Jo Roybal Izay

Señor Gamblin' Rabbi: from Northern New Mexico Jo Roybal Izay

In 1850, when the United States acquired New Mexico as a territory the gringos began to steal their Spanish land grants and tried to kill the Indians and acquire the Indian reservations. The two minorities became allies and their enemy became the United States Government. In the 1800s, young Benjamin Benavidez who had a photographic memory, a winning personality and an outstanding singing voice saw first-hand what the U. S. Government was doing. He studied night and day, took the Bar and passed it. He was a lawyer. Judges and lawyers were all gringos and there was no way he could fight them in court so he did the next best thing. He mastered Poker and began playing with the rich and powerful gringos, the judges and lawyers in Santa Fe. From there he branched out throughout the US. With his winning personality, he made friends with the rich and powerful. The Gamblin' Rabbi always won honestly if he could, but never lost. He simply serenaded the losers. Also known as Don Benjamin Benavidez, he married a Navajo woman. They had three sons. The greatest obstacle that Señor Gamblin' Rabbi stumbled over and over again is the promise he made to his dying mother that at least one of his sons would marry a Ladina. The sons didn't care about their father's promise. They were going to choose their own wives. The promise brought the gambler more heartaches and tears than he bargained for.