Challah Rising in the Desert film poster. Courtesy/Hadassah

HADASSAH News:

Challah Rising in the Desert: The Jews of New Mexico celebrates the history and people of New Mexico’s unique Jewish community. A special screening of this feature documentary will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, at Reel Deal Theater. 

The screening is sponsored by the Los Alamos Chapter of Hadassah. The movie is free to attend, but donations for medical research at Hadassah Hospital in Israel are welcome. Refreshments will be served after the film.

In the new feature documentary, braided Challah bread represents five waves of settlement of New Mexico’s Jewish community including Conversos escaping the Spanish Inquisition 400 years ago, German Jewish pioneers of the Santa Fe Trail in the 1800s, scientists of the 1940s at Los Alamos, and the counterculture of the 1960s. Challah Rising is a moving tapestry of the Jewish experience woven into New Mexico’s unique history and landscape. View the film trailer at https://vimeo.com/291598718

A question and answer session with producer Paula Amar Schwartz will follow the screening.

A Pittsburgh, Pa. native, Schwartz initially came to New Mexico in the 1960s to attend UNM. She’s the past president of the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society and helped create a landmark filmed documentary of the state’s Jewish pioneers. Schwartz taught at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, published many scientific articles and books, and served as president of the Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologists. She has published two books of poetry: “Beyond Time and Space” (2008) and “Unfolding Universe” (2013).

For more information about the film or the Los Alamos Chapter of Hadassah, contact Anne Davis at 505.412.1828 or annedavis@losalamos.com.