brin of Congregation Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque. The class will be held in the library at St. Bede's Episcopal Church, 1601 St. Francis Dr. at San Mateo, from 6p.m. to 8p.m.
Please bring a small contribution of food to share with the class, if you are so inclined.
I would greatly appreciate some volunteers to help me open and close St. Bede's on the evenings of our classes, help me set up the chairs, etc. (only one volunteer is needed for each class). The volunteer for the evening would arrive at St. Bede's at 5:30 p.m. and depart shortly after 8p.m. Select this link to contact me if you will help: marge42@cybermesa.com
- Marge Lazar
Reconstructionism:
Reconstructionism is the movement that grew up around the teachings of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, who was perhaps the leading American Jewish thinker of his day. He viewed Judaism not as a religion alone, but rather as a civilization&Mac247;an evolving religious civilization–and he saw the need to "reconstruct" Judaism, theologically and in other ways to better accord with the experience of modern American Jews.
From Rabbi Kaplan came the innovation of the Bat Mitzvah and theories that led to the creation of the Jewish Community Centers and the Havurah movement. He insisted upon the equality of men and women and the democratic running of the synagogue.
There are about 100 Reconstructionist groups in North America.
Our Teacher:
Rabbi Deborah Brin holds degrees in religious studies from Macalester College in St. Paul Minn. and pastoral counseling from La Salle University in Philadelphia. She was ordained as a Rabbi in 1985 after completing her training and studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia. She is the newly installed Rabbi of Congregation Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque.
Here is a list of classes we have planned for the future:
September 14, Rabbi Malka Drucker on Right Speech
November 23, Bonnie Ellinger on 35 Years of Living in Israel
January 18, Karen Milstein on Judaism and Ecology
February 15, Cindy Freedman will teach new songs
Note that the September class is on the second rather than the third Thursday of the month, due to the Rosh ha-Shanah holiday. The September class will be held at the home of David and Ava Salman, directions to their house to be provided in the next installment of these announcements. There will be no class in October or December.
July 20- Jewish History in New Mexico (1840’s through 1920’s) with Frances Levine or Tomas Jaehn of the Palace of the Governor’s as presenter.
Our second continuing education class, The Book of Ruth - held on June 15, 2006, from 6pm to 8pm at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, 1601 St. Francis Dr. at San Mateo, in the library.
Ruth was known for her loyalty, humility, and chesed, or lovingkindness. She was also the first convert to Judiasm and the great grandmother of King David.
Joy Silver, a member of our HaMakom congregation, is writing an opera about Ruth, and has delved deeply into the subject. She will be presenting on the supporting evidence of the storyline she is using—an historical perspective, with some discussion on the Song of Solomon, and references to David and Jonathan. Please read the Book of Ruth as preparation for the class.
Joy Silver, MA, Women’s Studies, Goddard-Cambridge School for Social Change, School of Contemporary Music, with studies in Anthropology, Comparative Religion, and Theological Literature, has studied with Rabbi Lynne Gottlieb (Women of the Bible, NYC), Blue Greenberg, Irene Klepfisz, and participated in studies with Ma’yan, NYC.
Our first class, Rosh Hodesh, with Rabbi Malka Drucker teaching, was a great success, and we hope to continue to have a good turnout and classes to enjoy, inspire, and learn from.
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