are there any Jewish people (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: living in, moving to, foods)

[natalie456]

Are there any Jewish people or people of Hebrew heritage in New Mexico. Don't have to be religious. Looking in various data banks, saw almost no Jews in NM for some reason. Thanks.
natalie456

[mike0421]

My wife is non-practicing. We moved from New Jersey to Las Cruces. There is a temple here, I think it's the only one in Southern NM, however.

[natalie456]

Thanks mike0421. Any idea how many people go there?
natalie456

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by natalie456

Thanks mike0421. Any idea how many people go there?
natalie456

I think it's in the order of about 100. I can give you a POC through a Direct Message if you'd like.

One other matter, Natalie. This temple is reform. It's more of what I would describe as "humanistic", rather than orthodox or conservative. I don't know if that matters to you. It did back on the East Coast to many!

[natalie456]

Just joined so not sure what a poc or direct message is. My email is natalie.relates@yahoo.com. Humanistic is just right. I am Half Hebrew, and end up living in isolated right wing pockets cause I like more natural settings, but also end up being the "only one" surrounded by Christian fundamentalist Repubs.
natalie456

[rruff]

Originally Posted by natalie456

Looking in various data banks, saw almost no Jews in NM for some reason.

I think it's because nobody knows and nobody cares... kinda nice really.

[Goodpasture]

Jews have an ancient history in New Mexico...........

The Hidden Jews of New Mexico
By Nan Rubin

Published in the Melton Journal, Spring 1992



To Jews, 1492 signifies not the beginning of the era of Spanish discovery and exploration, but a tragic ending. The Edict of Expulsion finally brought to a devastating close the "Golden Age of Spain" by forcing more than 200,000 Jews to choose conversion or exile. Thousands left, and thus began the Sephardic diaspora.

But thousands more stayed and were baptized as Catholics. In the eyes of the exiled Jewish community, they were marranos -- filthy swine. To the Church, however, they were conversos -- converted ones or New Christians. Many of these New Christians were insincere converts who continued to practice Judaism in secret, and despite the constant threat of exposure, they risked becoming crypto-Jews: hidden Jews. As baptized Catholics, crypto-Jews were special targets of the Inquisition courts, and thousands were tortured, imprisoned and burned at the stake for trying to maintain their true faith.

When the Spanish Crown began looking in earnest for colonizers willing to venture across the great Atlantic to settle in New Spain, crypto-Jews immediately took advantage of the chance to leave. The Governor of New Spain, Luis de Carvajal, was himself from a converso family, so the colonies appeared to offer a haven. Within a short period of time, hundreds of converso and crypto-Jewish families were moving to the colonies and, with the relative freedom of distance, began to practice their faith again openly. Unfortunately, the Holy Office of the Inquisition followed close behind; it began operating in Mexico City by 1580 and continued to be active for the next 200 years.

Looking for refuge once again, an unknown number of crypto-Jews headed for the northern frontiers, to the territories now part of New Mexico, Southern Colorado and the Texas panhandle. There, they effectively disappeared.

Melton Journal

I know of several families in the Taos area where they light a candle on Friday night.......where some traditions are different from other catholic traditions..........

In the late 1600s the governor of New Mexico and his wife were accused of practicing Judaism; soon thereafter the same charge was leveled against a soldier and bureaucrat named Francisco Gomez Robledo, who was also said to have a tail -- supposedly the mark of a Jew. All were examined by the Holy Office. All were acquitted.

Mistaken Identity? The Case of New Mexico's "Hidden Jews" - 00.12

In both Spain and Portugal many conversos sincerely embraced the Church and intermarried with so-called Old Christians. A smaller number, however, continued secretly in their old beliefs, under cover of Catholicism. These were the crypto-Jews. Near the end of World War I some descendants of these Jewish remnants were discovered in isolated villages in Portugal. But historians have traditionally considered their survival an exception. Outside Portugal the religious practice of crypto-Jews decayed within a few generations to fragments of prayers and other elements of ancient observance -- a refusal to eat pork, for example. According to the historian David Gitlitz, the phenomenon had for the most part died out by the end of the 1700s. Before it did so, however, the Inquisition had become expert at ferreting out what it called Judaizers

Mistaken Identity? The Case of New Mexico's "Hidden Jews" - 00.12

"When I was going to be twelve, my great grandfather called my grandfather in Spanish and said 'It's time to tell the boy.' So the next morning, on my birthday, my grandfather woke me up and took me to get water. He began to tell me about the Jews in the Bible, the stories I had heard in catechism class. I asked him, 'why are you telling me all this?' 'Because,' he said, 'eres Judio -- you are a Jew.' And I said, 'No, I'm Catholic,' and he said, 'No, eres Judio.' I got angry, we had been taught to hate the Jews because they were the Christ killers, and here my own grandfather was calling me a Jew.

"Then he pulled the water out and poured it over my head and said 'No tas portisado,' that is, 'you are no longer baptized.' So by pouring the water over my head, he took away the baptism, it was time to wash it off. And all of a sudden, I realized that we had these strange foods and customs, these strange services we used to do, we were Jews, we were hidden Jews."

Melton Journal

There is also a small contingent of contemporary Jews. But no one really cares how or what you worship. I recall going to a New Age conference in Santa Fe back 20+ years ago when there were more than 75% of the population attending the conference...........seems a lot of tourists thought it was cool............

[xxDragonFlyxx]

It's my *guess* that Rio Rancho would have the highest population of Jewish people. I've seen more synagogues and plus other things that have led me to believe that. Though I do know there are a few (pretty small) synagogues in Santa Few, I've never noticed one in Albuquerque. hmmm....

Sorry, I have no references to give you, though, just what I've noticed.

[domino]

See website below for locations near you . . .

Synagogues in New Mexico - Shuls in New Mexico - Jewish Temples in New Mexico

[loborick]

There are a lot of Jewish people in Santa Fe. Many families came over on the Santa Fe Trail and started businesses here. You'd be amazed.