Argentina
From JudaismWiki
ARGENTINA. Republic in southeastern South America. The first Jews arrived with early Spanish settlers in the 16th century. They were Marranos, forced converts who practiced their religion in secret. By the time of Argentina’s liberation from Spain in the early 19th century, the Marrano community had vanished. The earliest modern community was set up in 1868, but regular immigration did not begin until 1891. In that year Baron Maurice de Hirsch founded the Jewish Colonization Association (I.C.A.) to encourage the settlement of Jews upon the land. Swelled by waves of immigrants, the community grew from 1000 in 1890 to almost half a million at one point.
Most of Argentina’s Jews live in Buenos Aires and other urban centers. About half are engaged in trade, with businesses ranging from tiny shops to huge commercial establishments. A large percentage are workers in the leather, furniture, and garment industries. Many have entered the professions. Jews have played an especially important role in the economic life of the country. Among the ideas introduced by Jewish merchants were installment and direct sales, and the organization of cooperatives for both buying and selling. Within the Jewish community there are many cooperative banks, as well as cooperative business undertakings.
For many years, agriculture played an important part in the life of Argentinian Jewry. The first independent Jewish farm settlement was founded in 1899 by refugees from Russia. Other settlements were established and aided by the Jewish Colonization Association (I.C.A.). By 1940, there were 28,000 Jewish colonists on the pampas (farm regions) of Argentina. This was one of the largest Jewish farm communities in the world. Owing to the decline of the farm economy under the dictatorship of Juan Peron and to the tendency for children of settlers to move to the cities, the farm community has dwindled dramatically. Already by the last half of the 20th Century, the vast majority of Jews, members of the middle class, lived in urban centers, particularly Buenos Aires, and was engaged in business.
Buenos Aires, the capital of the country and home of most, has been one of the world’s leading centers of Yiddish culture. With Yiddish daily newspapers, weeklies, and numerous other periodicals, it has been a great center of Yiddish publishing. Hundreds of Yiddish writers, artists, musicians, and scholars lived in the city.
The Jewish Community of Buenos Aires, known as the Kehilla, is a truly unique organization. With its large membership, it has handled all aspects of communal life for the Jews of East European origins—cultural, educational, social, and religious. The Kehilla has also maintains ties with the local non-Jewish communities, as well as with Jewish communities abroad. Two other organizations have been handling the affairs of the German and Sephardic Jews, tended not to merge with the other communities. On the national level, the Delegation of Argentine-Jewish Associations (D.A.I.A.) represents all local organizations on the national and international scenes.
Zionism has been an especially powerful force in Argentina. Most of the Jews in the country are either refugees or the children of refugees. Considerable sums were sent to Israel, and for a long time most Argentine youths belonged to a Zionist youth group, and many have made Aliya. Already in 1955, however, a wave of antisemitism swept Argentina, rising even more with Israeli agents’ abduction of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1960, the famous Eichmann trial following in 1961 in Jerusalem. On June 21, 1962, the antisemitic movement called Tacuara kidnapped a 19 years-old Jewish girl, Graciela Sirota, tortured her and scarified her with Swastika signs
In the midst of all of this, the Conservative movement grew strong in Argentina in 1958 after Rabbi Marshall Meyer took control over Communidad Bet El, which became the country’s first Conservative synagogue, located in Buenos Aires. His enthusiasm attracted many young adults, and, following the establishment of the Argentine branch of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1962 in Buenos Aires, many young Conservative Rabbis began to emerge from the country, many of whom subsequently established themselves all over the world. Meyer himself became involved politically, gathered information about political prisoners and published the material in the newspapers.
Between 1976 and 1983, Argentina came under the military dictatorship of Rafael Videla, during which period, Jews were increasingly targeted for kidnapping and torture. Many were never found again, included among the country’s many political victims called Desaparacidos, or ‘disappeared ones.’ About 1,000 of the 9,000 known victims of this state terror were Jews. In 1983, with the new democratic elections, this phenomenon ceased, though Jews continued to steadily channel out of the country.
In July 1994, the D.A.I.A. building in Buenos Aires was bombed, resulting in some 100 deaths and the destruction of the communal archives. Two years earlier, the Israeli embassy was bombed, killing Israelis and Argentinians. These events have cast a shadow on the future of the community.
In the beginning of the new millennium, Argentina was hit by a major economic depression. As prominent members of the middle class, Jews were among those hit hardest by the situation, many now plagued by poverty, following which 10,000 community members emigrated, about 6000 among them to Israel. In 2007, the Jewish community of Argentina numbered 184.000.
Currently, with the economy recovering somewhat, the Jewish community is hoping for stability. Numerous Jewish institutions still operate, with 17,000 Jewish children in Buenos Aires alone studying in the Jewish educational system and participating in Jewish social clubs, albeit with noticeable decline. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is currently involved in sending aid to the Jewish community of Argentina. Moreover, as with many parts of the world, the Chabad movement has stepped in to fill much of the newly-formed voids in Jewish life, providing some social activity, as well as cultural and religious alternatives, for many in the remaining community.
Synagogues in Argentina
Beit Jabad Bahia Blanca Chiclana 763 C.C. 405 Bahia Blanca, Chabad Lubavitch Tel: 54-291-453-6582 Fax: 54-291-456-5596
Adat Israel Asamblea 73 Buenos Aires http://www.adatisrael.org.ar/
Beis Sholom Website Boulogne Sur Mer 626 Capital Bue Buenos Aires Orthodox http://www.ou.org/network/shuls/beisshalomargentina.htm
Beit Jabad Almagro/Abasto 664 Billinghurst Street Buenos Aires Orthodox Tel: 54-11-4861-0412 Fax: 54-114-861-0412
Beit Jabad Belgrano O'Higgins 2358 Buenos Aires Orthodox http://www.beitjabad.org.ar/
Beit Jabad Flores Helgura 634 Buenos Aires Orthodox Tel: 54-1-611-8075 Fax: 54-1-961-2927
Beit Jabad Palermo - University Student Center Pasaje El Lazo 3133 alt. Salguero 2600 Buenos Aires Orthodox Tel: 54-11-4807-2223 Fax: 54-114-801-0124
Beit Jabad Parana Gurruchaga 391 6B Buenos Aires Orthodox Tel: 54-43-311-615 Fax: 54-43-311-615
Beit Jabad Villa Crespo Serrano 69 Buenos Aires Orthodox Tel: 54-11-4857-2812 Fax: 54-114-963-1221
Beit Jabad Villa Devoto/Del Pargue Helguera 2329/33 Buenos Aires Orthodox Tel: 54-11-4504-1908 Fax: 54-114-504-1908
Bet Hilel Buenos Aires Conservative Tel: 54 11 4804-2286 http://www.bethilel.org.ar
Chabad Lubavitch Argentina Website Aguero 1164 Buenos Aires Chabad Lubavitch http://www.jabad.org.ar/
Congregacion Sefaradi Lavalle 2449 Buenos Aires 1425 Sephardi
Congregation Emanu-El Tronador 1455 Buenos Aires Progressive Tel: 54 11 4555 4004 Fax: 54 11 4555 4004
El Huerto del Nogal Website Medrano 274 6ºE Moreno 1702 9º Buenos Aires 1178 Progressive http://www.elhuertodelnogal.com.ar/
Lamroth Hakol Caseros 1450 Buenos Aires Conservative http://www.lamroth.org/
Shaare Tefila paso 733 Buenos Aires Orthodox
Yeshurun Republica de la India 3035 Buenos Aires 1425 Orthodox Tel: (54-11) 4802-9310
Beit Jabad Concordia Alvear 623 Concordia Orthodox Tel: 54-345-421-5195 Fax: 54-345-421-0103
Jabad Lubavitch Cordoba Sucre 1378/80 Barrio Cofico Cordoba Chabad Lubavitch Tel: 54-3514-710-223 Fax: 54-3514-74-0358
Socieda Israelita de Beneficencia España 1930 Mendoza 5500 5500 Tel: 0054261-4233568
Beit Jabad Rosario Mendoza 1557 1-A Rosario Orthodox Tel: 54-41-260-208 Fax: 54-41-265-037
Beit Jabad Tucuman Lamadrid 752 Tucuman Orthodox Tel: 54-381-4248-892/3 Fax: 54-381-424-3537
Lamroth Hakol Caseros 1450 Buenos Aires Conservative http://www.lamroth.org/
Jabad Lubavitch Cordoba Sucre 1378/80 Barrio Cofico Cordoba Chabad Lubavitch Tel: 54-3514-710-223 Fax: 54-3514-74-0358
Socieda Israelita de Beneficencia España 1930 Mendoza 5500 5500 Tel: 0054261-4233568
Beit Jabad Rosario Mendoza 1557 1-A Rosario Orthodox Tel: 54-41-260-208 Fax: 54-41-265-037
Shaare Tefila Website paso 733 Buenos Aires Orthodox
Yeshurun Republica de la India 3035 Buenos Aires 1425 Orthodox Tel: (54-11) 4802-9310
Beit Jabad Concordia Alvear 623 Concordia Orthodox Tel: 54-345-421-5195 Fax: 54-345-421-0103
Beit Jabad Tucuman Lamadrid 752 Tucuman Orthodox Tel: 54-381-4248-892/3 Fax: 54-381-424-3537
Jewish Organizations
Jewish Museums
Museo Historico Comunal y de la Colonizacion Judia http://www.museomoisesville.com.ar/
