In Latin America, Jewish communities are booming

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) -- When the Sao Paulo Hebraica Sports Club and Community Center in Brazil opened the Aleph School earlier this month, it welcomed 450 students and had 120 more on the waiting list for next year.

Kada je Sao Paulo Hebraica Sports Club i  Centar zajednice (Community Center) u Brazilu otvorio hebrejsku Aleph školu,  u nju se upisalo 450 studenata, a još je 120 na listi čekanja za slijedeću godinu. "Hebraica" ( sliči američkim komunalnim centrima) ima 24.000 članova i budžet od 20 milijuna dolara. Najstarija sinagoga u San Paolu "Temple Beth El" je postala  Židovski muzej,  a nova je sinagoga izgrađena.

U Panami je zajednica u posljednjih 10 godina narasla 70%, ima 8.000 članova i već ima desetak "b'nai mitzva" na tjedan. U Argentini je broj djece narastao za gotovo  1.000 u Židovskoj školi za  predškolsku dob, broj je narastao od 3.952 u 2005. godini na 4.914 u 2012. 

Gotovo svuda gdje se pogleda, Židovski život raste u Latinskoj Americi u kojoj ima sada oko 500.000 Židova. Porast je nastao ekonomskom preobrazbom regije kao dio socijalne revolucije nakon vojnih diktatura koje su vodile mnoge zemlje u 80-tim godinama....

Usprkos rasta, za mnoge židovske zajednice ostaju izazovi kao  što je slabo poznavanje Judaizma od  članstva , te nekog oblika skrivenog anti-semitizma u društvu, rekao je Alberto Milkewitz, direktor Israelite Federation  Sao Paulo.

Prema anketi JOINT-a čak 83% ( od 400 ispitanih) lidera u regiji vjeruje da su uvjeti u njihovim zemljama dovoljno dobri za razvitak židovskog života. Samo 10% misli da posrtoji rizik za Židove. Brazilci imaju najpozitivniji "feed-back",  a Venezuelci najnegativniji.

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Venezuela is the notable exception to the wave of positivity among Latin American Jewish communities. Political insecurity, economic challenges and state-sponsored anti-Semitism in the country have prompted significant Jewish emigration in recent years,  Venezuela now has an estimated 9,000 Jews.  President in Venezuela   HugoChavez -- a close ally of Iran and acerbic critic of Israel ...

In Chile, home to 15,000Jews among a Palestinian Diaspora as largeas 400,000, Rabbi Chaim Koritznisky is much more positive.... A hundred families now belong to the temple and more than 500 people are expected to arrive for the coming High Holidays services. Also in Santiago, the Dr. Chaim Weizmann Hebrew Institute has seen sustained growth. In 2005 there were 265 children aged 2 to 5 in the preschool. Today the number is at 373, according to Sergio Herskovitz, the school principal.

 In Panama City, a decade ago there were barely any children at weekly activities at Kol Shearith Israel synagogue. Now nearly 60 young people participate in weekly events and the total budget of the community has tripled.  

Argentina, with 285,000 Jews, is home to the region’s largest Jewish community.  In Buenos Aires alone the number has risen from 15,593 to 19,162 in the past seven years......