Fabulous Jewish Sites for Chanukah Visits and Anytime in the Argentine Capital

President Juan Peron recognized the State of Israel, in 1949, during his first administration, which was the time he was married to Eva Duarte de Peron, better known as Evita.  There is a famous photograph at the time of Evita with Golda Meir, who visited Argentina.

Then, after his second administration, after his return from exile, during the period of post-Peron military dictatorships (1976-1983), a disproportionate number of Jews (roughly 10% or 3,000 of 30,000) were among the disappeared, the “desaparecidos.”  This period was known as the Dirty War, which you can learn more about here.

Among the best known of those Jews tortured under the military dictatorship who survived was Jacobo Timerman, a journalist, who wrote several books related to his imprisonment.  His son, Hector Timerman, is Argentina’s current foreign minister and was the Argentine Ambassador to the United States previously.

In 1991, Jewish charities responded to the needs of 4,000 people; after the peso devalued, that number multiplied ten-fold and a number of synagogues (there were about 90) and parochial schools had to close or merge.

The two painful incidents that occurred during the 1990s are the reason for on-going security measures at Jewish sites. On March 17, 1992, the Israeli Embassy was bombed. Once located in a quiet corner of residential Recoleta where Calles Suipacha and Arroyo meet, only an outline of the former building on an adjacent structure remains. Though the neighborhood is known for its luxe hotels and embassies, this spot has been preserved as a serene park with 22 trees and seven benches to memorialize the 29 who died there.

And, on July 18 1994, AMIA was bombed. The Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina is an important Jewish Community Center that offers educational, employment and cultural arts programs in the neighborhood of Once and Abasto. The still-unsolved crime left 85 Porteños dead. Today, their names are carved on a protective wall and the inner courtyard is home to the Monument to the Memory of the Victims, by Israeli artist Yaacov Agam. It’s a kinetic Star of David which appears to change as you move around it.

In spite of these tragedies and the current economic instability, both the secular and observant community has endured and prospered. During a walking tour of Once, an historic, Jewish neighborhood, we got a glimpse of a more traditional life.  Our guide Ariela, from Anda Tours, introduced us to this garment-center-district where streets are lined with small shops featuring bolts of bright fabrics or women’s clothing. She pointed out that each door of a Jewish business displays a Mezuzah (a prayer on parchment enclosed within a decorative case). We noticed some of the city’s 30 Kosher restaurants, browsed a Kosher food market, saw synagogues and a Police Station with a sign in both Spanish and Hebrew. She also told us about the country’s only Kosher McDonalds, in the Abasto Shopping Mall.  You can find more information on Kosher dining in Buenos Aireson this link.

For those not interested in a formal, guided tour, a brochure called Buenos Aires Kosherin Spanish and in English lists museums, such as Centro de Ana Frank and the Museo del Holocausto hotels with kosher meals (The Alvear Palace Hotel in Recoleta for example caters events with up to 400 kosher meals), kosher restaurants, Jewish bookstores and shops, synagogues and community centers; it also indicates walking tours.

For me, the major benefits of travel are to meet locals and learn history “in situ” and I was lucky to experience both in Buenos Aires. One remark made by the young Jewish tour guide seems to best sum up the city’s multi-cultural diversity: “We are Italians who speak Spanish.”

See more articles on Jewish Buenos Aires and cultural sites here, and a neighborhood visit tour with more information on the Temple and Jewish Museum here.

This is Part 2 of the articles that originally appeared in About Travel.
For Part 1 click here.