Jewish Life?

[Chicago_Jessica]

Hello,
I'll be moving down to BA in May, and was wondering if there are any opportunities for an expat with limited (for the time being) spanish to participate in any Jewish activities. Looking for a hillel, or volunteering, etc.

 

[Lucas]

Nonsense, heaps of Jews in Argentina and particularly in the suburb of Once (nowadays maybe taken over by Peruvians and Bolivians migrants) but still plenty shops run by Jewish families for decades, so you will be welcome and I can assure you that you will have not problems in connecting with the strong Jewish community of this country, so come over and enjoy your stay.

Jewish Community

Argentina’s Jewish community numbers more than 250,000; of that 200,000 live in Buenos Aires, 20,000 in Rosario, 9,000 in Cordoba and 20,000 in other small, rural communities, including some areas in the Sante Fe province. There are also signifcant numbers of Jews in the cities of Concordia, La Plata, and Mar del Plata. The majority of these Jews are Ashkenazi, about 15 percent are Sephardic. Nearly all the Jews speak Spanish — Ladino and Yiddish are rarely spoken. The community is not growing and many young Jews are immigrating to other countries.

Argentina’s Jews have numerous Jewish community organizations. The DAIA (Delegacion de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas) was founded in 1939 as the political arm of the Jewish community. The DAIA protects Jewish rights and represents the community in the government. Another organization, the AMIA, originally an Ashkenazic mutual-aid society that provided health and human services to Argentina’s Ashkenazi population, now serves the country's entire Jewish community.

Most of Argentina’s synagogues are traditional, lying somewhere between Conservative and Orthodox. Buenos Aires has 50 Orthodox synagogues, 21 Conservative synagogues and a few Reform synagogues. Most of the synagogues built before World War II are still in use today.

ברוכים הבאים בואנוס איירס​

 

[MatiArg]

Check out this website http://hillel.org.ar/

Just surf the page, some are in english, good luck!

 

[Ries]

I would agree.
I am not jewish, but my wife and therefore my kids are, and we have found that there is every level of judiac activity in BsAs.

Obviously there are synagogues, and Hillel.
My wife was invited to a seder last year she says reminded her in every way of her Hungarian/Russian family in Pittsburgh.

But there are also jewish rappers doing their thing to electronic cumbia, jewish artists, fashion designers, architects, business people, and much more.

I would say well over half the people I meet in the creative fields here are jewish. Most of my best porteno y portena friends turn out to be jewish. Usually not very religious, or overt, but jewish nonetheless. It is a huge undercurrent in Porteno culture, food, and city life, probably second only to italians.

I am not sure where Lee is coming from, but will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is just talking about the religious extremists when he says "cult". Because being jewish is cultural, genetic, and philosophical, as well as being religious, and, thruout history, jews have been put to death who were not the slightest bit religious, for the mere sin of ancestry.

 

[arty]

I see lots of Hasidic Jews around Tucuman and Billinghurtst and I know there is a kosher asado place on Tucuman.

 

[Moonwitch]

So you only want to mingle with Jews? Perhaps you should go to Israel.

Buenos Aires has a big Jewish population and there are many Israeli backpackers traveling in Kirchers pleasant land.

 

[Napoleon]

I would agree.
I am not jewish, but my wife and therefore my kids are, and we have found that there is every level of judiac activity in BsAs.

Obviously there are synagogues, and Hillel.
My wife was invited to a seder last year she says reminded her in every way of her Hungarian/Russian family in Pittsburgh.

But there are also jewish rappers doing their thing to electronic cumbia, jewish artists, fashion designers, architects, business people, and much more.

1) Neighborhoods:

A) Once/Abasto/Almagro- these neighborhoods bleed into each other, so the M.O.T.T.'s tend to spread across the area as well. (Abasto Shopping Mall has a Kosher McDonald's... supposedly the only one outside of Israel.)
B) Villa Crespo
C) Palermo
-b/n Las Heras & Av. Libertador near Salguero
-in Palermo SoHo, b/n Plaza Serrano & Plaza Italia
D) Belgrano

2) Russian...

I had dinner at a Russian/Ukranian restaurant on Billinghurst north of the corner of Lavalle on Friday night. The food was delicious and they even have their own homebrew beer. I had the "negra" and it was much better than the Quilmes style of darker beers. Not as sweet as Quilmes brews theirs.

3) Jewish Rappers-

Matisyahu is playing at the Gran Rex this week. For more info: http://www.matisyahuworld.com/


4) Chabad (spelled "Jabad" here) might be a little strong for your tastes, but here's their link. Mostly in Spanish or Hebrew. http://www.jabad.org.ar/

5) Kosher- You can find some Kosher stuff at the JUMBO in Palermo on Bullrich.

 

[michaelk]

Hi Moonwitch - I think he said he was interested in volunteering or in participating in Jewish activities. He didn't say he only wanted to mingle with Jews.

I thought your comment was a bit nasty but maybe I'm misreading it. What's the problem?

 

[Ries]

Jewish rappers-
Although he is not actually argentine, he lived here for several years, and his wife is argentine.

And he takes himself a lot less seriously than Matisyahu- which is to say, he's pretty funny.

Bryce Panic-
http://www.myspace.com/brycepanic