Introduction - American Jewish Archives

Volume XXXIV November, 1982 Number 2 

American Jewish 

Archives 

A Journal Devoted to the Preservation and Study 

of the American Jewish Experience 

Jacob Rader Marcus, Ph.D., Editor 

Abraham J. Peck, Ph.M,, Associate Editor 

Published by The American Jewish Archives 

on the Cincinnati Campus of the 

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion 

Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, President

American Jewish Archives is indexed in The 

Index to Jewish Periodicals, Current Contents, 

The American Historical Review, United States 

Political Science Documents, and The Journal 

of American History 

Information for Contributors; 

American Jewish Archives follows generally the 

University of Chicago Press "Manual of Style" 

(12th revised edition) and "Words into Type" 

(3rd edition), but issues its own style sheet 

which may be obtained by writing to: 

The Associate Editor, 

American Jewish Archives 

3 I o I Clifton Avenue 

Cincinnati, Ohio 4jzzo 

Patrons 1982: 

The Neumann Memorial Publication Fund 

The Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund 

Published by The American Jewish Archives on 

the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union 

College-Jewish Institute of Religion 

ISSN ooz-9ogX 

a1982 by the American Jewish Archives

Contents 

I33 

Introduction 

Judith Laikin Elkin 

138 

Historiographical Problems in the Study of the Inquisition and the 

Mexican Crypto-Jews in the Seventeenth Century 

Stanley M. Hordes 

IS3 

Jose Diaz Pimienta: Rogue Priest 

J. Hartog 

164 

Judios y gauchos: The Search for Identity in Argentine-Jewish 

Literature 

Stephen A. Sadow 

178 

The Jewish White Slave Trade in Latin American Writings 

Nora Glickman 

190 

Eakly Zionist Activities Among Sephardim in Argentina 

Victor Mirelman 

206 

Hombre de Paso: Just Passing Through 

Isaac Goldemberg 

216 

Some Aspects of Intermarriage in the Jewish Community 

of SHo Paulo, Brazil 

Rosa R. Krausz 

231 

A Demographic Profile of Latin American Jewry 

Judith Laikin Elkin

249 

Book Reviews 

Murphy, Bruce Allen. The BrandeislFrankfurter Connection: 

The Secret Political Activities of Two Supreme Court Justices 

Reviewed by William Toll 

25 3 

Kalechofsky, Robert, and Kalechofsky, Roberta, Edited by. South African Voices 

Reviewed by Anthony D. Holz 

25 6 

Plesur, Milton. lewish Life in Twentieth Century America: Challenge 

and Accommodation 

Reviewed by Samuel K. Joseph 

259 

Brief Notices 

263 

Index to Volume XXXIV


Exactly ten years ago, while a candidate for the Ph.D. at a Big Ten Uni- 

versity, I met my newly assigned academic adviser and announced my 

desire to write my thesis on the history of Latin American Jewry. Pro- 

fessor Smith looked quizzically at me and asked, "Why don't you 

write a history of the Smith family?" 

My adviser was not alone in this reaction. A senior Latin Ameri- 

canist to whom I next turned confided that, in his forty-year career, he 

had seen no scholarly work on the Jews of Latin America. Fortunately, 

he had a large enough vision to grasp the importance of the topic, and 

encouraged me to go ahead. Seeking to join two disparate fields of 

knowledge, I next addressed several scholars engaged in Jewish stu- 

dies. But none knew much about contemporary Latin America. This 

ignorance seemed all the more odd since medieval Spain and the In- 

quisition-prelude to the history of contemporary Latin American 

Jewish communities-have attracted continuing scholarly interest on 

the part of Jews and non-Jews throughout the centuries. 

How to explain why writers of Jewish history have overlooked the 

Latin American branch of the diaspora? How to explain the complete 

silence concerning Jews which characterizes Latin American studies? 

These dual questions intrigued me then and intrigue me now. They 

provided the impetus for my own career and contributed to the emer- 

gence of a new scholarly subject, Latin American Jewish studies, of 

which this edition of American Jewish Archives is the latest manifesta- 

tion. 

Not surprisingly, Latin American Jewish studies is at this date ill-de- 

fined, still struggling for recognition within the older cognate fields of 

Latin American studies and Jewish studies. It draws upon history, eco- 

nomics, sociology, anthropology, geography, languages, and litera- 

ture. It embraces the twenty-one Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking 

republics, with the necessary addition of Curaqao, the former Dutch 

possession which was the cradle of the Sephardic community in the 

New World. It concerns itself with Sephardim and Ashkenazim, 

speakers of Ladino and Arabic, Yiddish, Rumanian, Polish, Russian, 

German, French-in addition to the more traditional languages for the

I34 American Jewish Archives 

study of Latin America, Spanish and Portuguese. It encompasses a pe- 

riod of close to five hundred years, starting with Isabella of Spain's de- 

cree of 1501, in which she instructed the governor of Hispaniola to 

prohibit Jews, Moors, heretics, New Christians, and persons 

penanced by the Inquisition, as well as their children or grandchildren, 

from settling in the Indies. The date most commonly assigned to the 

beginning of the Jewish experience in Latin America is 1492, for one 

or two conversos may have sailed with Columbus. But 1501 is a far 

more significant date, for the queen's decree, unlike the identity and 

purpose of those converso sailors, was clear and unambiguous. It es- 

tablished beyond doubt that the limits to the Jewish experience were 

to be set by others-rulers and representatives of a dominant society 

that was hostile to Jews. It immediately raises hydra-headed ques- 

tions: To what extent was this hostility ameliorated by political inde- 

pendence? By the different historical paths the republics took when 

they tore loose from Spain? By aggiorniamento within the Catholic 

Church? It forces us to ask to what degree Jews continue to live in Lat- 

in America on sufferance, and to what extent they have become ac- 

cepted as citizens-recognizing that the answers will vary for different 

precincts of the continent. These are all questions to which Latin 

American Jewish scholars in increasing numbers are turning their at- 

tention. 

The extraordinary reach of Latin American Jewish studies, the wide 

range of disciplines and languages with which scholars are working, 

imparts excitement to the field. Some of this variety may be sampled in 

the present issue of American Jewish Archives. Stanley M. Hordes ad- 

dresses the problems of interpretation which study of the Inquisition 

raises for historians, most of whom are partisans of one legend or an- 

other: the Black Legend (Spaniards most cruelly obliterated both dis- 

sent and dissenters) and the White Legend (Spaniards were no more 

cruel than their contemporaries, but they were unlucky enough to 

have their enemies write their history). Some Catholic historians have 

viewed the Inquisition as the protector of society from immoral for- 

eign elements and ideologies; Jewish historians have written as though 

the Inquisition had no other function than to torment judaizers. Nei- 

ther group has grasped the entire truth, Hordes argues, which will re- 

main obscure so long as we cling to legends instead of studying 

objective reality.

Introduction I3 5 

The bizarre adventures of one Jose Diaz Pimienta, Cuban-born 

priest, convert to Judaism, and double apostate, are recounted with 

scholarly vim and vigor by J. Hartog. Pimienta was very much a crea- 

ture of his time: the seventeenth century was fraught with mythology 

about the Jew, a creature whom many practicing Catholics had never 

met in the flesh. In this case, it would seem that a private neurosis 

blended with a social psychosis, meeting its apotheosis at an auto de fe' 

in Seville. 

The modern search for identity is pursued through an analysis of 

Argentine Jewish literature by Stephen Sadow in his essay "Jud'ios y 

gauchos" ("Jews and Cowboys"). The inner struggles of the fictional 

characters will sound familiar to readers of Saul Bellow or Philip 

Roth, but they are rendered more poignant by the feeling of marginal- 

ity which Jews experience as they seek to find a permanent home in Ar- 

gentina. 

Nora Glickman looks to Latin American writings for a reflection of 

Jewish life. Her subject, however, is the Jewish white slave trade 

which, under the protection of the Argentine police, flourished at the 

turn of the century. It is symptomatic of the status of Latin American 

Jews that more attention has been focused on prostitutes than on any 

other group of women. 

Studies of the Sephardic communities in Latin America are scarce, 

and so Victor Mirelman's monograph on early Zionist activities 

among the Sephardim of Argentina is particularly welcome. Sephar- 

dim were slower than Ashkenazim to mobilize on behalf of a Jewish 

homeland, a reluctance Mirelman ascribes to greater religiosity 

among them and a fear that the needs of Sephardim in Eretz Israel 

would be subordinated to those of the Ashkenazim. How prophetic 

those fears were is left to the reader to judge. 

A small but elegant study of intermarriage among Jews of S2io Paulo 

authenticates trends and motivations which we have hitherto known 

largely from anecdotal evidence. Rosa Krausz has constructed a scale 

for correlating the degree of Jewish education with the probability of 

intermarrying; replication of her study for other communities would 

provide us with a better understanding than we have at present of the 

forces urging toward intermarriage. 

Even those with an interest in Latin American Jewish studies lack 

sufficient knowledge of the demography of this subject: myths

136 American Jewish Archives 

abound. Judith Laikin Elkin's essay on the demography of Latin 

American Jewry brings together in one place the very disparate and 

uneven data that have been gathered thus far, and points to gaps in our 

knowledge. Significantly, Latin American Jewish communities are 

dwindling in size, a phenomenon that may be attributed to a low birth 

rate, intermarriage, and assimilation. 

Your editor is particularly proud to be able to include in this issue 

new poems by the Peruvian-born Jewish poet Isaac Goldemberg. As in 

his novels, Goldemberg has an uncanny talent for evoking the evanes- 

cent nature of so much of the Jewish experience in Latin America. It is 

an experience which can be nullified by a queen's decree, by a happy 

intermarriage, or by the expulsion decree of a military junta. 

Before inviting the reader to read on into the substance of this jour- 

nal, I would like to announce that a Latin American Jewish Studies As- 

sociation was recently formed. Our network includes 124 scholars 

and resource persons living and working in fifteen countries around 

the globe. Scholars are defined as teaching at academic institutions or 

publishing on Latin American Jewish studies. Resource persons in- 

clude diplomats, businessmen, film makers, physicians, and others 

with hands-on knowledge of the Latin American Jewish scene. 

LAJSA held a working conference in October 1982 on the campus 

of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cin- 

cinnati, at which time we sought to develop some of the basic research 

tools that are needed if scholarship is to advance. Next year, LAJSA 

plans to co-sponsor with the University of New Mexico a conference 

on major themes in the Latin American Jewish experience. Readers 

who wish to join our network and receive the Newsletter advising 

about these and other developments are invited to write to the editor 

in care of the American Jewish Archives. 

This introduction would not be complete without a word concern- 

ing the role which the American Jewish Archives has played in the de- 

velopment of Latin American Jewish studies. The American Jewish 

Archives was one of the first institutions in the United States to recog- 

nize the importance of this field of study. It was while I was Senior Fel- 

low at the Archives that I assembled the research materials and 

scholars' directory which the Archives published under the title Latin 

American Jewish Studies. The Archives continues to publish and dis- 

tribute the LAJSA Newsletter. Opening the pages of its journal to us,

Introduction 137 

and offering to host our first conference, confirm its continuing inter- 

est and support. For this, our warmest thanks to Director Jacob R. 

Marcus and Associate Director Abraham J. Peck. 


Guest Editor

Historiographical Problems 

in the Study of the Inquisition and 

the Mexican Crypto-Jews in the 

Seventeenth Century 

Stanley M. Hordes 

Within the scope of Mexican history, the subjects of the Inquisition 

and of crypto-Jews have long been the focus of heated controversy and 

misplaced value judgments.' The unfortunate result of this has been, 

and still remains today, a lack of understanding of the Inquisition, par- 

ticularly in its relation to the crypto-Jewish community. The polemical 

nature of the historiography reflects the same Black Legend versus 

White Legend debate that has plagued colonial Latin American histo- 

riography continuously since the Spanish conquest. Because the theme 

of inquisitorial persecution-i.e., the rigid enforcement of Catholic or- 

thodoxy and exclusivity-strikes at the very nerve center of this debate 

between assailants and defenders of the Spanish colonial system, his- 

torians of both schools have demonstrated a great deal of emotion and 

self-righteousness in the pursuit of their respective causes. 

Historiographically, two antagonistic schools have addressed this 

issue. On one hand, scholars specializing in Jewish history have con- 

tinued the tradition of their Protestant, North European predecessors 

in their attack upon the Spanish Catholic Church in general, and upon 

the Holy Office of the Inquisition in particular. Such writers have 

tended to portray the activities of the Inquisition unfavorably, focus- 

ing attention upon atypical but spectacular behavior of that institu- 

tion, and often imposing twentieth-century values regarding 

toleration and justice backward in time to a less-enlightened, less-ecu- 

menical age. Reacting strongly to the detractors of the Church, a far 

different school of historians, composed chiefly of Latin Americans 

and Spaniards closely associated with modern proclerical movements, 

has stressed the positive role that the Church and the Inquisition 

played in the development of Mexican colonial society. As will be 

clearly demonstrated below, both schools of Inquisition history have

Historiographical Problems I39 

been motivated to a large degree by twentieth-century concerns. Both 

have attempted to manipulate and use the history of the Mexican In- 

quisition to build support for and justify present-day religious and po- 

litical positions far removed from the Holy Office of the sixteenth and 

seventeenth centuries. 

The Historiography of the Black Legend: 

Selective Perception 

One of the largest problems encountered in the historiography of the 

Inquisition and the crypto-Jews in Mexico is that of perspective. Since 

a large share of the historical literature published on this topic during 

the last one hundred years has been written by scholars specializing in 

Jewish history, readers have to overcome the barrier of selective per- 

ception. Despite heavy evidence to the contrary, many authors convey 

the impression that the Holy Office in Mexico concerned itself primar- 

ily with the persecution of judaizantes. This trend in modern histori- 

ography had its inception in the books and articles that appeared 

around the turn of the twentieth century, many of which were 

published in conjunction with the newly formed American Jewish His- 

torical Society. The avowed purpose of the society was to bring to light 

the contributions of Jews to the history of the New World. In the 

I 89o's, when the society was founded, leaders of the scholarly Jewish 

community in the United States felt compelled to pursue this course in 

an effort to combat what they perceived as the dual evil of a growing 

anti-Semitism and a tendency of Jews to abandon their heritage in fa- 

vor of assimilation into the mainstream of American society. 

During the course of the increasingly large waves of Jewish immi- 

gration, principally from Russia and Eastern Europe, there developed 

a corresponding rise in the level of anti-Jewish sentiment among the 

native American community. In an attempt to counter this growing 

hostility, prominent members of the older, more established Jewish 

community sought to improve the image of all American Jews by 

portraying them in a favorable light. Hence, the American Jewish His- 

torical Society was formed to highlight the positive historical role 

played by Jews. The founders of the society hoped that their message 

would be received by their coreligionists as well, convincing them that 

they could be considered patriotic Americans without having to aban-


don their ethnic heritage and their faith.' In fulfillment of this aim, the 

works published under the auspices of the society sought to emphasize 

the role of Jews in the conquest and colonization of Mexico and other 

areas of Latin America, to the point of distorting their importance rel- 

ative to other historical groups and forces. The anti-Spanish bias re- 

flected in these works, in addition to advancing their parochial 

perspectives, was consistent with most contemporary scholarly works 

published in Europe and the United States concerning Spain and Latin 

America. 

More recent historical scholarship in this genre has reflected similar 

concerns. In the wake of the Nazi atrocities and the ever-increasing 

tendency of second and third generations of American Jews toward as- 

similation, scholars of Jewish history have sought to place the experi- 

ence of Mexican crypto-Jews in the context of a continuing chain of 

anti-Semitic persecution at the hands of the dominant Christian soci- 

ety.3 In so doing, they hoped to instill a sense of ethnic consciousness 

into those Jews who might otherwise have felt secure in their accept- 

ance by the dominant culture. The message that these authors issued 

was very clear, and perhaps is best exemplified by the admonitions of 

Seymour B. Liebman: 

It behooves Mexican Jewry to remember those who preceded them 

to the shores of New Spain. When a prayer for any Jewish martyr or 

group of martyrs is recited in Mexico, let not the contemporary 

Mexican Jew forget Mexico's own who died for the sanctification 

of the name of God as did all martyrs who preceded and followed. 

Mexican colonial Jews forgot their past. They blotted it out of their 

minds and hearts.. . and when Judaism ceased to have intrinsic val- 

ue, it dissipated and ~anished.~ 

The early issues of the annual Publications of the American Jewish 

Historical Society, which appeared in the I 890's and the first decade 

of the twentieth century, contained many articles highlighting the 

martyrdom and persecution suffered by Jews in Latin America at the 

hands of the Inquisition. Cyrus Adler, president of the society and one 

of the major contributors to the Publications, edited several tran- 

scripts of Inquisition trials of crypto-Jews, in which he offered the im- 

pression that the Holy Office existed almost exclusively for the 

purpose of persecuting Jews.' Another whose articles frequently ap-

Historiographical Problems 141 

peared in the Publications was George Alexander Kohut, who similarly 

portrayed the inquisitors as individuals preoccupied solely with the 

religious practices of marranos and of New Christiam6 

Through the later years of the twentieth century other writers expanded 

on this theme. Cecil Roth, in A History of the Marranos, stated 

that the sole purpose for the establishment of the Holy Office in 

New Spain in I 571 was to rid the viceroyalty of crypto-Jews. Roth neither 

discussed the motives for such a policy nor attempted to analyze 

the early activities of the Mexican tribunal of the Inquisition in persecuting 

other religious heretics (despite his citation that only one New 

Christian appeared in the first auto de fe' of 1574). As did other turnof-the-century 

authors, Roth accentuated the two short periods in 

Mexican history (I 596-1 601 and I 642-1649) when the Inquisition 

embarked upon campaigns against the crypto-Jewish community. In 

so limiting his discussion of inquisitorial activity to those brief but 

spectacular campaigns, he offered a distorted picture of the Holy Office, 

its character and function.' 

The Argentine historian Boleslao Lewin has been one of the more 

prolific scholars of this genre. His many books and articles on the Inquisition 

in Spanish America in general, and in Mexico in particular, 

reflect the historiographical problem of selective perception taken to 

extremes. Lewin's general works discuss the origins of the Holy Office 

in Spain and Portugal and its development in the New World, but focus 

almost exclusively on inquisitorial persecution of crypto-Jews, 

barely mentioning other breaches of Catholic orthodoxy. Despite the 

impression conveyed by its subtitle, Lewin devoted a scant two and 

one-half pages of his La inquisicibn en Hispanoamkica (judios, protestantes 

y patriotas) to an analysis of the relationships between the 

Holy Office and Protestant heretics in Spanish America. Instead, he 

preferred to concentrate on the "racism" of the institution and of the 

society which it represented, its "fraudulent" methods, and its persecution 

of ~r~pto-Jews.~ In his books on the Inquisition in Mexico, Lewin's 

preoccupation with the latter themes is even more pronounced. 

He presents the trials of exemplary crypto-Jews from the 164o's, outlining 

their sufferings and tribulations, but does so completely in a historical 

vacuum, neglecting to provide any historical context, and 

offering the impression that persecution of crypto-Jews was the sole 

function of the Inquisition.'


More recent scholarly inquiries by specialists in Jewish history into 

the relationship between the Holy Office and Mexican crypto-Jews of- 

fer little improvement in overcoming the problem of perspective. Mar- 

tin A. Cohen, author of The Martyr: The Story of a Secret Jew and the 

Mexican Inquisition in the Sixteenth Century, concerning the activi- 

ties of Luis de Carvajal, did not pass up the temptation to dwell on the 

spectacular aspects of the crypto-Jewish experience in New Spain. 

Billed as "a tale of adventure and heroism,"'" The Martyr portrays the 

struggle of Carvajal and other Mexican crypto-Jews against the ever- 

vigilant Holy Office. Nowhere in his discussion of the relationship be- 

tween the crypto-Jews and the Inquisition does Cohen cite the other 

functions and concerns of the Inquisition. Even when discussing the 

interloping exploits of the Englishman John Hawkins off the Gulf 

coast of Mexico, Cohen fails to cite the arrest of several of Hawkins's 

men by the Inquisition on the charge of pursuing the Lutheran 

heresy." 

The many books and articles by Seymour B. Liebman on the subject 

similarly reflect the problem of selective perception. Readers of Lieb- 

man's works are left with the impression that the Inquisition, as the in- 

strument of the "totalitarian" Church," was instituted in New Spain 

almost exclusively for the purpose of extirpating judaizantes from the 

land. Liebman's recurring theme of inquisitorial persecution of cryp- 

to-Jews serves to obscure not only the concern of the Holy Office with 

other heresies, but also its subtle uses of power for political and eco- 

nomic ends. 

Among recent scholars of Jewish history, Salo W. Baron stands out 

as somewhat more analytical and objective than his colleagues cited 

above. To his credit Baron tends to de-emphasize the persecution of 

judaizantes in favor of a more sophisticated evaluation of the crypto- 

Jewish experience in New Spain. He properly places the crypto-Jews 

within the context of the larger Mexican community, citing them as 

only one of several minority groups in the viceroyalty and as an inte- 

gral part of the ruling white minority. As such, he points out, they were 

treated less harshly than in Europe. Moreover, Baron notes, many 

Mexican crypto-Jews were successfully able to camouflage themselves 

by assuming new identities, thus avoiding detection by both immigra- 

tion and Inquisition officials.13 

Unfortunately, Baron demonstrates a certain ambivalence by his


judgment that there was a high percentage of judaizante cases during 

the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. His contention that the Mexi- 

can Holy Office was overly intent upon prosecuting judaizantes is 

weakened by his reliance on questionable statistics. He cites a small 

sample of cases collected by David Fergusson around the turn of the 

twentieth century, concluding that the crypto-Jews ranked second on- 

ly to bigamists for the biggest share of inquisitorial attention.14 

The Historiography of the Black Legend: 

Judgmentalism 

Together with the problem of selective perception, the historiography 

of the Inquisition and crypto-Jews in New Spain has been plagued by 

the inappropriate imposition of moral value judgments backward in 

time. The stress placed on the persecution of crypto-Jews by certain 

historians reflects an implicit and explicit application of twentiethcentury 

values to an institution and a society of an earlier age. Much of 

the literature written over the past eighty years has been filled with 

self-righteous outrage against the "moral depravity" of the Inquisition, 

and its "corrupt," "unjust" procedures, such as holding "unfair 

trials" where "flimsy evidence" was admitted." If the Holy Office 

were to be revived today, few would dispute these harsh words of condemnation. 

The imposition of such judgments backwards to the sixteenth 

and seventeenth centuries, however, runs counter to standards 

of responsible historical scholarship. 

Early on, Jewish historiography began to assume the same Black 

Legend traits that characterized the works of nineteenth-century Protestant 

English and Dutch historians writing about Spain and Spanish 

America.16 England, Holland, and the United States represented the 

forces of toleration and rational, progressive development; Spain and 

her colonies in the New World, those of backwardness, intolerance, 

and stagnation. Oscar S. Strauss's comments in his presidential address 

to the American Jewish Historical Society in 1900 well represent 

A the common outlook that scholars of Jewish history shared with historians 

of the Black Legend school: 

The causes that contribute to the advance of liberty are only in part 

such as germinate from within a nation; they are also such as are su- 

perinduced from without, the latter being often more active than


the former. The Inquisition in Spain and Portugal worked moral 

degradation and national ruin within those countries, yet the refu- 

gees it forced into exile contributed to the moral elevation and 

material advancement of the nations among'whom they sought 

shelter." 

Thus, Strauss implied that Holland and England advanced and Spain 

declined because of the differences in their ideas and policies in regard 

to religious toleration. Extending his views on Anglo-Saxon superiori- 

ty to the American continent, Strauss credited the establishment of the 

Monroe Doctrine by the United States with setting "the stamp of per- 

petual freedom upon the institutions of this hemisphere." If not for 

North American influence, the "fires of the Inquisition" would have 

been rekindled, and "medieval despotism" would have "crush[ed] 

. . . every vestige of constitutional liberty.'"' In this spirit of chauvin- 

ism and growing ethnic consciousness discussed earlier, scholars of 

Jewish history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries fo- 

cused their attention upon the "trail of horror" left by the Mexican In- 

quisition, and the "depraving influence, both mental and moral, 

which the Holy Office exercised" in seventeenth-century New Spain.19 

The later years of the twentieth century witnessed a continuation of 

this trend among scholars of imposing harsh moral judgments upon 

the Mexican Inquisition. Cecil Roth indignantly criticized the Holy 

Office for its failure to comply with modern standards of jurispru- 

dence in the arrests and trials of judaizantes. He carefully outlined 

each step of the inquisitorial proceso, noting how cruel or unfair the 

process was to the individual on trial. Although he unfavorably con- 

trasted the Holy Office's procedures with twentieth-century judicial 

practices, he made no effort to compare them with those of contempo- 

rary judicial institutions, either in Spain or in other European nations. 

If he had done so, he might well have found that they were no more 

cruel or unfair than those of his native England in the sixteenth and 

seventeenth centuries.'" 

Arguing against the concept of historical relativism, Boleslao Lewin 

forcefully defended his right as a historian to condemn both the Inqui- 

sition and Spanish colonial society as sinister. Lewin contended that 

there exist "certain moral laws, valid in all ages and societies," to 

which all societies are accountable. To avoid these moral judgments, 

he claimed, would be not only "historically erroneous," but also "eth-

Historiographical Problems 14 5 

ically equivocal." With this strong sense of absolute moral righteous- 

ness, Lewin consistently criticized the "racist" character of the 

Spanish people, their preoccupation with purity of blood lines, and the 

manifestation of this concern in the establishment of the Holy Office. 

Curiously, Lewin condemned the Inquisition for its racist practices 

while at the same time rejecting the relativist arguments of certain his- 

torians on the basis that they were propounded for the most part by 

Catholic authors." Apparently Lewin was able to perceive the biases 

of others more astutely than his own. 

Recent historical scholarship has been no less judgmental in its 

treatment of Spanish colonial society and the Inquisition in Mexico. 

Characterizing the early years of the Spanish administration of New 

Spain as brutal and revolting, Seymour B. Liebman has focused his 

Black Legend-style attack upon the "anti-JewishM actions and the "re- 

ligious prejudice" of the Holy Office." Liebman's discussion, like 

Roth's, discreetly compares inquisitorial procedure to the judicial 

practices of twentieth-century Western societies, thus showing it in an 

unfavorable light. He points out, for instance, that "the prisoner could 

not select his own attorney," and that the lawyers, in addition to being 

selected by the inquisitors, "were barred from conferring privately 

with their clients and were sworn to secrecy." In addition, "The right 

of the accused to call witnesses was limited," and "the testimony of 

even the vilest person was welcomed without discrimination."" All of 

these methods offend, of course, the sensibilities of Liebman's modern 

readers; however, seen in the context of contemporary seventeenth- 

century practices, they were not extraordinarily harsh. 

To reinforce his own judgments concerning the Inquisition's treat- 

ment of Mexican crypto-Jews, Liebman freely and uncritically cites 

authors who are notorious for their historical biases against Spain and 

the Holy Office. Without giving his readers the benefit of a historio- 

graphical explanation, Liebman quotes from such polemical works as 

Antonio Puigblanch's The Inquisition Unmasked, George Ticknor's 

History of Spanish Literature, and Eduardo Pallares's El procedimien- 

to inquisitorial, as if the ideas of each of these authors were to be taken 

at face value. We are told that "the intolerance of Christian Span- 

iards.. . had been bred on 'an exasperated feeling against the 

Jews.. .which had shown itself.. .in plunder and murder of multi- 

tudes of that devoted race which, with the Moors, was hated by the


mass of the Spanish people with a bitter hatred.' " Liebman points out 

that "Eduardo Pallares wrote his book to gather 'irrefutable proof of 

the injustices of inquisitorial proceedings (many of them infamous and 

atrocious) in order to show that the Holy Office as an institution de- 

served the curses of all human lovers of true justice and the liberty 

which God had granted to man.' " Without any further comment to 

distinguish Pallares's views from his own, Liebman continues, "The 

persecution and punishments of the Inquisition were so severe that of- 

ficials and private persons close to the throne made vehement pro- 

test~."?~ 

Such harsh characterizations of the Holy Office by this school of In- 

quisition history were also expressed in nonverbal forms. Authors 

such as Roth, Liebman, and Cohen complemented their texts with il- 

lustrations depicting grotesque torture scenes and burnings at the 

stake. In certain cases these had been drawn by artists far removed 

from their subjects. Based upon anti-Spanish prejudices, second-hand 

accounts, and a good deal of imagination, they vividly portrayed in- 

quisitorial victims being stretched, burned, choked, or otherwise 

physically abused. Cecil Roth's A History of the Marranos, for exam- 

ple, contains several such illustrations by the French engraver Bernard 

Picart (1673-173 8), who designed his plates in Amsterdam in the ear- 

ly decades of the eighteenth century. One of his engravings, entitled 

"The Place of Torments and Manner of Giving the Torture," graphi- 

cally depicts hooded ministers of the Holy Office inflicting various 

means of torture on several victims simultaneously in a cavernous tor- 

ture chamber, presided over by an inquisitor. Roth featured this illus- 

tration not only in the text of his book but also prominently on the 

front cover. Nowhere, however, did he cite the origin of the work, the 

perspective of its author, or the authenticity of the scenes described." 

In a similar manner, Liebman and Cohen made use of illustrations 

extracted from El Libro Rojo, Vicente Riva Palacio's nineteenth-cen- 

tury polemical work highlighting the atrocities performed by the 

Spanish upon Indians, blacks, and Jews in the colonial period.'6 Scenes 

of female prisoners being disrobed before the inquisitors, of victims 

being subjected to torture with the soga and on the rack, and of burn- 

ings at the stake, created by P. Miranda, pepper Liebman's The Jews in 

New Spain and Cohen's The Martyr." As in the case of Roth, neither 

of the authors explains the biases inherent in either the illustrations or


the sources in which they were found. 

While the texts of Boleslao Lewin's works contain no such macabre 

portrayals, the cover of his 2 Que' fue la inquisicibn? is an excellent pic- 

torial representation of the author's unabashed historical biases and 

moral judgments against the Inquisition. Depicted on the front cover 

of this book, a hand grasps a yellow crucifix, fashioned in the shape of 

a dagger, which is pointed at the figure of a bearded Jew (curiously at- 

tired in Russian garb). 

The Historiography of the White Legend 

Scholars of Jewish history are not the only ones to view the relationship 

between the crypto-Jews and the Mexican Inquisition in a narrow 

perspective. The historiographical champions of the Holy Office, also 

motivated by twentieth-century concerns, have used their writings to 

create a favorable historical context for their cause. The decades following 

the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution of 191 I witnessed a 

violent reaction on the part of the revolutionary government against 

the once-powerful Catholic Church. Proclerical authors sought to 

portray the colonial Church and the Inquisition as morally upright, 

patriotic forces, essential for the protection and preservation of Mexican 

civilization. There soon appeared in Mexico several books defending 

the role played by the Church and the Inquisition in New Spain. 

Very much in accordance with the White Legend tradition, these 

works extolled the virtues of Spanish institutions in the New World, 

emphasizing the vital function served by the Church as the guardian of 

the faith and morality. 

Padre Mariano Cuevas participated in the bitter Church-State 

struggle of the 1920's. He was instrumental in establishing V.1.T.A.- 

Mexico, the European organization in support of Catholic activities in 

Mexico, and spoke out often in defense of the Church." Padre Cuevas 

was also one of the more articulate spokesmen representing the historical 

advocates of the Inquisition. His five-volume Historia de la iglesia 

en Mkxico, published in the ~gzo's, won the acclaim of contemporary 

Catholic leaders from all over the world." In sharp contrast to the authors 

described in the preceding sections, Cuevas saw the Inquisition 

as fulfilling a positive function within Mexican society. In every society, 

including that of seventeenth-century New Spain, he held, there


are "eternally damned elements, who conduct themselves not on the 

basis of love or noble ideas, but only out of fear of iron and fire"; the 

Holy Office provided this iron and fire, and used them to protect the 

moral fiber of Mexican ~ociety.~" Having placed the Inquisition in this 

parochial context, Cuevas then proceeded to detail the activities of the 

Inquisition in the seventeenth century, lamenting the paucity of cases 

from I 604 to I 642 in view of the growth of the "accursed Jewish com- 

munity." He praised the inquisitors of the 1640's for their vigilance in 

the pursuit of the judaizantes. His approval of their actions reflected a 

belief that dangers similar to those faced by the seventeenth-century 

Church existed in every age, including his 

This theme of the Inquisition as the protector of society from im- 

moral and foreign elements and ideologies was echoed by other con- 

servative Mexican authors in the middle decades of the twentieth 

century. Both Rafael HernAndez Ortiz and Yolanda Marie1 de Ibaiiez 

sought to justify the actions of the Holy Office in New Spain in terms 

of the defense of a divinely ordained, immutable social hierarchy. The 

Inquisition represented the forces of God over human weakness, a 

cleansing agent to purge Mexican society of dangerous, revolutionary 

elements which threatened the moral fabric." Implicit in this argu- 

ment is the idea that the Inquisition represented a distinctly Mexican 

phenomenon; the Holy Office served as a bulwark to defend New 

Spain from dangerous outside influences, as well as a unifying force 

engendering a national inner strength.j3 

Toward a More Balanced Approach 

That the historiography of the Inquisition and crypto-Jews in seven- 

teenth-century New Spain has been dominated by polemical works 

from either of two extremes should not obscure the fact that several 

more solid works have been published that treat this subject in a rea- 

sonably objective manner. The classic works of Jost Toribio Medina34 

and of Henry Charles Lea,3' while certainly not free of biases, repre- 

sented the first comprehensive attempts to analyze the Mexican Inqui- 

sition in an institutional framework. Both authors sought to examine 

the interaction between the Mexican tribunal and the royal bureau- 

cracy in Spain, elaborating the struggles for power and the various ec- 

onomic and political motivations for inquisitorial activity. With 

regard to the impact of this activity upon Mexican society as a whole,


and upon the crypto-Jewish community in particular, neither Medina 

nor Lea concerned himself with more than a superficial analysis. Neither 

of them appeared to have examined in any detail the procesos of 

the judaizantes tried by the Mexican Holy Office in order to probe the 

lives of the victims or the relationships between them and the Inquisition. 

More recently, Richard E. Greenleaf has succeeded in demonstrating 

how the procesos of the Inquisition could be used to examine the 

inner workings of society in sixteenth-century New Spain.36 The Holy 

Office, Greenleaf contends, was often used as a political tool by ecclesiastical 

and viceregal officials. 

There exist a number of important works treating specific aspects of 

the Mexican Holy Office in the mid-seventeenth century. Helen 

Phipps's essay, "Notes on Medina Rico's 'Visita de Hacienda' to the 

Inquisition of Me~ico,"~' offers a great deal of valuable information 

concerning inquisitorial corruption in the mid- boo's, and the attempts 

to reform the institution. The brevity of her work, however, 

provokes new questions regarding the resulting effects of the visita upon 

inquisitorial behavior. Luis Gonzilez Obregon's Don Guillen de 

Lampart concentrates on but one spectacular area of the Holy Office's 

activitie~.~~ While he shed some light on the conflict between the 

Crown and the Inquisition, GonzPlez Obreg6n utilized only secondary 

sources and, like Phipps, confined himself to a narrow period of 

time. Jonathan Israel's recent work, Race, Class and Politics in Seventeenth-Century 

Mexico,39 on the other hand, encompasses the entire 

century, and attempts to analyze the economic and social fabric of the 

crypto-Jewish community and its relationship with the Inquisition. 

While many of Israel's observations are sound and provocative, they 

are based on only a superficial examination of the archival materials 

pertaining to Mexican crypto-Jews. 

Thus, based upon the evidence presented above, it may be concluded 

that the historiography of the Mexican Inquisition and the crypto- 

Jews in seventeenth-century New Spain has been either shallowly 

researched or written from an extremely narrow perspective. The historiographical 

trend toward preoccupation with the theme of inquisitorial 

persecution of crypto-Jews, furthermore, has served to obscure 

other important areas of research in colonial Mexican history. The records 

maintained by the Holy Office reveal a tremendous amount of 

information concerning not only the Inquisition itself but, more im-

I SO American Jewish Archives 

portantly, the crypto-Jewish community and Mexican society as a 

whole. In addition to offering the opportunity to study the obvious 

and spectacular phenomenon of persecution, they also provide windows 

into the lives of the Mexican converses, through which may be 

viewed their contributions to the economy and society of New Spain, 

and the relationships that they maintained with one another as well as 

with non-con~ersos.~~ It is only after inquisitorial persecution is placed 

in its proper perspective that students of Mexican and crypto-Jewish 

history can objectively examine the nature of converso life in New 

Spain. 

Stanley M. Hordes is State Historian of the State of New Mexico. 

Notes 

I. Strictly speaking, the term crypto-Jew denotes a person who was born and baptized as a 

Catholic Christian but secretly practiced Judaic rites and customs, while the terms converso and 

New Christian should be applied only to Jews who actually converted to Catholicism, but for the 

purposes of the discussion in this article, the latter two terms will be extended to include descen- 

dants of the original conversos who lived as crypto-Jews. 

2. Anita Libman Lebeson, "The American Jewish Chronicle," in The Jews: Their History, ed. 

Louis Finkelstein (New York: Harper & Row, 1970), pp. 50-504; Solomon Grayzel, A History 

of Contemporary Jews (New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1960; Harper & Row, 1965), p. 

57; idem, A History of the Jews (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1947)~ p. 700. 

3. Cecil Roth, A History of the Marranos (Philadelphia and New York: Jewish Publication Society, 

1932; Meridian Books, 1959), p. xiv; Boleslao Lewin, La inquisici6n en Hispanoambica 

(judios, protestantes y patriotas) (Buenos Aires: Editorial Proyeccibn, 1962), p. 10. 

4. Seymour B. Liebman, The Jews in New Spain: Faith, Flame and the Inquisition (Coral Gables, 

Fla.: University of Miami Press, 1970), pp. 12, 304. 

5. See, for example, Cyrus Adler, "Trial of Jorge de Almeida by the Inquisition in Mexico," 

Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society (hereafter cited as PAJHS) 4 (1896): 

3-79. 

6. See, for example, George Kohut, "Jewish Heretics in the Philippines in the Sixteenth and 

Seventeenth Century," PAJHS 12 (1904): 149-156; idem, "Jewish Martyrs of the Inquisition in 

South America," PAJHS 4 (1896): 101-187. In the latter article Kohut did cite the persecution of 

Indians by the Holy Office. 

7. Roth, History of the Marranos, pp. 276-283. 

8. See, for example, Lewin, La inquisici6n en Hispanoambica; idem, El Santo Oficio en 

Ambica (Buenos Aires: Sociedad Hebraica Argentina, 1950); and idem, ~ Qui fue la inquisition? 

(Buenos Aires: Editorial Plus Ultra, 1973). 

9. Lewin, La inquisicibn en Mixico; impresionantes relatos del siglo XVII (Puebla: Editorial 

Jost M. Cajica, 1967); idem, La inquisici6n en Mixico; racismo inquisitiorial (Puebla: Editorial 

Jose M. Cajica, 1971). 

10. Martin A. Cohen, The Martyr: The Story of a Secret Jew and the Mexican Inquisition in 

the Sixteenth Century (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1973)~ p. xi.

11. Ibid., pp. 42-47. 

12. Liebman, Jews in New Spain, p. 88. 


I 3. Salo W . Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, vol. I 5, Late Middle Ages and 

Expansion (1200-1650): Resettlement and Exploration, 2d ed. (New York, London, and Phila- 

delphia: Columbia University Press, 1973), pp. 271, 274. 

14. Ibid., p. 278. 

I 5. Liebman, Jews in New Spain, pp. 88, 101, 105; Roth, History of the Marranos, pp. 102, 

105. 

16. See, for example, Martin A. S. Hume, Spain: Its Greatness and Decay, 1479-1788 (Cambridge: 

At the University Press, 1898); J. Lothrup Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, 

1555-1584, 3 vols. (London: Chapman & Hall, I 856); William Harris Rule, The History of the 

Inquisition (London: Scribner, Wilford, 1874); Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico, 6 

vols. (San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft, 1883-88). 

17. PAJHS 8 (1900): 1-2. 

18. PAJHS 5 (1897): 4. 

19. Adler, "Trial of Jorge de Almeida," pp. 29-30. 

20. Roth, History of the Marranos, pp. 99-145. 

21. Lewin, La inquisici6n en Mixico; impresionantes relatos del siglo XVII, pp. 8-9; idem, La 

inquisici6n en Hispanoamirica, p. 10; idem, La inquisici6n en Mixico; racismo inquisitorial, pp. 

12-13. 

22. Liebman, Jews in New Spain, p 46; idem, Jews and the Inquisition of Mexico: The Great 

Auto de Fe of 1649 as Related by Mathias de Bocanegra (Lawrence, Kan.: Coronado Press, 

1974), P. 5 

23. Liebman, Jews in New Spain, p. 103. 

24. Ibid., pp. 87, 89, 101-102, 104. 

25. Roth, History of the Marranos, pp. 107, I 29-130, I 3 3; Bryan's Dictionary of Painters 

and Engravers (London: G. Belland & Sons, 1904). 

26. Mexico City, 1870. 

27. For example, Liebman, Jews in New Spain, frontispiece, pp. 172, 199, 233; Cohen, The 

Martyr, pp. 158, 248, 260. 

28. David C. Bailey, jViua Cristo Rey! The Cristero Rebellion and the Church-State Conflict 

in Mexico (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1974)~ pp. 215-216, fn. 23. 

29. Mariano Cuevas, S. J., Historia de la iglesia en Mixico, 5 vols. (Mexico City: Imprenta del 

Asilo "Patricio Sanz," 1946), 3:6-9. 

30. Ibid., 3:169. 

31. Ibid., 3:180-188. 

32: Rafael Hernindez Ortiz, La inquisicidn en Mixico (Mexico City: Imprenta "Acci6n," 

1944); Yolanda Marie1 de Ibaiiez, La inquisici6n en Mixico durante el siglo XVI (Mexico City: 

Imprenta Barrie, 1946), pp. 158-159. 

33. Marie1 de Ibaiiez, La inquisicibn en Mixico pp. 158-159; Alfonso Junco, Inquisici6n sobre 

la inquisici6n (Mexico City: Editorial Jus, 1949), p. 15; Julio Jimknez Rueda, Herejias y supersticiones 

en la Nueua EspaAa (Mexico City: Imprenta Universitaria, 1945)~ p. x. 

34. Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisici6n en Mixico (Mexico City: Imprenta 

Elzeviriana, 1905). 

35. The Inquisition in the Spanish Dependencies (New York: Macmillan, 1908). 

3 6. The Mexican Inquisition of the Sixteenth Century (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico 

Press, 1969); Zumarraga and the Mexican Inquisition, 1536-1543 (Washington: Academy 

of American Franciscan History, 1961).


37. In Todd Memorial Volumes: Philological Studies, 2 vols. (New York: Columbia Universi- 

ty Press, 1930), 2:79-89. 

38. Don Guillen de Lampart, la inquisici6n y la independencia en el siglo XVII (Mexico City: 

Viuda de Ch. Bouret, 1908). 

39. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975. 

40. The author is currently engaged in a history of the crypto-Jewish community of New Spain 

in the mid-seventeenth century.

Jose Diaz Pirnienta: 

Rogue Priest 

J. Hartog 

Although the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century prescribed a se- 

lection process to weed out the unfit among those who wanted to take 

priestly vows or enter monastic orders, it was a long time before the 

rules were uniformly applied and executed throughout the Roman 

Catholic Church, especially in outlying areas. Even today a strange 

bird sometimes flies through the meshes of the net, and in the seven- 

teenth and eighteenth centuries, when the lack of rapid communica- 

tions made it difficult to conduct thorough background inquiries 

about candidates and aspirants, such occurrences were more frequent. 

One of the most peculiar cases involved JosC Diaz Pimienta, a Cuban 

priest whose life story brings to mind the picaresque novels that were 

so popular in Spanish literature in the same period, but in this instance 

the picaresco ("rogue") was a real person, and his adventures, howev- 

er incredible they may seem, were not a fiction writer's inventions but 

true events amply documented by contemporary evidence. 

JosC Diaz Pimienta was a scoundrel and con man of the first order, 

and apparently emotionally disturbed as well, though it is clear that 

few if any of his contemporaries saw through him. A Christian born 

and baptized who served a novitiate as a monk and was fraudulently 

ordained as a priest, Pimienta chalked up a record of offenses while a 

clergyman that would have earned him pride of place on a Church 

wanted list if such existed: theft, assault with a deadly weapon, for- 

gery, piracy, extortion, sexual misconduct, not to mention a wide 

range of disciplinary infractions and personal eccentricities. From the 

standpoint of the Inquisition, whose interrogations of Pimienta pro- 

vide our main source for the details of his checkered life, his worst of- 

fense was his conversion to Judaism. Though he later reverted to 

Christianity and maintained that he had adopted Judaism against his 

will or perhaps for pecuniary reasons, Pimienta seems to have wavered 

between the two faiths for the rest of his life, identifying with one or 

the other as his mood dictated, with no consideration for expediency


or the commonsense dictates of the situation in which he found him- 

self. During his short but lurid career, Pimienta's frequent flights from 

the authorities and searches for new victims and money-making op- 

portunities took him through much of the Caribbean region. He final- 

ly ended his days in Seville, Spain, where he was tried by the 

Inquisition and burned in an auto da fe'. 

Pimienta has been mentioned in several books and pamphlets, and 

many years ago his early life was the subject of articles by Professor Ri- 

chard Gottheil and by Elkan Nathan Adler.' In this paper, utilizing the 

records of his interrogations before the Inquisition, I shall endeavor to 

give the first full account of his life.' 

A Born Catholic and a Converted Jew 

Jose Diaz Pimienta was born in the village of San Juan de 10s Reme- 

dios, Cuba. There is some question about the date of his birth. In 

1708, when he became a priest before he was old enough, he said that 

he had been born in 1682, producing a forged baptismal certificate as 

substantiation, but another certificate, on file in the archives in Seville, 

states that he was baptized in 1688. In all probability this was the actu- 

al year of his birth, because his parents seem to have been pious, as is 

implied by their desire that he enter the clergy, and thus it is unlikely 

that they would have waited six years before having him baptized. In 

any case, both of Pimienta's parents were Cristianos Viejos (Old 

Christians), meaning that their Catholic roots anteceded the period of 

forced conversions in the fifteenth century, and thus, despite Pimien- 

ta's later claim to this effect in Curaqao, there was no possibility of an 

admixture of Jewish blood in his ancestry. According to the terminol- 

ogy in use in the Spanish New World colonies, Pimienta's father was a 

Spaniard (i.e., born in Spain), and his mother was a Creole (i.e., born 

in Cuba to white Spanish parents). 

In 1697, at the age of nine, Pimienta was confirmed in Havana, 

where his parents had sent him for his education. It was around this 

time, when he tried to kill himself by taking poison, that his mental in- 

stability first became evident. After this unsuccessful suicide attempt, 

Pimienta remained in Havana for two more years. Toward the end of 

I 699 he was studying grammar and moral theology with the fathers of 

a monastery in Puebla de 10s Angeles, Mexico, but in 1703 he trans-

Rogue Priest ISS 

ferred to a convent of the Mercedarians, a monastic order that had 

been founded in the thirteenth century for the purpose of ransoming 

captives from the Moors and subsequently had begun to concentrate 

its activities in the Caribbean and Latin America. On the Feast of Our 

Lady of Ransom in 1706 (September q), when he was eighteen, Pimienta 

entered the order himself as a novice. 

Barely two months later, however, Pimienta and two other monks 

ran off. After hiding out in his parents' home for ten months, Pimienta 

returned to the monastery and asked the superior for permission to 

continue his studies at one of the order's other convents. When this request 

was denied, he ran away again, leading an itinerant existence 

that took him to Caracas, Vera Cruz, and finally Puebla de 10s 

Angeles, where he came up with the idea of becoming a priest. Since he 

had not yet attained the canonical age of twenty-four required for admission 

to the priesthood, he forged the baptismal certificate mentioned 

earlier. This document enabled him to deceive the bishop, and 

in 1708 he was ordained. He was assigned to a post in Vera Cruz, although 

whether as a parish priest or in some other capacity cannot be 

determined, but about four months later the bishop discovered that he 

had lied about his age and recalled him to Havana. There Pimienta 

was forbidden to perform any priestly functions, but he remained a 

priest since Catholic doctrine holds that priestly vows are an irrevocable 

sacrament. 

After a few weeks of aimless wandering, Pimienta returned to the 

Mercedarian monastery. Despite his record of escapes and his fraudulent 

ordination, the master of novices gave him another chance, but 

soon afterwards Pimienta decamped again. He was caught and returned 

to the monastery but before long escaped again. This time he 

was brought back in shackles. After two months fettered to the walls 

of his cell, he was taken to another monastery in Arta, but permitted to 

leave ten days later. 

Pimienta's next stop was a French island which is named Prechiguan 

in the sources but can no longer be identified. Three months later 

he turned up in Puerto del Principe, Cuba, where he presented a forged 

document from his bishop authorizing him to proceed to New Spain. 

While in Cuba he attempted to steal some mules from his parents' 

home. When he was caught red-handed by one of their servants, Pimienta 

pulled a pistol and shot him, inflicting no less than seven


wounds, and then hurriedly took his departure from Cuba to avoid ar- 

rest. 

The ship Pimienta boarded was captured by English pirates, who 

put him ashore near Icacos, not far from where he had started out. Em- 

barking on another ship, he went to Trinidad, where a friend of his 

was a priest. Through his friend he obtained permission to collect alms 

and was appointed sub-parish priest in a hamlet named Pueblo, then 

in Tarimtos, and finally in San Benito Atad-townships which can no 

longer be identified. In San Benito Atad he had an affair with a woman 

and then became embroiled with her lover, who threatened to kill him. 

Pimienta managed to frighten the fellow off with his pistol but for 

some reason was unable to do the same thing when he was accosted 

and soundly beaten by a mulatto whom he had refused permission to 

marry. 

Sometime after these events Pimienta left Trinidad. In 1714 he 

turned up in Rio de la Hacha on the Venezuelan coast, and there, so he 

later told his Inquisition interrogators, he said Holy Mass for the last 

time. Pimienta then made his way to Cartagena, but when he learned 

that the Spanish Vicar General was coming for a visit, he realized that 

the jig was up and began nosing about for a new refuge. He finally de- 

cided on the Dutch colony of Curacao, having heard, according to his 

testimony before the Inquisition, that the Jews of that island had re- 

cently given 300 pesetas to a man who had converted to Judaism. The 

man in question, Pimienta said, had been obliged to whip a crucifix 

and deface the images of the saints. While Pimienta later insisted that 

he himself would never have done any such thing, he explained that he 

took the story as an indication that heretics and Jews were free to live 

in Curacao and thus that it would be a safe haven for him. By and large 

he was right; while the Calvinist Dutch in Curacao barely tolerated 

Protestant heretics and sometimes persecuted them, they had a more 

open-minded attitude toward Catholics and Jews, especially the latter, 

and permitted them to reside in the colony so long as they kept a low 

profile. 

On February 6,1715, when he arrived in Curacao, Pimienta got in 

touch with the Jewish community and quickly discovered that the sto- 

ry about the crucifix and the images was pure fantasy. Not only had 

such a thing never happened, according to the Jew he consulted, but it 

could not possibly happen, since the tale implied that the Jews had

Rogue Priest IS7 

graven images in their possession, and this would have been a sin. 

Reassured that he would not have to perform an act that he pro- 

fessed to find odious, at least so he said later on, Pimienta decided to 

convert. Claiming that his parents were Marranos who had fled to the 

New World to escape the Inquisition, losing all their property in the 

process, he took lodgings with the godfather of the convert who had 

been given the 300 pesetas. Although Pimienta replied that the Messi- 

ah had not yet come when he was asked his beliefs about Jesus, the 

Curaqao Jews were astute enough not to take him at face value, espe- 

cially when they discovered that he knew almost nothing about the 

Bible-which is amazing in itself since he is supposed to have spent sev- 

eral years studying theology. Biding their time, they gave him some 

books on Judaism and suggested that he begin studying. 

Despite Pimienta's punctilious observance of the laws of ritual puri- 

ty at mealtimes, the Curaqao Jews remained suspicious and tried to 

persuade him to go to Amsterdam for his conversion, but he refused, 

claiming that he would be unable to endure the cold climate in the 

Netherlands. Meanwhile, virtually destitute since he had not been giv- 

en the sum he anticipated, Pimienta wrote to his parents for money. 

The suspicions of the Curaqao Jews were heightened when they inter- 

cepted the letter and discovered that his parents, supposedly divested 

of their property by the Inquisition, were actually rather prosperous, 

but Pimienta managed to talk his way out of this predicament, con- 

cluding his explanation with the words, "The Law of Moses stands 

forever." 

Since the story of Pimienta's life can only be reconstructed on the 

basis of information derived from his interrogations before the Inqui- 

sition, we do not have all the details, and some of what we have may 

not be reliable. Certainly, in view of his past history, we have no way 

of knowing how he finally managed to convince the Jews of Curaqao 

that he was sincere. According to his own account, which of course 

may not be true, the decisive moment came when he tore his rosary 

apart and shouted, "If this thing is from God, then let flowers sprout 

from the beads." Whether or not this actually happened or had the ef- 

fect he claimed, the Jews decided to accept him into their congrega- 

tion, presumably MikvC Israel. On May z I, 17 I 5, he was circumcised 

with all the appropriate ceremonies and adopted the Hebrew name 

Abraham in place of JosC. He was given 94 pesetas-one wonders


why-and a banquet was held in his honor. Soon afterward he married 

a Jewish woman, but unfortunately the sources do not give her name. 

In his "new life" Pimienta remained as restless as ever, and before 

long he put out to sea again, sailing to Bahia Honda, where he some- 

how managed to accumulate 500 pesetas. His reason for making this 

voyage is not stated in his testimony, but it must have involved bucca- 

neering of some kind, for around this time, while engaged in what he 

admitted was an act of piracy, he was struck with a cutlass and suf- 

fered a split nose, a wound that left him with a permanent scar. Life as 

a pirate was not to Pimienta's taste, however, and the wound in his 

nose actually set him to praying-not in the Jewish manner, as one 

might expect, but by reciting the Litany of Our Lady, with the addition 

of a Salve Regina for his safe return to Curasao. 

If Pimienta's shipmates overheard his prayers, they said nothing 

back in Curaqao. Meanwhile, the Jewish congregation appointed Pi- 

mienta as a teacher in its school. It may be assumed that a man charged 

with the religious instruction of the young was expected to conduct 

himself in an exemplary manner, but Pimienta later told the Inquisi- 

tion that he had not observed the dietary laws except when Jews were 

present. He also recounted what may have been an attempt to convert 

him to Protestantism-a Lutheran acquaintance in Curaqao gave him a 

copy of the New Testament and told him that as a born Catholic and a 

converted Jew he would have been better off if he had never been born. 

A Prisoner of the Inquisition 

Not long after this Pimienta gave up his job as a teacher and left Cura- 

qao. A few days out to sea his ship was captured by pirates. They put 

him ashore in Jamaica, where a Jewish friend took him in. Pimienta 

still had the Lutheran's New Testament, and while staying in his 

friend's house he threw it into the fire. According to his own account, 

he saw blood flowing from the burning pages. Whatever the true sig- 

nificance of this hallucination, Pimienta took it as a sign that he should 

turn his back on Judaism. Soon afterward he visited the synagogue in 

Jamaica, made contacts with Catholics, and baptized two Jewish chil- 

dren. 

While still in Jamaica, Pimienta learned that someone was trying to 

track him down. The information was so vague that Pimienta had no

Rogue Priest I59 

idea whether the person on his trail was an agent of the Jews or of the 

Inquisition, but whatever the case, he decided to move on, departing 

from Jamaica in the company of a Jew and fifteen Indians. The Jew 

seems to have been his prisoner; Pimienta regularly beat him, and for 

reasons that are no longer clear, forced him to eat pork and to recite 

the name of the Holy Trinity. After a while, however, the Indians 

turned against Pimienta, beating him half to death and fleeing. Left on 

his own, he managed to reach a camp of some kind, where he was ar- 

rested and sent to Rio de la Hacha. For the next three weeks Pimienta 

played the fool-a role that certainly gave him no trouble-praying first 

in the Catholic manner and then in the Jewish, and boasting to his jail- 

ers that he would profess to be a Catholic when taken before the Inqui- 

sition but would then escape to Curaqao and resume his life as a Jew. 

He offered to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for deliverance from 

prison. 

In due course Pimienta was handed over to the Inquisition in Carta- 

gena. Brought before the tribunal, he pleaded guilty and begged for 

mercy. After undergoing the public disgrace of marching in a proces- 

sion of penitents while garbed in a sambenito (penitential garment), he 

was sentenced, at an auto da fe' in the city's Dominican convent, to life 

imprisonment in a Mercedarian monastery in Spain. Soon thereafter, 

together with some other prisoners, he was embarked on the ship 

Minora for the transatlantic voyage, but it was only thanks to his 

guards that he ever got to Spain, because his fellow prisoners, driven to 

distraction by his constant ranting and raving, tried to throw him 

overboard. 

When the Minora docked in Cadiz, Pimienta was taken in custody 

by the bishop and the city prefect, and the record of his trial was sent to 

the archives in Seville. Contrary to the terms of his sentence in Carta- 

gena, and despite his vehement protestations, he was fettered and sent 

to a prison rather than a monastery. In prison, though, Pimienta was 

really in his element, and before long he and another inmate managed 

to break out. They left behind a note inviting anyone who was tired of 

life to try and catch them. 

After parting from his fellow escapee, Pimienta turned himself in at 

a Mercedarian convent in Jerez. The monks extended him their full 

hospitality; he was allowed to participate in the choir and to make 

confession of sins every four days, but was not permitted to say Holy

I 60 American Jewish Archives 

Mass because he could not show the necessary permit. 

From the monastery Pimienta wrote to a wealthy resident of Jerez 

and asked that he come see him. Since Pimienta later referred to this 

man as a Jew, he was probably a New Christian, and in all likelihood 

Pimienta saw him as a possible ally or patron, perhaps even imagining 

that he was a secret judaizer. This would explain why he included 

some Hebrew phrases remembered from his circumcision ceremony in 

the letter, but despite, or perhaps because of, this gesture, the man 

turned him down, replying that he did not understand Latin. Un- 

daunted, Pimienta wrote to another Jerez "Jew," but this time he spe- 

cified that the recipient should not ask for him at the mon- 

astery-instead he would be waiting somewhere in the street outside, 

and could be identified by the scar on his nose and by a long green rib- 

bon on his wrist. When this letter went unanswered, Pimienta wrote to 

a third "Jew," promising to pay him 25 dubloons when they met, but 

this letter too was ignored. 

Since there are no secrets in a monastery, the superiors soon found 

out about Pimienta's spate of letter writing and asked for an explana- 

tion. As always he had a ready answer. He wanted to get money from 

the Jerez Jews, he said, so that he could go back to Curaqao and kill his 

former Jewish associates there. He wanted revenge because they had 

caused all his troubles by circumcising him against his will, even 

though he had never wanted to become a Jew and had never converted 

in his heart. His superiors were apparently duped by this tale, since 

they dropped the matter and even began addressing him as Fray JosC. 

Meanwhile, as if to underscore the veracity of his explanation, Pi- 

mienta wrote to the king and then to the duke of Veragues, asking for 

money for the same purpose. These two letters, which were never an- 

swered, had hardly been sent when he sat down to write another mis- 

sive, this time to the city prefect. In it he declared that he had never 

intended to abandon Judaism and convert to Jesus and was now more 

convinced than ever that the Law of Moses was true; in fact he was 

ready to give up his life for it and felt certain that he would gain a thou- 

sand lives in the flames at the stake. Before the prefect could respond, 

Pimienta slipped out of the monastery and made his way to Lisbon, 

where he hoped to book passage on a ship to London, Amsterdam, or 

Jamaica. When he proved unable to do so, he went to the Mercedarian 

monastery in Seville and asked the superior to hand him over to the In- 

quisition.

Rogue Priest I 61 

When Pimienta appeared before the tribunal in Seville, he was 

charged with heresy, apostasy, and conversion to Judaism. The case 

against him was overwhelming, but his defense attorney, evidently 

one of those people who think it possible to find a silver lining in the 

darkest cloud, tried to put a good face on the seemingly damning inci- 

dents just recounted. Maintaining that Pimienta's return to Catholi- 

cism was sincere, he described his plan to finance a vendetta against 

the Curacao Jews with funds obtained from the Jerez Jews as com- 

mendable; pointed out that he could have waited in Lisbon for a ship 

to Amsterdam or could have escaped to Cadiz or Gibraltar but instead 

turned himself in voluntarily; and explained away the letter to the city 

prefect as a naive attempt to ensure that he would not be sent back to 

the monastery if captured after leaving there. 

Not surprisingly, none of this impressed the judges, and they had Pi- 

mienta jailed. Visited in his cell by an official, Pimienta declared that 

he was a Jew and intended to remain one. When the visitor reported 

this conversation, Pimienta was brought before the tribunal again. He 

repeated the statement, capping it with an apt quotation from St. Paul: 

"Everyone who has himself circumcised is obliged to observe the en- 

tire law" (Galatians 5 : 3). 

Pimienta's interrogation now focused on other aspects of Catholic 

doctrine. Asked to state his views in regard to the Holy Trinity, he re- 

plied that he believed in one God, the creator of heaven and earth, in 

accordance with Deuteronomy 3 2. Asked about the Blessed Virgin, he 

quoted Isaiah, "Who will tell his birth?", and then said that in his 

opinion the Virgin had never existed but that Jesus was a prophet 

worth following. He added that when he recited psalms each day in his 

cell, he omitted the Gloria Patri, the Catholic trinitarian doxology. 

Warned by his attorney that he would be burned at the stake if he per- 

sisted in his obstinacy, Pimienta replied that he wanted nothing else, 

since he was willing to die for the Law of Moses in order to obtain eter- 

nal life. Finally, when asked to sign the trial record, he refused, "be- 

cause it is the Sabbath." 

The tribunal found Pimienta guilty of heresy and conversion to Ju- 

daism, and sentenced him to be burned alive. He was given a three- 

month respite to reconsider. During this period learned clerics visited 

his cell every day to persuade him to recant, but when he remained ad- 

amant, the tribunal decided to proceed with the execution. On Mon- 

day, July 22,1720, Pimienta was notified that he would be burned the


following Thursday in an auto da fe' to be held in the Plaza de San 

Francisco. He seemed unmoved, but on Wednesday, July 24, he asked 

for a confessor, made a full confession, revoked his errors, and asked 

for a pardon. His excommunication was then lifted, and the next 

morning, the day of his execution, he received Holy Communion. 

The auto da fe' in which Pimienta and six other condemned persons 

were burned was the first such event in many years, and crowds of sen- 

sation-seekers turned out for the occasion, jamming the temporary 

galleries erected around the place of execution as Pimienta and the 

others were escorted into the Plaza by a group of priests. Dressed in 

priestly vestments, and holding a crucifix in his hand, Pimienta once 

again revoked his errors and confessed that he had been redeemed by 

the wounds of Jesus Christ. He then kneeled before Msgr. Jost de Es- 

quibel, O.P., the bishop of Licopoli, who was presiding over the burn- 

ings in honor of the faith, and the bishop, moved to tears, removed his 

clerical vestments. 

This ceremony completed, Pimienta was handed over to the secular 

arm with a request for merciful treatment in view of his repentance. In 

response, Alonso de 10s Rios, the functionary of the secular arm, de- 

clared that he would be garrotted before the burning. At this point a 

homily was read, but then, because it was midday and too hot to con- 

tinue, the execution was postponed and Pimienta was taken back to 

his cell. According to the execution report, he lunched with a good ap- 

petite. 

Between five and six in the afternoon Pimienta was taken back to 

the Plaza. While walking there he again displayed his repentance. 

When the procession reached the Plaza, the priests embraced Pimien- 

ta, and he in turn, in a loud voice, asked to be forgiven for the bad ex- 

ample he had set and for the disrepute he had cast on his order and on 

the priesthood. After a final confession of faith in Jesus Christ and one 

last declaration that he believed in the teachings of Mother Church, Pi- 

mienta was garrotted. His corpse, with a paper crown on its head as a 

symbol of disgrace, was tied to the stake and burned. 

In the aftermath of his strange life, we are told that numerous Holy 

Masses were ordered for the rest of his soul, and that days of fasting 

were observed for the same purpose in many monasteries and nunne- 

ries. 

J. Hartog, librarian emeritus of Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, is the au-

Rogue Priest I 63 

thor of The Jews and St. Eustatius and History of St. Maarten and St. 

Martin. Dr. Hartog now lives in Salzburg, Austria. 

Notes 

I especially want to express my indebtedness to Miss Kathleen Houghton of the British Library, 

London; to the anonymous functionary of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; and to 

Miss Lori A. Feldman of the Library of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio; all of 

whom did everything possible to provide me with source material and printed references. 

I. R. Gottheil, "Fray Joseph Diaz Pimienta, alias Abraham Pimienta," Publications of the 

American Jewish Historical Society 9 (1901); E. N. Adler, Auto de Fb and Jew (London, 1908), 

pp. 172-180. The case is also mentioned in C. de Bethencourt, "Notes on the Spanish and Portu- 

guese Jews in the U.S., Guiana, and the Dutch and British West Indies during the 17th and 18th 

Centuries," Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 29 (1925): 21-25, and is giv- 

en a few words or paragraphs in several other works, although none of these provide any dates 

not found in the works cited in this note or in note 2. 

2. My primary source for the account in this article is Relacibn de el autodafee celebrado en el 

real Conbento de Sun Pablo, Orden de Predicatores (Manuscript section, British Library [formerly 

British Museum], London, inv. 4071.1.4.9). See also J. Hartog, Cura~ao (Aruba, 1961), 

I:4II.

Judios y gauchos: 

The Search for Identity in 

Argentine- Jewish Literature 

Stephen A. Sadow 

In spite of their relative prosperity and the freedom with which they 

have practiced their religious and communal affairs, Argentine Jews 

have often found themselves to be in an estranged or at least problem- 

atical relationship with their country. Argentina is a Roman Catho- 

lic-if anticlerical-country, with a strong consciousness of its 

Hispanic origins.' Over the years there has been almost incessant anti- 

Semitic activity. The attacks have sometimes been violent. In recent 

years, Jewish intellectuals, businessmen, and students have been kid- 

napped and murdered. Jews have variously tried to ignore or oppose 

these outrages. It is important to remember, however, that for the 

most part, these anti-Semitic activities only indirectly affect the daily 

lives of most Jews, causing apprehension but little more. Whether be- 

cause they believe that Argentina is not basically an anti-Semitic coun- 

try or because they employ an elaborate denial system, many 

Argentine Jews downplay the importance of anti-Semitic incidents. 

Nevertheless, they worry about them. 

For many Jews, the question of national identity is a far more tick- 

lish problem. In Argentina, the pressure for conformity and assimila- 

tion into the dominant culture is fierce. Argentineans tend to be 

intensely nationalistic and proud of their traditions, many of which 

have Christian underpinnings. Argentine Jews share in the national- 

ism, strongly identifying themselves with the nation. But often they 

find this attachment to be in conflict with their sense of themselves as 

Jews. Many experience an intolerable contradiction. Some make ali- 

yah to Israel. Many more assimilate, ceasing to identify themselves as 

Jews. Most remain troubled, but assume, with an optimism that is typ- 

ically Argentinean, that, with time, things will improve. 

Not surprisingly, the difficulty of living as both a Jew and an Argen- 

tinean has been a theme of consuming interest for Jewish writers in Ar- 

gentina. Writing in Spanish, rather than the Yiddish of some of their

Search for Identity 165 

contemporaries,' writers such as Alberto Gerchunoff, Max Dickmann, 

Manuel Kirshenbaum, Luisa Sopovich, Bernardo Kordbn, LAzaro 

Liacho, Eliahu Toker, Jose Isaacson, Gregorio Scheines, and 

Bernardo Verbitsky see themselves as the product of Argentine reality. 

Most, if not all, have produced "Argentine literature," that is, works 

in which Jewish characters and themes do not occur. But these writers 

and others like them have not assimilated. Many have also written on 

Jewish themes for Jewish-sponsored journals such as Comentario and 

Davar.' A significant number have chosen to produce fiction, poetry, 

and drama in which they examine closely the position of the Jew in 

Argentine society. 

Saul Sosnowski has argued correctly that any discussion of Argentine-Jewish 

literature "has to be undertaken from a position that recognizes 

the two basic components of the authors: their Jewish 

background and their Argentine ~itizenship."~ Sosnowski himself has 

studied a number of Argentine-Jewish writers, including Gerchunoff, 

GermAn Rozenmacher, and Gerardo Mario Goloboff, and has come 

to bleak conclusions. His interpretation of Argentine-Jewish literature 

is affected by his analysis of Argentine society. He criticizes optimistic 

writers for being misguided and for having misinterpreted the position 

of the Jews in Argentina. He favors those writers who are most critical 

of Argentine-Jewish life. Sosnowski's stress on biographical and historical 

material leads to an overemphasis on the somber quality of the 

literature. However, when extraliterary considerations are downplayed, 

a different view is possible. Argentine-Jewish literature is quite 

varied in tone. Celebration and desperation coexist. There is warmhearted 

laughter as well as bitter recrimination. Argentine-Jewish 

writers taken together present a tapestry of views about what it means 

to be both Argentinean and Jewish. 

Alberto Gerchunoff 

Significantly, the first important novel written by a Jew in Argentina 

was entitled Los gauchos judios [The Jewish gaucho^].^ Published in 

1910 as a celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Argentine independence, 

Los gauchos judios is a highly romanticized reconstruction 

of life in the Jewish agricultural settlements in the pampas province of 

Entre Rio~.~ It was the first novel of Alberto Gerchunoff, later to be-


come editor of the influential daily La Nacion. Gerchunoff's father, 

one of the earliest Russian-Jewish settlers in Entre Rios, had been mur- 

dered by an indigenous herdsman. Yet Gerchunoff, in what may have 

been an exercise in wish fulfillment, created a series of nostalgic scenes 

of rural Jewish life. In a collection of interrelated short stories rather 

than a tightly constructed novel, Gerchunoff presents Jews encounter- 

ing problems in adjusting to a new life-style and a sometimes antago- 

nistic surrounding culture. But while the severity of these difficulties is 

not minimized, the novel is suffused with optimism. These are only 

temporary aberrations which the essentially benign Argentine culture 

will soon remedy.' 

Even the novel's style reflects a belief in the possibilities for synergis- 

tic interaction between the Hispanic-Argentine and Jewish cultures. 

Gerchunoff's first language was Yiddish, but by the time he wrote this 

book (in his early twenties), he had perfected a Spanish prose modeled 

on that of Cervantes. Into his Cervantine rhythms, he infused Yiddish 

expressions and Hebrew benedictions. The Agadah, the Talmud, Don 

Quixote, and Cervantes' Exemplary Novels are all cited in the text. 

Unlike writers for the Yiddish press, Gerchunoff intended his novel for 

a Christian as well as a Jewish audience, and included explanatory 

comments which would have been superfluous to his Jewish readers. 

Also, there are frequent references to Christ and the Virgin Mary. 

To the Jews of Los gauchos judios, refugees from the pogroms and 

frigid winters of Russia, the Argentine countryside clearly represented 

the promised land. They saw it as a new Zion, prophesied in their 

prayers and far superior to contemporary Palestine, "con sus conven- 

tos, cruzes, y mezquitas" ["with its convents, crosses, and mosques"] 

(p. 102). The land and sky of Argentina are revered as protective and 

nurturing forces. The difficulties of farming are not cause for doubting 

the wisdom of the enterprise: even a locust plague is not enough to 

dampen the Jews' enthusiasm for long. Unlike many of their real-life 

counterparts who left the land for the cities-some even returned to 

Europe-Gerchunoff's Jews are convinced that Entre Rios is the best 

place on earth. In one anecdote, newly arrived Jews say "Amen" every 

time the word "Libertad" ["Liberty"] is repeated in the Argentine an- 

them. 

Their fierce identification with the land led these Jews to be fascinat- 

ed with its inhabitants: the small farmers, the shopkeepers, and, most


important, the cattle herdsmen or gauchos. Often illiterate, practicing 

a version of Catholicism riddled with superstition and anti-Semitism, 

the gauchos loomed as romantic characters worthy of imitation by 

Jews. They were physically strong, skillful, and possessed a straight- 

forward sense of justice which was comprehensive if simplistic. More- 

over, the Jews believed them to be representative of the dominant 

Argentine culture. 

Gerchunoff depicts threats to communal life caused by coexistence 

with the native population. In one chapter, Ismael Rudman's daughter 

runs away with Remigio, a non-Jew, causing grief and consternation 

to her family. Rabbi Abrahan and Rabbi Zacarias discuss the "trage- 

dy." They should have expected it, they say, for the girl lit a fire on the 

Sabbath and ate nonkosher food. The two rabbis see Rudman7s 

daughter as a portent of things to come. "


Christians, and the novel's narrator. Duglach was almost as well- 

versed in Argentine folklore as in Hebraic tradition. He admired the 

gauchos, regarding them as similar to the ancient Hebrews. He retold 

both Argentine and Jewish stories. "Soy un gaucho judio" ["I am a 

Jewish gaucho"] he would repeat proudly (p. 82). Dr. Yarcho refuses a 

lucrative practice in the city in order to treat country people, both Jew- 

ish and Christian. Though not very religious, he is praised by all as 

"hundamente judio" and "un gran gaucho" ["deeply Jewish and a 

great gaucho"] (p. 110). Duglach and Yarcho, rather than Jacobo his 

alter ego, are Gerchunoff's model Jews. Through them he shows his 

belief that a close affinity of spirit existed between the Jews and the na- 

tive Argentineans. The implication is that this natural understanding 

can be exploited for the benefit of both groups. Gerchunoff's portray- 

al is upbeat, confident, and hopeful. 

Char Tiempo 

Writing in 193 3, the playwright and poet CCsar Tiempo dramatized a 

Jewish community in Buenos Aires that had been integrated into 

Argentine society. Tiempo (born Israel Zeitlin) was prominent in Jew- 

ish affairs and the author of several volumes of devotional poetry." His 

play El teatro soy yo [I am the theater] was written for a general rather 

than a specifically Jewish audience.' What makes Tiempo's work sig- 

nificant is that he obviously felt secure enough in Argentina, in 1933, 

to present Jews to the public in an unfavorable and even burlesque 

manner. He creates a group of stock types. Jeremias Jobman (Tiempo 

is not subtle in his choice of names), for example, is depicted as a 

wealthy, ill-tempered miser. Myriam Sambation rose from a poor 

country girl in one of the Jewish settlements to become a famous and 

sought-after actress and playwright. Her plays, written on Jewish 

themes, have won her acclaim from the general public, but she is self- 

indulgent and overly critical of others. Dr. Lindberg is a respected phy- 

sician who spends his free time working for Jewish charities. 

Salmonovich is an accountant. For the most part, the Jewish charac- 

ters in this play have had great economic success. These upwardly mo- 

bile Jews support institutions such as the Jewish Agency and the 

Sociedad Hebraica. 

This is not to say that the situation is perfect. Intermarriage is


viewed by the play's Jewish characters as an ever-present threat. Job- 

man's daughter runs off with Ferrantini, a non-Jew. In a play written 

by Myriam, this act is repeated. There are occasional anti-Semitic re- 

marks. Myriam decries the fact that a critic has written of the "Jewish 

nature" of her work. Rather than taking the statement as praise, she 

sees it as evidence of the writer's bias. 

But in great measure, Tiempo's Jews are secure and successful-all 

the more remarkable when one thinks of the plight of the European 

Jews in 193 3. Anti-Semitism was to increase in Argentina as the army 

and the Church tilted more toward the Axis, but there is no hint that 

Tiempo foresaw this. 

The theme of El teatro soy yo is intolerance. But interestingly, it cen- 

ters on prejudice against blacks rather than Jews. Tiempo's choice of a 

black playwright as a central figure in his drama is especially curious. 

By 19 3 3, the black population of Buenos Aires was negligible.'" Unlike 

Cuba, Ecuador, or even Uruguay, where stable black populations 

have long existed, Argentina produced no significant corpus of black 

literature, though a few poems do survive. When El teatro soy yo 

opened, a white actor in blackface played the black role. Tiempo's 

Gaspar Liberi6n is a symbol for the victim of prejudice rather than a 

flesh-and-blood figure to whom the audience could relate. 

Gaspar Liberi6n is a frustrated black playwright. Bias against 

blacks has kept his plays from being produced. He complains that he 

suffers daily humiliations because of his race. Gaspar asks Myriam 

Sambati6n for assistance. Citing A]. Jolson, he speaks to her of the af- 

finities between blacks and Jews. Gaspar says that he has learned 

many beautiful things from the Jews. In an extraordinary speech, he 

declares, "Somos 10s judios modernos" ["We are the modern Jews"] 

(p. 123). According to Gaspar, the blacks now suffer the humiliations 

that in the past were reserved for the Jews. Their situation is worse, 

however, because unlike the Jews, they cannot choose to assimilate 

and lose themselves in the greater society. With Myriam's help, Gas- 

par's play is produced. It is an immediate success. But when the audi- 

ence learns that the author is black, they boo and deride him in a most 

insulting manner. Not able to bear this, Gaspar Liberi6n shoots him- 

self. Tiempo chastises his audience, including the Jews in it, for their 

prejudice. Implicitly, he warns all of them that as long as there is bias 

against anyone, no one is safe. That the Jews have been generally ac-


cepted into Argentine society is emphasized in this play. This is surely 

hopeful. But through his use of a black stand-in, Tiempo warns 

against complacency. 

Marcos Soboleosky 

Jewish writing continued unabated through the 1930's and during the 

ten-year rule of Juan Domingo Peron (1945-1955). Many Jewish au- 

thors, such as the novelist Max Dickmann and the playwright Samuel 

Eichelbaum, tended to favor general rather than specifically Jewish 

themes. A Jewish-oriented work was Bernardo Verbitsky's Es dificil 

empezar a uiuir [Beginning to live is difficult] (1941), which describes 

the coming of age of one Pablo Levinson. 

By the time Marcos Soboleosky's novel Enferm6 la uid [The vine 

sickened] was published in 19 57, being a Jew in Argentina had taken 

on new dimensions." Soboleosky's portrait is in sharp contrast to that 

of his predecessors. Soboleosky's protagonist, Ezequiel Oleansky, is a 

Jewish intellectual, author of a book on Kafka, who despairs, first, of 

the difficulties of living as a Jew in a Christian society, and ultimately, 

of the possibility of living as a Jew at all. 

Oleansky has committed the act decried by Gerchunoff's and Tiem- 

po's characters: he has married a non-Jewish woman. Except for an 

epilogue, the novel is written in the form of a long letter from 

Oleansky to his wife, Ana G6mez. In it, he tells the history of their 

marriage and recalls his feelings, thoughts, and observations. The 

novel is a confession and, to a lesser extent, an account of a spiritual 

journey. 

Oleansky admits that he married Ana less for love than in an at- 

tempt to avoid marrying a Jewish woman who would, as he puts it, as- 

phyxiate his personality. The marriage causes repercussions in both 

his family and hers. Her family view him as exotic, but attractive and 

"digno de ser cristiano" ["worthy of being a Christian"] (p. 17). The 

fact that he, the son of immigrants, speaks Spanish better than many 

natives, impresses them greatly. Her aunts tolerate him but are deeply 

disappointed when the couple marries in a civil ceremony. With resig- 

nation, his mother accepts her daughter-in-law, counting it a victory 

that her son did not marry in church. Upon marrying, Ezequiel cuts his 

ties with the Jewish community.


Almost from the start, the marriage founders. Ana has no compre- 

hension of Jewish values, customs, or traditions. Normal family 

events cause crises for the couple. Instead of bringing them together, 

having children accentuates their differences. Ana wants to name their 

first child after her grandmother. Following Ashkenazi Jewish tradi- 

tion, Ezequiel forbids their naming the child after a living relative. Ana 

is confused and angered. They bring up the children without religious 

training. But their children encounter the intensely Christian environ- 

ment of their friends, who attend Mass, take communion, go to reli- 

gious schools, and have religious images in their homes. Ezequiel does 

not want to meet the parents of his children's friends for fear they are 

anti-Semites. When Ana refuses to have her son circumcised, Ezequiel 

is disturbed but does not insist. But when Ezequiel begins to read Dub- 

now's History of theJews, Ana feels estranged. She retaliates by bring- 

ing an image of the Virgin and Child into their home. Seeing her as 

superficial, small-minded, and uncultured, Oleansky blames his wife 

for the deterioration of his marriage. 

The overriding effect upon Oleansky of marrying a Christian and 

cutting his ties with his Jewish background is, ironically, that he is 

constantly reminded of his Jewishness. He meditates on the commu- 

nal, psychological, and spiritual aspects of his Jewishness. His conclu- 

sions disturb him greatly. At times he experiences self-hatred and 

desperation. He believes that to be a Jew is to be different in many es- 

sential ways from all those who are not Jews. For in the Jew, there is a 

sense of insecurity with respect to the world in which he lives but to 

which he does not belong. Jews feel constantly observed but are also 

continuous observers. Jewish happiness is always limited, Oleansky 

concludes. A Jew cannot love a Christian the way he would another 

Jew because the world impedes it. 

Oleansky eventually decides that he desires the loss of his Jewish- 

ness. He argues that he would have more in common with another 

Argentinean than with a Jew from another culture. Nationality is 

more important to him than religion. Oleansky pleads that he wants to 

live not as a Jew or as a Christian but only as a citizen. 

Spiritually also, Oleansky flees his Judaism. He finds the local syna- 

gogue to be devoid of spirituality. In a nearby church, he meets a priest 

who becomes his teacher. Oleansky is attracted to the universalism of 

Catholicism and believes that in each Jew lies a potential convert. But


Oleansky finds he cannot achieve the faith in Christ necessary for con- 

version. He blames his Jewish upbringing and "Talmudic mentality" 

for his inability to find spontaneous faith or tolerate Catholic symbol- 

ism. Oleansky finds himself in a predicament. He no longer wants to 

follow the Jewish religion, but inner constraints keep him from be- 

coming a Roman Catholic. He contemplates entering a Fransciscan 

monastery. Instead, he commits suicide. 

For Soboleosky's protagonist, being Jewish in Argentina (or per- 

haps anywhere) leads to an intolerable situation. He is constantly re- 

minded of his Jewishness and troubled by Jewish history. He is 

uncomfortable in both Jewish and Christian society. The novel is, of 

course, the portrait of one man, who might be dismissed as neurotic. It 

is impossible to know the extent to which Soboleosky intended him to 

be symbolic. However, the mass of social detail presented suggests 

that Soboleosky believed that many other Jews were facing similar 

traumatic struggles. 

Pedro Schvartzman 

A little book entitled Cuentos criollos con judios [Creole stories with 

Jews], published by Pedro Schvartzman in 1967, contrasts with Soboleosky's 

rather dismal portrayal." Totally ignoring the virulent anti- 

Semitism that plagued Argentina in the early 1960's' Schvartzman's 

work is unabashedly pro-Argentina. Like Gerchunoff's, Schvartzman's 

narrative is, in part, autobiographical. In a set of interrelated 

short stories, he revives the nostalgic tone of Los gauchos judios, even 

mimicking its title. The stories are made up of scenes of life in the agricultural 

communities of Entre Rios province. Several stories present, 

in a romanticized fashion, warm relations between the Jews and their 

non-~ewish neighbors. The few instances of anti-Semitism are considered 

to be the acts of hooligans and the relics of an earlier time. Schvartzman's 

descriptions border on the incredible. Gauchos eat matzah 

and other Jewish foods; they praise the Jews' intelligence. A local 

Catholic butcher sells only kosher meat; a nonkosher butcher goes out 

of business. For their part, the Jewish immigrants adapt rapidly to the 

cuisine and customs of the country. They are delighted by the abundance 

of food. "La Argentina es un presente de Dios" ["Argentina is a 

gift of God"] says one (p. 11).


As portrayed in these stories, the acculturation of the Jews was not 

without cost. The earliest immigrants tried to keep the Sabbath, but 

local customs made this difficult. Many Jews protested that they were 

not even religious. Eventually, the practice was forgotten. By the 

1930's Jewish education in the communities was on the decline, poor- 

ly funded, and staffed by poorly trained teachers. Schvartzman's nar- 

rator recalls that for the children, Yiddish, Hebrew, and most 

religious practices seemed anachronistic leftovers from prehistoric 

times. 

In spite of these negative aspects, Schvartzman stresses the ease of 

acculturation and, in particular, the welcome the Jews received from 

Argentinean Christians. The latter theme is exemplified in a story enti- 

tled "Hermandad" [Brotherhood]. Fleeing Hitler, Jews come to Entre 

Rios. After facing the Nazi terror, the children find it difficult to be- 

lieve that they are accepted. Years later, one immigrant, now adult, be- 

comes a taxi driver. One night his fare is Carpincho, the local drunk. 

Intoxicated, Carpincho shouts that the Jew is not his friend. Suddenly 

reexperiencing feelings of his youth, the taxi driver is terrified. Contin- 

uing, Carpincho insists that they are not friends but brothers. 

In Schvartzman's work, the future of the Jews in Argentina seems 

assured. What is remarkable about Cuentos criollos con judrbs is that 

it was written during the early days of the political crisis which contin- 

ues to the present day. The government was headed by General Onga- 

nia, who, if not an overt anti-Semite, was an archconservative and 

identifiably a member of the military oligarchy. But Schvartzman's 

portrait is unequivocally positive. It strongly implies that one can be 

comfortable being both Jewish and Argentinean. 

Bernardo Verbitsky 

In Etiquetas a 10s hombres [Labels for men], written by Bernardo Ver- 

bitsky in 1972, the issue is reopened and its treatment is far more com- 

plex." Cherniacoff, the protagonist of this long novel, is an intellectual 

who is confronting the issue of whether a person can remain commit- 

ted to Judaism while being a politically active citizen of a Third World 

nation. Like Oleansky, Cherniacoff probes every aspect of his prob- 

lem. Like Oleansky too, he is married to a Catholic woman, in this 

case a psychoanalyst. But unlike Soboleosky's protagonist, Cher-


niacoff never rejects his Jewish heritage. Like Verbitsky himself, who 

was, for many years, the editor of Davar, a Jewish-sponsored journal, 

Cherniacoff is a writer and journalist. Like many Jews in Argentina, 

he is highly educated and well-versed in political theory. When the 

novel begins, Cherniacoff at middle age is facing a crisis of personal 

and political identity. A lifelong socialist, he supports anti-imperialist 

causes. Concurrently, he has been an ardent Zionist. The rejection of 

Israel by the left in the early 1960's forces him to choose between the 

left and Israel, a choice which he believes to be absurd and unneces- 

sary. Believing anti-Zionist rhetoric to be thinly veiled anti-Semitism, 

he cannot opt for that. At the same time, he cannot bring himself to 

leave the left. Moreover, as a member of the "Committee for Friend- 

ship with the Arabs in the Middle East," he has alienated himself from 

many Jews. 

Cherniacoff commences what becomes a multination search for his 

identity. First, he reviews the facets of Jewish identity that he finds in 

Argentina. His friend Altman takes courage in the idea of a Jewish na- 

tional identity. Dr. Wolf sees himself as the persecuted Jew. Dr. Isaac 

Faerman believes that Judaism impedes the process of communist rev- 

olution; he sees himself as an Argentine communist, totally divorced 

from the Jewish tradition. Cherniacoff's prospective son-in-law, Dan- 

iel Bronstein, on the other hand, has decided to emigrate to Israel. 

Cherniacoff is not satisfied with the answers he receives in Argenti- 

na. None of the solutions seems adequate. When he is offered the op- 

portunity to visit Israel as part of a delegation of Argentine-Jewish 

intellectuals, he readily accepts the invitation, setting out to examine 

Israel first-hand. The novel includes many pages which could have ap- 

peared in a travel magazine. In his letters home, Cherniacoff describes 

the Israeli countryside as well as his impressions of Jerusalem and Tel 

Aviv. These passages are significant because Israel is rarely treated in 

Latin American fiction even by Jewish writers.14 Verbitsky treats his 

readers to a novelistic version of the Israel that they had read about in 

the Jewish press and that, by 1972, many had visited. 

In Israel, Cherniacoff meets former Argentineans who have become 

Israeli citizens. While eager for news of Argentina, these olim vigor- 

ously defend their decision to leave that country. Cherniacoff is sur- 

prised by the wide variety of political views he encounters in Israel. He 

visits Mea Shearim and stays for a time at a kibbutz. Constantly, he


questions his Jewish identity. "


1969, the noted poet and writer Liizaro Liacho wrote, "Soy un pa- 

triota argentino y un defensor del judaismo" ["I am an Argentine pa- 

triot and a defender of Judaism"] ." Many Argentine Jews still see this 

combination of roles to be desirable and possible. 

As we have seen, this belief is not new. A strong pro-Argentina senti- 

ment permeates much of Argentine-Jewish literature. Gerchunoff's 

immigrants see Argentina as the new Zion. In Tiempo's play, difficul- 

ties for the Jews seem to be over. For Schvartzman's characters, Jews 

and Christians are not merely friends, they are brothers. Soboleosky's 

Oleansky does find life impossible, but his problems are caused more 

by Jewish self-hatred than by pressure from the greater society. Ver- 

bitsky's Cherniacoff and Daniel Bronstein are troubled precisely be- 

cause they love Argentina as much as they do. Only with great regret 

does Daniel leave. 

In recent years, Jews from other parts of the world have urged Ar- 

gentina's Jews to flee. Pointing to the many beatings and kidnappings 

of Jews, some observers have likened the situation under the present 

government to that in Nazi Germany. Yet, despite these warnings, the 

Jewish community of Argentina persists, stubbornly insisting that it is 

somehow possible to be both Argentinean and Jewish. Gerchunoff's 

ideal of the gaucho judio, intensely Jewish and profoundly Argenti- 

nean, is still valued by many. Whether this is a realistic aspiration or a 

naive self-delusion is a question sure to be examined by Argentine- 

Jewish writers of the future. 

Stephen A. Sadow is assistant professor of Spanish at Northeastern 

University in Boston, where he teaches Spanish language and litera- 

ture. 

Notes 

I. For background about Jews in Argentina, see, especially, Robert Weisbrot, The Jews of Ar- 

gentina (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1979), and Judith Laikin Elkin, Jews of the 

Latin American Republics (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980). 

t. Yiddish literature flourished in Argentina. Starting in 1898, the Yiddish press published the 

works of hundreds of writers. Among the most famous are Marcos Alperson, A. Brodski, I. Helf- 

man, B. Bendersky, Moisis Granitstein, Josi Rabinovich, and Berl Brinberg. Many of these writ- 

ers maintained correspondences with other yiddish writers in the United States and Europe. The 

works of some were published in American Yiddish dailies. The subjects of these writings tended 

to be taken from memories of Jewish life in Europe. Translations into English appear to be non- 

existent. Eduardo Weinfeld has collected Spanish translations of some works of these Yiddish 

writers. See Eduardo Weinfeld, Tesoros del Judaismo: Amkica Latina (Mexico City: Editorial


Encyclopedia Judaica Castellana, 1959). 

3. Comentario was published by the Instituto Judio Argentino de Cultura e Informaci6n (Jew- 

ish-Argentine Institute of Culture and Information) between 1953 and 1971. Davar was 

published by the Sociedad Hebraica Argentina (Argentine Hebraic Society) between 1949 and 

1970 and again between 1974 and 1976. 

4. Saul Sosnowski, "Contemporary Jewish-Argentine Writers: Tradition and Politics," Latin 

American Literary Review 6 (1978): 1-14. 

5. Alberto Gerchunoff, Los gauchos judios (Buenos Aires: Editorial Universitaria de Buenos 

Aires, 1964). 

6. Extensive immigration from Russia began after the Kishinev pogrom of 1903. Through the 

efforts of one man, the Austrian-born British-Jewish philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch, 

thousands of Russian and Ukrainian Jews were resettled on the farimland of the Argentine pam- 

pas. Hirsch subscribed to the contemporary theory that Jews could live properly only if they 

owned and worked the land. He concluded that large-scale migration of Jews to Palestine was 

too dangerous and too impractical. Therefore, Argentina with its immense prairies and liberal 

immigration policies was his choice. With Hirsch's support, fifteen agricultural communities, 

with names like Moisesville and Rosh Pina, were established in the provinces north and west of 

Buenos Aires. At their peak, these towns were home for thirty thousand people who were in- 

volved in raising cattle, wheat, and flax. 

7. In comments directed to his reader, Gerchunoff laments the anti-Semitism he has encoun- 

tered. He says that he wants to believe that it is passing and that by the time of the second cen- 

tenary, admittedly one hundred years away, it will have disappeared. He advises patience. 

Gerchunoff, p. 81. 

8. See especially CCsar Tiempo, Sabation argentino (Buenos Aires: Amigos del Libro Riopla- 

tense, 1933). 

9. Cesar Tiempo, El teatro soy yo (Buenos Aires: n.p., 1933). 

10. Brought in as slaves, blacks were present in large numbers during the colonial period. 

Through the middle of the nineteenth century, they played a significant role in the national life. 

The black population then radically declined. It was estimated at five thousand in 1895. By 1933 

blacks had almost completely disappeared. Lack of immigration, pulmonary diseases, extensive 

miscegenation, and emigration are cited as the causes of this change. 

11. Marcos Soboleosky, Enfermo la vid (Buenos Aires: Ediciones La Reja, 1957). 

I 2. Pablo Schvartzrnan, Cuentos criollos con judios (Buenos Aires: Instituto de 10s Amigos del 

Libro Argentino, 1967). 

13. Bernardo Verbitsky, Etiquetas a 10s hombres (Barcelona: Editorial Planeta, 1972). 

14. Samuel Pecar has written several stories that treat Israel indirectly. In "Hijos ingratos" a 

father laments the fact that his son has made aliyah, leaving him to suffer old age alone. In 

"Nietos" three Argentine grandmothers discuss the Israeli grandchildren they have never seen. In 

"Treinta y tres metros" Argentine parents strain to hear a short-wave broadcast from their chil- 

dren's kibbutz. In "Una pregunta," Pecar comes closest to Verbitsky's treatment of the theme. In 

this story, Dr. Shapiro emigrates to Israel and Saul Cohen is forced to think seriously, for the first 

time, about Judaism, Argentina, and Zionism. Samuel Pecar, Los rebeldes y 10s perplejos 

(Buenos Aires: Periplo, 1959). 

15. Lizaro Liacho, Sobre el filo de la vida [At the edge of life] (Buenos Aires: Candalabro, 

1969), p. 17. Liacho's comment comes in the introduction to this collection of short stories on 

Jewish themes.

The Jewish White Slave Trade 

in Latin An~erican Writings 

Nora Glickman 

Polaca ("Pole") was the generic name applied to all Jewish prostitutes 

in Argentina, whether they came from Poland, Russia, or Rumania. 

Between the 1880's and the early I~~o's, a period when the country 

was undergoing vast waves of predominantly male immigration, the 

Jewish white slave trade was of great social significance in Argentina. 

While brothels were licensed, violations of the law were widely tolerated 

by corrupt officials in the police customs office. As Robert 

Weisbrot reports, "The lax atmosphere in which this trade flourished 

was most visible in the theatres, where hundreds of prostitutes nightly 

patrolled the balconies in search of customers."' In consequence of all 

these factors, white slave traders found Argentina to be quite congenial 

for their operations. 

Despite all the publicity that the phenomenon of Jewish white slavery 

in Argentina has received, it is still not fully understood. Prostitutes 

were extremely reluctant to testify, for fear of reprisals from their 

slavers. The traffickers, for their part, did all in their power to keep 

their activities secret; and the laws protecting minors against the trade 

were seldom enforced. Statistical data on Jewish prostitution in Argentina 

are scant and unreliable.' 

Since the white slave trade is, by its nature, clandestine, most authors 

who have written on the subject knew it only by hearsay or were 

able to gather just enough information to mention it in their stories 

without shedding any real light on the phenomenon. Some authors 

who claimed to be writing serious studies of white slavery actually relied 

mainly on their imagination, but even impressionistic accounts of 

this kind can sometimes enlighten us about the nature of historical 

events in ways that history cannot accomplish. Other authors, however, 

were more concerned with first-hand documentary evidence. Such 

is the case with Albert Londres and Julio Alsogaray.

White Slavery Writings 

Albert Londres 

Le Chemin de Buenos Aires (1928), by the French journalist Albert 

Londres, falls between the categories of documentary reporting and 

the novel.3 Londres purports to be writing a factual account, but he appears 

to have filled some gaps in the narrative creatively. Hence one 

must exercise skepticism about his work. 

Traveling as an investigator for the League of Nations, Londres followed 

the voyage of women who were destined for prostitution from 

their places of origin in Europe (Paris, Marseille, Warsaw), across the 

ocean to Buenos Aires. His account is valuable because he describes 

both the women "who do not die by it," and the men "who live by it" 

-the traffickers, or "caftens," who represent themselves officially as 

fur merchants; "Well," Londres remarks, "human skins are pelts too, 

I suppose!"' Most strikingly, Londres reports on the business terminology 

used by the secret gangs that recruited these women in Europe. 

The slavers' organization was known as "the centre"; the women 

were called "remounts" (a term meaning "fresh horses" and normally 

used for animals); underage girls were known as "lightweights," 

while those arriving in Buenos Aires without papers were known as 

"false weights." 

Londres drowned while traveling in a French ship "that burnt in the 

Atlantic, as it was bringing a human shipment of 300 women destined 

to practice prostitution in this part of South America."' In the prologue 

to the Spanish translation of the book, the critic AndrCs 

Chinarro suggests that the fire was of suspicious origin. 

Londres is moralistic about this "old problem," which, in his view, 

began with hunger and poverty in Europe. In exposing these conditions, 

he goes down "into the pits where society deposits what it fears 

or rejects; to look at what the world refuses to see; to pass my own 

judgment on what the world has ~ondemned."~ Londres does not have 

much faith in repressive measures, such as official decrees and bans 

against the white slave traffic, for "they simply serve to absolve from 

responsibility the officials who are supposed to contend with it."' 

Despite Londres' claim to inform the reader and to document with 

impartiality important details of this traffic, his portrayal of the Jewish 

pimp is a caricature: 

Those dark Levites, their filthy skins making the strangest effect of


light and shade, their unwashed locks corkscrewing down their left 

cheeks, their flat round caps topping them like a saucepan lid.. . . I 

shuddered: I felt as though I had fallen into a nest in which great 

mysterious dark birds were spreading their wings to bar my retreat. 

Londres focuses chiefly on the non-Jewish francesas, or French 

prostitutes, who were the most highly valued group of prostitutes. But 

he also devotes significant sections to the polacas, the Jewish prosti- 

tutes, and the criollas, the native Argentinians. On the popular scale of 

values, French women are the "aristocracy"; then come the polacas, 

and finally the lowest social group, the "serfs" or criollas. What the 

customers did with them seemed to follow a pattern: "Throw over the 

Creola, sharpen their claws on the Polack, and try for the Fran- 

ch~cha."~ 

Londres aims to destroy the sentimentality usually associated with 

prostitution. He sees the tragedy of this profession, and he claims that 

the responsibility falls on everyone involved: "Until recently it was 

maintained that these women were exceptional cases. Scenes from a 

romance; the romance of a girl betrayed; an excellent story to make 

mothers weep: but merely a story; the girl who is unwilling knows 

where to apply [emphasis added]."'" Londres is probably referring 

here to women's-assistance institutions such as Ezrat Nashim, based 

in London, which helped prostitutes who showed interest in rehabili- 

tating themselves. 

One factor which cannot be left out of account was the climate of 

hostility to the slavers and their women in the Jewish community of 

Buenos Aires. Despite the pressure the slavers exerted and their eco- 

nomic influence, Jewish institutions rejected them as tmeyim, or "im- 

pure ones," and thus they were forced to create their own guild, the 

Zewi Migdal." Those whose families insisted on burying them in the 

Jewish cemetery were placed alongside the suicides and the beggars, in 

a corner facing the wall. The ostracism of the Jewish community made 

it harder for Zewi Migdal leaders to conceal themselves when they 

were under investigation. 

Julio Alsogaray 

The Jewish communal institutions by themselves could not have 

eliminated the white slave trade, but in 1930 a major campaign

White Slavery Writings I 8 I 

against the slavers was mounted by Julio Alsogaray, deputy commis- 

sioner of police in Buenos Aires. Alsogaray's efforts had a great impact 

in terminating the trade. He then wrote a detailed report, Trilogia de la 

trata de blancas [White slave trade trilogy] (193 I), in which he defined 

his struggle as that of "a Lilliputian against Hercules."" As a result of 

the police crackdown, several hundred members of the Zewi Migdal 

were arrested and convicted, and severe sentences were imposed by 

the presiding judge, Manuel Rodriguez Ocampo. The testimony of a 

victimized woman, Rachel Lieberman, was instrumental in Alsoga- 

ray's success. The Jewish community as a whole was legally exonera- 

ted of blame. 

Another factor of major significance was the 1930 coup d'itat, 

which brought to power a more conservative government, led by Gen- 

eral Jose F. Uriburu, which restricted immigration and raised barriers 

against the naturalization of foreigners already living in Argentina. 

Uriburu drastically restricted the slavers' operations between Europe 

and America, forcing most of them out of Argentina." 

This period was characterized by a general xenophobia directed 

against minority groups already living in Argentina. Even before 

I 8 80, when the physical presence of the Jew was almost nonexistent in 

Argentina, certain authors expressed exaggerated fears of the danger- 

ous influence of Jews in their country. Anti-immigration conservative 

writers linked the white slave trade with the corruption and debase- 

ment of Argentinian morality; they vented their anger, not only 

against the slavers, but against all Jewish immigrants. Some of their 

works give a distorted picture of the Jew because of racial prejudice 

and the prevailing Christian myths based on Judas and the Wandering 

Jew. The stereotypes of wealthy bankers were influenced by anti-Se- 

mitic European writings, such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion 

and Edouard Drumont's La France]uive.14 As the critic Gladys Onega 

points out in her book La inmigraci6n en la literatura Argentina: 

1800-1910, "xenophobia has served in our country.. . as a pretext 

for the defense of the most conservative and antisocial values and in- 

terest~."'~ 

Julia'n Martel and Manuel Ga'lvez 

Juan Maria Miro (I 8 67-1 89 6), known by his pseudonym Juli5n Mar- 

tel, published in the major conservative newspaper La Nacidn (August 

19, 1891) a fictional account which he labeled a "social study" and


which later became the first chapter of his novel La Bolsa [The stock 

exchange], now a classic of Argentinian literature. La Bolsa introduced 

an anti-Semitic theme which has influenced nationalistic authors 

up to the present day. 

In Martel's view, the Jews embodied the faults and vices of all foreigners. 

They controlled the world of financial speculation. They were 

the "extortionists," the "vampires of modern society," who struck 

easy deals and reaped exorbitant profits, and who promoted corruption 

among "naive public officials." The "diabolical" characters 

were, consequently, also responsible for the slave trade. Martel's Jewish 

figure, Filiberto Meckser, is an odious stereotype, both in his repulsive 

appearance and in his sinister character: " . . . dirty teeth, pale 

complexion, small eyes, lined with red filaments that denounced the 

descendants of Zebulun's tribe, a hooked nose as in Ephron's tribe, 

dressed with the vulgar ostentation of a Jew who could never acquire 

the noble distinction that characterizes Aryan men."16 Posing as a jewelry 

dealer, Meckser manages "to cover up his infamous traffic and to 

give an appearance of respectability to his continual trips abroad."" 

The real purpose of these trips, the reader knows, is to procure prostitutes. 

Without mentioning its name, Martel refers to the Zewi Migdal, 

presided over by Meckser, as a "club of human flesh traffickers, located 

next to the police station, which the police had never dared disturb.'"" 

Martel's anti-Semitism, uninfluenced by contact with 

flesh-and-blood Jews, ignored the campaign launched by the Jewish 

community in Buenos Aires to wipe out the Zewi Migdal. 

Other Argentinian authors, although as conservative as Martel, did 

not share his opinion of Jews. The most important of these was Manuel 

Ghlvez (1882-1962)~ who, despite his reservations about Jewish 

immigrants, praised Jewish efforts to eradicate the bad elements from 

their midst by denying them entry into their synagogues and burial in 

their cemeteries.19 In his novel Nacha Regules (1922)~ which depicts 

the miserable state of prostitutes in Buenos Aires, Ghlvez's sympathies 

are obviously with the "polacas . . .who were sold in public auction, 

who were brutalized and deeply hurt.""" 

Samuel Eichelbaum and David Viiias 

Ten or twelve years later, a more romantic view of the polaca emerged 

in the writings of liberal, socially conscious authors who showed the

White Slavery Writings 183 

prostitute as a victim. These include Samuel Eichelbaum and David 

Viiias, whose sympathy for the polacas and sensitivity to anti- 

Semitism were probably associated with their own Jewish origins. 

Samuel Eichelbaum7s drama Nadie la conocio nunca [No one ever 

knew her] (194 5 ) is, in a way, a criticism of the cultural attitudes of the 

privileged class." It portrays the anguished life of Ivonne, a polaca 

crushed by society, a true victim of social circumstance, and an out- 

cast. Ivonne hides her real identity behind a French name, which serves 

partly to improve her professional status as a prostitute and partly to 

protect her from persecution. The joviality of the first act of the play 

turns serious when Ivonne hears a group of young Argentinian aristo- 

crats-her clients and her lover, Ricardito-boast of having shaved the 

beard of a Jewish immigrant, publicly degrading him. 

In her own living room Ivonne witnesses a playful reenactment of 

the shaving, performed by the perpetrators. Responding to this racial 

insult, she strikes one of the offenders, thus demonstrating that she 

still retains some feeling for her origins. The realization that they had 

done this for amusement shocks Ivonne into recovering her Jewish 

identity. It also brings back memories of her father, murdered during 

the Tragic Week of 1919, when a pogrom broke out in the streets of 

Buenos Aires. Recalling similar pogroms in Russia, which had caused 

her to emigrate to Argentina, Ivonne expresses her remorse in a con- 

fession of her errors: "I am glad.. . that my father did not live to see me 

leading this life of debauchery. I thank my stars that I never had to face 

him looking like this. Even worse, today I feel the emptiness of my 

whole life, like a terrible revelation."" As a redeemed heroine, Ivonne 

sees herself as a representative of all Jewish women. She feels com- 

pelled to behave with dignity "because now, in each one of us, in our 

words and our deeds, the Uewish] race prevail^."'^ Her curse is that 

despite her understanding, she is too weak to change and will remain a 

prostitute. 

David Viiias (b. 1929), like Eichelbaum, links violence with casual 

amusement. In his novel En la Semana Tragica [During the Tragic 

Week] (1974), he exposes the thoughtless brutality of the guardias 

blancas (white guards), who went on a rampage of murder and de- 

struction against the Jewish community in 1919.'~ Violence that week 

was an entertainment for well-to-do youth, who alternated between 

whoring with polacas or francesas and beating up defenseless Jews.


In a later novel, Los dueiios de la tierra [The owners of the land] 

(1974)," Vifias's protagonist, Vicente, remembers that he and his fel- 

low law students used to leave the courthouse and amuse themselves 

"with the polacas or with the Jewesses, who after all were the same 

thing."z6 When he compares the different sorts of whores he has en- 

countered, Vicente finally decides that, contrary to public opinion, 

"one Jewess is worth four Frenchwomen anytime."" Significantly, 

both Vifias and Eichelbaum create male protagonists who, despite 

their expressed hatred for Jews, eventually fall in love with and marry 

Jewish women; yet this resolves none of their internal tensions. 

Mario Szichman and Moacyr Scliar 

During the 1970's literary accounts of Jewish prostitution became 

more realistic, their scope more ambitious, and their characters more 

three-dimensional. Cases in point are the Argentinian novelist Mario 

Szichman and the Brazilian Moacyr Scliar. Szichman writes in a bitter, 

sarcastic vein. His autobiographical novels, linked to his Jewish heri- 

tage, are cynical, less conciliatory than those of earlier authors. Dora, 

a continuing character in several of Szichman's novels, is a hardened, 

resourceful, unscrupulous woman who becomes a prostitute in 

Buenos Aires to save herself from starvation: "I discovered that the 

world belonged to men, and since I could not conquer it with my head, 

I used my tujes [back~ide]."'~ 

In her Yiddishized Spanish, Dora does not make any distinction be- 

tween obscenity and refinement, as long as she gets what she wants. 

She has no qualms about openly acknowledging the link between 

crime and prostitution: "There was a certain polaca who whistled at 

the client, and lured him into the passage.. . . there they would take 

away his ring, his watch, his wallet."z9 Dora cynically models herself 

on the melodramatic heroines of tangos and milongas, as she retells 

the story of her life: "I don't go rolling around from here to there as I 

used to. There is luxury in my room. I spend as much as I wish. And no 

one reminds me that once upon a time I was the mud of the delta, 

the easy ride who was mocked on nights of carousing and of 

~hampagne."~~ 

Dora's determination to succeed as a madam is based on her conclu- 

sion that prostitutes who are uncooperative and unenthusiastic about


their work can never get ahead. "I knew what was in store for 

me.. . and wasn't going to let myself fall just like that.. . .to be a cur- 

veh [prostitute] was just a step in the business, to become what I am to- 

day."jl Since she must be a prostitute, Dora is determined to be a good 

one. Her cynicism dominates her conversations with her clients, as she 

portrays herself as a victim of corrupt social institutions while at the 

same time she is performing her job. Dora claims that prostitution "is 

a monstrous slavery, tolerated by society, regulated by the state and 

protected by the police." When one of her clients warns, "They will in- 

fect you with horrible illnesses, you will fall ever lower.. . that is what 

awaits you if you don't change your life-style," Dora replies, "Si, 

si.. .I want to be different. And you will help me; you who are so 

good. How do you prefer, up or down?j2 

Dora fully agrees with Ema, her friend and model of a madam, that 

"we Yidn are not like goyim; there is always the moral issue." The 

"moral issue" is not so much moral as it is a desire to maintain ethnici- 

ty-to maintain Jewishness in a Catholic world. But as a madam, Dora 

does not pretend to be naive or even cynical any longer. She judges 

harshly the institutions that publicly absolve from responsibility those 

girls who consider themselves victims of society. 

"They always talk of the losers," Dora thought, "but they forget the 

others. Just because we are just a few, maybe? But can all be gener- 

als in a battle?. . . I'd wish just one of them [women] would come to 

me and tell me she was forced to do it. Just one. They beg us to give 

them work. Sometimes they have to be kicked out. And what's 

worse, they always come back. They are all stupid and greedy. And 

they wear everything they own. They don't even have five tzent. 

One has to teach them how to walk, how to behave. How many 

come out of it married: Liars, selfish, unkempt. One has to watch 

them with everything. Or they get fat, or ill, or careless."" 

Although Dora pretends to be indifferent to the rejection of the pola- 

cas in the Yiddish theatre, and to their segregation in the Jewish ceme- 

tery, she takes comfort in the fact that they are still part of the Jewish 

c~mrnunity.~~ 

Moacyr Scliar's novel 0 ciclo das hguas [The cycle of waters] 

(1976), like the rest of the literature reviewed here, makes use of the 

historical data on the subject of prostitution in Argentina as a point of


depart~re.~' 

Scliar sets his novel in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where the 

white slave trade withdrew after being driven out of Buenos Aires. In 

0 ciclo das riguas Scliar presents nostalgic reminiscences of the shtetl 

existence: the dire poverty of Polish families, and the naivetC of par- 

ents who entrusted daughters to unscrupulous men, believing the 

claims to pious orthodoxy and the false promises of marriage made by 

the caftens and their agents. Esther Markowitz starts as an innocent 

child in Poland. After her arranged marriage to a Jew who turns out to 

be a pimp, Esther is introduced to the brothel life in Paris, where all her 

contacts and clients speak Yiddish, as well as French and Polish. She is 

first humiliated and then seduced by the wealth and the easy life that 

surround her. Scliar seems to follow Albert Londres' description in the 

unfolding of events, turning his euphemistic terminology into dramat- 

ic action: "A husband dies, his widow is doing well, he assigns her to 

one of his trusted lieutenant^."'^ In this novel, when Mendele dies, his 

"widow" Esther is assigned to "Luis el malo," or Leiser, the Latin 

American chief of the Zewi Migdal organization. 

The title of the novel, which may be translated as "The Cycle of Wa- 

ters," symbolizes the rebirth of Esther in her illegitimate son, Marcos. 

This parallel between the chemical composition of the waters and the 

human reproductive cycle runs through the novel, for it is through 

Marcos that Esther regains her respectability. She sends her son away 

from her "house" in order to have him brought up as a proper Jewish 

boy, has him circumcised, and sees that he attains Bar Mitzvah. It is 

through Marcos that Esther expiates her guilt for having been a prosti- 

tute and for having failed her father, a mohel (ritual circumciser) in Po- 

land. Throughout her life, Esther learns to cope with the unjust, 

painful realities of the world. Whether she is portrayed as the victimiz- 

ed woman struggling for independence and respectability, as the at- 

tractive "Queen Esther of America," or as the Frenchified Madame 

Marc (nCe Markowitz), Scliar's heroine never completely loses her 

dignity. She emerges from her painful trials as a proud, sensitive, 

woman. 

The fetid waters drunk by the children of Santa Lucia, a slum in 

Porto Alegre, become a revealing metaphor for Scliar. Despite the dan- 

ger of contamination, despite the infected environment, the children 

of Santa Lucia grow up healthy. Marcos becomes a professor of biolo- 

gy. Studying in his laboratory, he views the polluted waters through a


microscope, discovering each impurity and reporting it to his students. 

Marcos himself, born of a woman infected with syphilis, escapes un- 

scathed and free of disease. 

Esther's illegitimate son stands as a spokesman for middle-class val- 

ues and human rights. He is deeply concerned about the corruption of 

Brazilian politicians who neglect the poor, about the stagnant univer- 

sity system which does not educate, and about land speculators who 

trample on the weak and disenfranchised. These social ills, in Mar- 

cos's opinion, are far worse than prostitution. 

Conclusions 

It is worth noting that with the exception of the journalistic reports 

presented by Albert Londres and Julio Alsogaray, none of the writers 

mentioned in this study had first-hand experience with the white slave 

trade. Their tales about prostitution reflect their personal ideological 

convictions. The various approaches to the portrayal of the polaca 

show the different perspectives that each author chose. 

The figure of the polaca, used as a means of illuminating social con- 

ditions in Europe, also appears in the writings of several European 

Jewish authors: Isaac B. Singer, Sholem Asch, and Sholem Aleichem." 

In Old World settings these authors use the polaca to illustrate the tra- 

ditional dilemmas and paradoxes of shtetl life, but they romanticize 

the prostitute when they project her into the New World. Sholem As- 

ch's prostitutes, for example, imagine being married to black princes 

in Argentina. Singer's characters, on the other hand, fantasize that 

these women will pay for their sins with venereal disease. 

It is in Latin American writings that one finds the most convincing 

and complete portraits of the polaca in all phases of her career-from 

naive immigrant to successful society madam. A composite picture of 

the Jewish prostitute emerges from these literary portray,als. The liter- 

ature shows that there was triumph as well as suffering, resilience as 

well as despair, among the polacas. 

Nora Glickman teaches Spanish language and literature at Queens 

College of the City University of New York.

I 8 8 American Jewish Archives 

Notes 

I. Robert Weisbrot, The Jews of Argentina (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1979), 

P. 59. 

2. Ernesto Pareja, La prostitucidn en Buenos Aires; factores antropoldgicos y sociales; su pre- 

vencidn y represidn; policia de costumbres (Buenos Aires: Editorial Tor, 1937); Adolfo Bbtiz, La 

ribera y 10s prostibulos en Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires: Ediciones Aga Taura, 1961); Ernesto 

Bott, "Las condiciones de la lucha contra la trata de blancas en Buenos Aires," Oceana 9, z 

(1916); Luis Saslavsky, Psicoanalisis de una prostituta (Buenos Aires: Falbo, 1966). 

3. Translated by Eric Sutton as The Road to Buenos Aires (London: Constable, 1928). 

4. Ibid., p. 170. 

5. Albert Londres, El camino de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires: Ediciones AgaTaura, 19z7), p. 7 

(no translator's name given). 

6. Ibid., p. 244. 

7. Ibid., p. 24.7. 

8. Ibid., p. 166. 

9. Ibid., p. 241. 

10. Ibid., p. 247. 

I I. Zewi Migdal, an organization composed of Jewish immigrants from Poland, was held re- 

sponsible for the white slave trade. It was first called "Warsaw" but later took the name of its 

leader. 

12. Julio Alsogaray, Trilogia de la trata de blancas (Buenos Aires: n.p., 1933). 

13. Weisbrot, Jews of Argentina, p. 63. 

14. Edouard Drumont, La France Juive (Paris: Margon & Flammarion, 1885). 

I 5. Gladys Onega, La inmigracidn en la literatura Argentina: 1800-1910 (Santa Fe, 1965), p. 

132. 

16. Juliin Martel [pseud. of Juan Maria Mir61, La bolsa (Buenos Aires: Editorial Huemul, 

19.71). 

17. Ibid., p. 53. 

18. Ibid. 

19. Manuel Gblvez, Amigos y maestros de mi juventud (Buenos Aires: Editora Kraft, 1944), p. 

180. 

20. Manuel Gblvez, Nacha Regules (Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de Amtrica Latina, 1968), p. 

28. The title of the book is the name of the protagonist. 

21. Samuel Eichelbaum, Nadie la conoci6 nunca (Buenos Aires: Ediciones del Carro de Tespis, 

1956). 

22. Ibid., p. 56. 

23. Ibid. 

24. David Vifias, En la Semana Tragica (Buenos Aires: Jose Alvares, 1966). 

25. David Vifias, Los duefios de la tierra (Buenos Aires: Editorial Libreria Lorraine, 1974). 

26. Ibid., p. 69. 

27. Ibid. 

28. Mario Szichman, Los judios del Mar Dulce (Buenos Aires: Galeria Sintesis 2000, 1971), p. 

134. 

29. Mario Szichman, La verdadera crdnica falsa (Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de AmCrica 

Latina, 1972), p. 26.

White Slavery Writings 

30. Szichman, Los judios del Mar Dulce, p. 136. 

3 I. Mario Szichman, A las 20:2j nuestra sefiora en86 en la inmortalidad (Hanover, N.H. Ediciones 

del Norte, 1981), p. 120. 

32. Szichman, Los judios del Mar Dulce, p. 135. 

33. Szichman, A las 20:25 la setiora entr6 en la inmortalidad, p. 33. 

34. Ibid. 

3 5. Moacyr Scliar, 0 ciclo das dguas (Porto Alegre: Editora Globo, 1978). 

36. Londres, El camino de Buenos Aires, p. 169. 

37. Isaac B. Singer, Passions (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Books, I~SI), p. 14; Sholern Asch, 

Motke the Thief (New York: Putnarn, 1935); Sholem Aleichem, "The Man from Buenos Aires," 

in Teuye's Daughters (New York: Crown, 1958).

Early Zionist Activities Among 

Sephardim in Argentina 

Victor A. Mirelman 

The beginnings of organized Zionism in Argentina followed closely 

upon the arrival of news about the First Zionist Congress in Basel. On 

August 12, I 897, a few Jews in Buenos Aires gathered to found a Ho- 

vevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) group. During the following two decades 

several small Zionist societies functioned in Buenos Aires, in the cities 

of the interior, and in the agricultural colonies of the Jewish Coloniza- 

tion Association. Though the Zionist movement in the country re- 

mained limited during those first twenty years, it served as the basis 

for more extensive activities in the decades to come. A Labor Zionist 

(Poale Zion) Society was established in the capital as early as 1906. Fi- 

nally, in 19 I 3, after a hard-fought battle between two rival Zionist 

groups in Buenos Aires for recognition by the Zionist headquarters in 

Europe, the Federaci6n Sionista Argentina (FSA) was founded.' 

A period of fundamental Zionist growth in Argentina was in- 

augurated in 19 I 7. In March of that year Dr. Baer Epstein, a Zionist 

envoy, arrived from the United States, and he spent two years organiz- 

ing Zionist work in the country. The Balfour Declaration of Novem- 

ber 1917, moreover, bolstered the hopes of Zionist leaders, brought 

many more Jews into the various Zionist societies, and gave new impe- 

tus to the practical work. In addition, the formation of a Jewish Legion 

to fight on the side of the British in Palestine during World War I 

generated further enthusiasm, which was fed by the numerous public 

ceremonies in Buenos Aires to bid farewell to the fifty volunteers who 

left for the battlefront. 

During the next thirteen years, up to 1930, the various Zionist cir- 

cles operating in Argentina began to have a degree of influence on 

some of the country's Jews. By 1930, although many sectors of Argen- 

tinian Jewry remained apathetic to the Zionist idea, the movement 

had successfully recruited important members of the Sephardic com- 

munities and of the West European Congregaci6n Israelita as well as a

Early Zionist Activities 191 

number of Jews who were prominent in Argentinian political and cul- 

tural life. 

The main role was played by the Federaci6n Sionista Argentina, 

which represented the World Zionist Organization. The Federaci6n 

was responsible for campaigns on behalf of the Jewish National Fund 

and Keren Hayesod, as well as for promoting an educational program 

to instill Zionist values among Jews. The Labor Zionist parties be- 

came increasingly prominent during this period. Zeire Zion and Hit- 

achdut started the Hechalutz movement, which promoted the migra- 

tion of some groups of young idealists to Palestine. Poale Zion was 

weakened after its division in 1922, but by 1930 the right wing of the 

party was gathering strength. Upon the unification of Poale Zion and 

Zeire Zion in 193 2, they initiated a period of intense activity in Argen- 

tina. 

The Sephardic Response to Zionism 

Even after the Balfour Declaration and through the ~gzo's, 

Zionist ac- 

tivities in Argentina were concentrated among the country's Ashkena- 

zim. Some of the immigrants from Eastern Europe had come in touch 

with Hovevei Zion groups in their towns and cities of origin, and oth- 

ers had developed a warmth toward Jewish national aspirations 

through the various organs of propaganda, especially the Yiddish 

press, and through the many Zionist political and cultural associa- 

tions. The Sephardic groups in Argentina, on the other hand, re- 

mained at best lukewarm to Zionist aspirations for many years after 

the Balfour Declaration. The present paper, which supplements my 

work on Zionist activities in Argentina from the Balfour Declaration 

to 1930, deals with the reactions the Jewish national revival aroused 

among the country's different Sephardic groups.' 

Dr. MoisCs Cadoche, a lawyer and president of the Zionist society 

Bene Kedem of Argentina, declared in an interview in London, in 

March 1928, that "Zionist activity among the Sephardim of my coun- 

try" dated back only to the end of 1926, "the first time that a delegate 

came to bring the Zionist message to the Sephardim of South America 

in a language they could understand.'' According to Cadoche, the 

main reason that the newly founded Bene Kedem did not join the Fed- 

eracicjn Sionista Argentina was because "we do not understand each 

other. We do not understand Yiddish, and their [Ashkenazic] Hebrew


pronunciation is strange to us. We respect the work they are doing, but 

in order to arouse our own people, we must speak to them in a way 

they ~nderstand."~ Though differences with Ashkenazim were a natural 

barrier for Sephardim, there were internal factors within the 

Sephardic communities that prompted their reticence vis-a-vis Zionist 

work. We shall touch upon these factors later on in this paper. 

Cadoche was referring to Dr. Ariel Bension7s tour of Latin America 

during the latter part of 1926 and the beginning of 1927. Bension7s 

visit was the answer of the World Zionist Organization to the need to 

involve the growing Sephardic communities around the world in 

Zionist endeavors. Bension was mainly concerned with Argentina, 

where a considerable Sephardic population had settled. Before his visit 

several Sephardic groups in Buenos Aires had initiated Zionist activities, 

but little had been accomplished. 

The first Sephardim to settle in Argentina came from North Africa, 

especially Morocco. By 1880 several Moroccan Jews were living in 

Buenos Aires, and more arrived later. By the turn of the century a few 

of them had achieved financial stability and even ~ealth.~ Thus, not 

surprisingly, the emerging Zionist leadership tried to involve them in 

national work. At the initiative of "Liga Dr. Herzl," an early Zionist 

society, founded in Buenos Aires in 1899, an Argentine Zionist Congress 

was convened. Meeting in Buenos Aires, on April 16-18, 1904, 

and attended by delegates from Jewish societies in the capital, as well 

as from the cities in the interior and the Jewish agricultural settlements, 

the Congress sought means of bolstering the propagation of 

Zionist ideals among the Jewish population of the country. Two of the 

sponsoring societies belonged to the Moroccan community: Congregaci6n 

Israelita Latina, the oldest Sephardic synagogue in Argentina, 

founded in 1891, and Hebra Gemilut Hassadim, a burial and charitable 

society.' In practical terms the role of the Moroccan Jews at the 

Congress was minor when compared to that of the Ashkenazic Jews. 

Nonetheless, some of the Moroccans were appointed to positions of 

leadership, doubtless with the intent of ensuring their support for 

Zionist ideals. Thus Isaac BenzaquCn was appointed vice-president of 

the Congress, and Abraham Benchetrit was a member of the committee.6 

As a result of the Congress, a Federaci6n Sionista Argentina (not to 

be confused with the Federation of the same name founded in 1913)

Early Zionist Activities I93 

came into being. Two prominent leaders of Congregaci6n Israelita 

Latina, Mair Cohen, its president, and Yona Migueres, a past secretary, 

were elected vice-president and secretary, respectively, of the 

Federaci6n Sionista Argentina.' Moreover, in line with a recommendation 

by the Argentine Zionist Congress, a biweekly Zionist magazine 

in Spanish was created in order to reach those Jews who did not 

understand Yiddish, especially the Sephardim. Isaac Bentata, an active 

leader of the Moroccan Jews, helped in the editing of El Sionista during 

its early stages.8 

Two years later, in 1906, Adolfo Crenovich of the Federaci6n 

Sionista Argentina reiterated in a letter to the Zionist Action Committee 

in Cologne, Germany, that the two Moroccan synagogues in 

Buenos Aires, Congregacion Israelita Latina and Ez Hayim, continued 

to sympathize with Zi~nism.~ In March 1907, in a long report to Co- 

logne describing the overall Jewish situation in Argentina, the coun- 

try's Zionist leaders mentioned the formation of two small Zionist 

groups by Moroccan Jews in the interior, one in Villa Mercedes, Prov- 

ince of San Luis, and the other in Margarita, Province of Santa Fe. 

However, toward the end of the report, the correspondents asserted 

that among the Spanish (i.e., Moroccan) Jews, "some are religious fa- 

natics, who see in Zionism a blasphemy of the Messianic idea."'" This 

last statement clearly reflects the existence among Moroccan Jews of a 

strong religious undercurrent militating against the adoption of a pos- 

itive political posture with regard to Jewish national goals. This atti- 

tude would appear even more strongly among the Ladino-speaking 

Jews from the Balkans and the Arabic-speaking Jews from Syria (both 

Aleppo and Damascus) who settled in Argentina in much larger num- 

bers than their Moroccan brethren around the turn of the century and 

thereafter. 

The impact of the Balfour Declaration, however, was reflected posi- 

tively at the Congregacion Israelita Latina. A few days before the cele- 

bration of the first anniversary of the Declaration, the congregational 

board resolved "to adhere to the celebrations programmed for next 

November 2 [I 9 I 81, by buying a box for the performance that FSA is 

sponsoring at the Opera Theater; participating in the public manifes- 

tation on Nov. 3 ; celebrating a special ceremony during the morning 

services of Saturday, Nov. 2; sending circular letters to all members to 

adhere to the celebrations by closing their businesses and displaying


flags in front of their houses."" 

The Moroccan community, however, remained cool to the Jewish 

national aspirations. Some sparks of activity were evinced during 

Herzl's lifetime but subsided shortly after his death. Again, at the mo- 

ment of Jewish pride and renewed hopes in Zion as a consequence of 

the Balfour Declaration, support was given to the efforts of the Fed- 

eraci6n Sionista Argentina, but when the enthusiasm gave way to 

more realistic analyses in the political sphere, support of the national 

cause also decreased. During the Keren Hayesod campaign of 1924, 

the FSA sent a long letter to Congregaci6n Israelita Latina asking for a 

contribution, but the congregation's board answered "that this soci- 

ety is strictly religious, and they are not authorized [to approve expen- 

ditures] to this end."" 

Some initiatives also took place among Ladino- and Arabic-speak- 

ing Jews before 1926. Jews from Turkey and the island of Rhodes 

founded Bene Sion in 1914 for Zionist work. After the Balfour Decla- 

ration its membership increased somewhat, but shortly afterwards it 

was discontinued." Another group of Arabic-speaking Sephardic 

Jews, originally from Eretz Israel and Syria, founded Geulat Sion in 

19 I 6, and participated in the popular demonstration of 1917 together 

with the rest of the Zionists. It was probably members of this group 

who published A1 Gala, a short-lived fortnightly periodical printed in 

Arabic. The issue of A1 Gala for December 28, 1917, was entirely de- 

voted to developments in Palestine and in the Zionist world, including 

several articles on Palestine and the Jews, and others on General Allen- 

by, Theodor Herzl, agriculture among the Jews, and even the pogroms 

of I 88 I in Russia.14 Geulat Sion sent three of its most prominent mem- 

bers to the Fifth Land Conference of Argentine Zionists in 1919. Ha- 

cham Shaul Setton Dabbah, serving the Jewish community of 

Aleppine origin, was invited to the conference as a special guest, but 

due to the fact that the majority of the speakers insisted on expressing 

their views in Yiddish, the Sephardic participants left the gathering.15 

In I 921, due principally to the language problem, both Spanish- and 

Arabic-speaking Sephardim decided to establish a Zionist Federation 

independent of the FSA.16 The formation of the Centro Sionista Sefara- 

di did not take place until 1925, however. It initiated some small-scale 

activities in the capital and some of the cities of the interior, and during 

Bension's visit served as an instrumentality for his educational pro-

Early Zionist Activities 19 5 

gram and for his efforts to organize a network of Sephardic Zionist 

clusters." Nonetheless, throughout the 1920's the great majority of 

the country's Sephardim remained far removed from the Zionist ideal. 

Efforts to Win Sephardic Support 

Argentina's Zionist leaders, aware of the need to enlist more of the 

Sephardim in Zionist activities, repeatedly tried to broaden the FSA's 

sphere of influence. The Sephardic question came up again and again 

at Land Conferences and during special campaigns, and in most instances 

the delegates adopted resolutions encouraging a more positive 

approach to the Sephardim.18 As early as 1921 the FSA asked the 

World Zionist Organization in London to send a Sephardic delegate 

to work with the Argentine Sephardic comm~nities.'~ The Sephardim, 

it was felt, would more readily listen to the Zionist message from one 

of their own, basically because of their localism and parochialism, but 

also because in the eyes of many Sephardim Zionism was a secular ideology, 

opposed to the traditional Messianic conception. Moreover, 

since the Sephardim mistrusted the world Zionist leadership, which in 

effect was East European, they needed assurance that the movement 

would benefit Sephardim in the Land of Israel and also in their communities 

of origin. These assurances, quite naturally, would be better 

conveyed by delegates who shared their roots, concerns, culture, and 

traditions. 

While Argentina's very vibrant and popular Yiddish press, with its 

numerous daily, weekly, and monthly publications, was out of bounds 

to those who did not understand the language of Eastern European 

Jewry, the country's Spanish-Jewish press, and its Hebrew press as 

well, attempted to attract the Sephardim to Zionist causes. The diversity 

of the Jewish population of Buenos Aires was an issue strongly 

touched upon by the editors of the three Hebrew periodicals published 

in the rgzo's, who considered that the promotion of Hebrew language 

and culture would unify the different Jewish groups. The Sephardic element 

was a recurring theme in editorials, and various articles kept 

readers informed about developments in the capital's Sephardic communities. 

The abyss separating the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim 

was to be overcome by means of a culture common to all Jews, i.e., a 

Hebrew culture.


The Sephardic community here in the capital, which is very impor- 

tant both in quantity and quality, is far away, as is known, from our 

community, the Ashkenazic community. The Sephardic Jews have 

no contacts, dealings, or relations with us Ashkenazim, in the way, 

for example, that the Italians here-Neapolitans and Sicilians and 

the like-have. All this has been caused by the language, their lan- 

guage of exile being different from our language of exile.. . .The 

language of exile has made of us two different races; but the lan- 

guage of revival will unite us.. . . Habima Haivrit, born in the lan- 

guage of revival, is devoted both to them and to us. . . .We shall both 

be girded with all of our united strengths in order to labor for the re- 

vival of the people, the labor of rebuilding our destroyed homeland, 

of rebuilding the House of Israel, both there, in the land of our fu- 

ture, and here, in the lands of our wanderings.'" 

The Hebrew language would also encourage Zionist work among the 

Sephardim, who were often estranged from such activities by the insistence 

of most Ashkenazim that meetings and campaigns be conducted 

in Yiddish. 

Despite the high hopes voiced by the editors, the Hebrew cultural 

movement did not attain much importance among Jews in Argentina 

during the 1920's. The forces sponsoring Hebrew linguistic and cultural 

activities, even if enthusiastic, were very small. Moreover, since 

the vast majority of Sephardim, and most Ashkenazim as well, did not 

know Hebrew and were not involved in circles that promoted it, the 

desire to use Hebrew as a means of uniting the two communities never 

had much of a likelihood of success. Whether Ashkenazic or Sephardi~, 

the various immigrant groups and their children preferred their 

accustomed languages of discourse--Yiddish among the East Europeans, 

Arabic among the Syrians, and Spanish among the Turks and Moroccans. 

Attempts to approach the Sephardim through the Spanish-language 

press were equally unsuccessful. Prior to 1930, only one of the country's 

Spanish-Jewish periodicals was under Sephardic control. Founded 

in March 19 17 by Samuel de A. Levy and Jacob Levy, Israel began 

as a monthly, subsequently became a weekly, and for six months in 

1920 appeared five times a week. Israel did not have a definite organic 

structure. It printed articles and notes about Sephardic Jews, concentrating 

on the Moroccan Jewish community of Buenos Aires. Corre-


spondents in the interior of Argentina and in neighboring countries 

contributed additional information about local Sephardim. However, 

the publishers of Israel were Zionist enthusiasts, and they endorsed 

the activities and goals of the Zionist groups functioning in Argentina. 

The pro-Zionist leanings of Israel were quite atypical of Sephardim in 

Buenos Aires until 1930, when a new Sephardic journal, La Luz, was 

initiated, raising the level of Sephardic journalism in Buenos Aires." 

Although many of the Sephardic immigrants to Argentina knew 

Spanish, the country's Spanish-Jewish press, by and large, did not try 

to attract Sephardic readers." In the years before 1930, nine 

"Ashkenazic" periodicals were issued in Argentina (one is still in existence, 

another barely made it in 1930, and seven closed before then). 

Of these, only threethose with a Zionist orientation-attempted to 

broaden their scope by including items of Sephardic interest. El Sionista, 

with which the Jewish press in Spanish made its debut in Argentina 

on June I 5,1904, was devoted to Zionist issues. It was also concerned 

with the Moroccan Jewish community of Buenos Aires, many of 

whose members were active Zionists during the early years of the century."' 

El Macabeo, which appeared for a short time in 1920, and El 

Semanario Hebreo, a weekly, which appeared irregularly for nearly a 

decade starting in 1923, were also Zionist oriented. The latter, especially, 

reported on developments in the Sephardic communities and on 

Zionist activities among Se~hardim."~ At times, El Semanario Hebreo 

wrote strong editorials criticizing the Sephardim for not contributing 

to the rebuilding of the Jewish homeland and for remaining separate 

from the mainstream of the Jewish c~mmunity."~ 

Ariel Bension and the Order Bene Kedem 

In 1924, claiming they had the support of such Zionist leaders as 

Chaim Weizmann, Nahum Sokolow, Menahem Ussishkin, and Vla- 

dimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky, Sephardic leaders in Europe and the Middle 

East founded the World Union of Sephardic Jews (WUSJ). At the time, 

nearly a third of the Jews in Palestine were Sephardim, and the found- 

ers of the WUSJ claimed that they were not receiving the guidance and 

help that was given to Ashkenazic Jews from Russia and Poland on 

their arrival in Palestine. In light of this, the WUSJ intended to advise 

potential Sephardic emigrants from the Middle East, North Africa,


and the Balkans, before their departure from their communities of origin, 

in order to facilitate their settlement in Israel, and it also launched 

a campaign against the Keren Hayesod for failing to keep its promises 

to Sephardic olim and for pursuing policies that favored the Ashkena- 

~im.'~ 

As was mentioned earlier, the World Zionist Organization, toward 

the end of 1926, sent Dr. Ariel Bension to visit the Sephardic communities 

of Latin America. When he arrived in Mendoza after having 

visited the Jewish community in Chile, he learned that the WUSJ had 

begun propagandizing against the Keren Hayesod in Buenos Aires. 

The Sephardim whom Bension met in Buenos Aires told him that they 

would only contribute to Zionist causes if the money went to WUSJ 

for the Sephardim in Jerusalem. Jacobo Karmona, president of the 

Centro Sionista ~efaracli, further argued that unless all the money collected 

in Bension's campaign was sent to the WUSJ, they would not officially 

recognize his delegation. Moreover, despite Bension's 

objections, the Sephardim insisted on complete autonomy, including 

the authority to deal directly with London, since they felt it was impossible 

for them to work with the FSA." 

Although the WUSJ tried to prevent him from founding a Sephardic 

branch of the World Zionist Organization, Bension was able to 

achieve some temporary successes. On October 23, 1926, after a 

month-long mobilization of Sephardic Zionists led by Bension, the 

Order Bene Kedem was founded at a large public gathering in Buenos 

Aires, in the presence of Dr. Isaac Nissensohn, president of the FSA. 

Bene Kedem was established as an independent organization and had 

no formal ties to the FSA. Its first president was Jacobo Benarroch, an 

honored member of Congregaci6n Israelita Latina. Branches of Bene 

Kedem were immediately started, under the auspices and activation of 

Bension, in Rosirio, Cordoba, Rio Cuarto, Tucumin, Mendoza, and 

Santa Fe. Contacts were made with the Sephardic communities in 

Montevideo, Uruguay, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." 

In addition to the external factors impeding his work in Buenos Aires, 

Bension also had to deal with a Sephardic community that was divided 

along origin lines. The city's Sephardic Jewry actually consisted 

of four distinct communities: Jews from Morocco, Ladino-speaking 

Jews from Turkey, Salonika, and Rhodes, and the two Arabic-speaking 

Jewish groups from Aleppo and Damascus. At the time there was 

little contact among these groups. The Moroccan Jews constituted the


smallest group, about 200 families, but also the richest. The Turkish 

community was larger, but much poorer. The Aleppine Jews, except 

for a few individuals, were also poor, while the Damascenes constitut- 

ed the largest Sephardic community, with a few rich men. Bension's 

contacts with Sephardic organizations and individuals led him to con- 

clude that most of the Sephardim in Buenos Aires were extremely in- 

different to Zionism. The older elements of the Moroccan community 

were "extremist believers in the Messiah on a white horse. . .while the 

young are completely assimilated." MoisCs Schoua, the president of 

the Damascene community, gave Bension a bad reception, insulting 

his whole committee with the allegation "that all the Zionist leaders 

and delegates were working on a commission basis," and refused to 

make a contribution. Hacham Shaul Setton Dabbah, the rabbi of the 

Aleppine community and chief representative of Agudat Israel among 

the Sephardim in Argentina, was anti-Zionist on religious grounds 

and in his sermons urged his congregants not to contribute to Keren 

Hayesod. Hacham Setton's negative attitude to Eretz Israel is reflected 

in some of his responsa. His views with respect to education at the 

Aleppine Talmud Torah confirm his anti-Zionist position, for he ob- 

stinately refused to permit the teaching of Hebrew as a language. Ben- 

sion contacted Setton, and after a long debate the latter promised that 

he would no longer actively interfere in the former's efforts, but he 

would not help in any way.19 

To compound Bension's problems, the poor results obtained by the 

Keren Hayesod campaign among Ashkenazic Jews did not help to in- 

spire a sense of Zionist idealism among the Sephardim. In addition, as 

has already been mentioned, Yiddish, the language spoken by most of 

the Ashkenazic Zionist officials in Buenos Aires, was incomprehensi- 

ble to the Sephardim. Finally, while the Sephardic Jews had come to 

Argentina from regions near Palestine, the leadership of the World 

Zionist Organization was almost entirely Ashkenazic, and most of the 

olim settling in Palestine were from Eastern Europe, and these facts 

contributed to a feeling that Zionism was mainly an Ashkenazic enter- 

prise. 

The Decline of Bene Kedem 

Bension's labors opened the door to national work for the Sephardim 

in Argentina, but even if there were cordial relations between Bene Ke- 

dem and the FSA, the former being in direct connection with London,


a major collaboration between Sephardim and Ashkenazim was not 

effected via Zionism. Meanwhile, the WUSJ sent Shabbetai Djaen, 

rabbi in Monastir and one of the founders of WUSJ, as its delegate to 

South and North America. He arrived in Buenos Aires in April 1927, 

just before Passover, and during his stay in Argentina visited Roshrio, 

Mendoza, and other centers with Sephardic population^.^^ Djaen soon 

aroused the suspicions of Argentina's Zionist leaders, including the 

leaders of Bene Kedem. Dr. MoisCs Cadoche, at the time secretary of 

Bene Kedem, mentioned on several occasions that Djaen was playing a 

double role. On the one hand he spoke highly of Zionism as an ideal, 

and on the other, he spoke against the Zionist Organization and its 

personnel, demanding that the Sephardim send their contributions only 

to the WUSJ.3' 

In 1928, Cadoche became the president of Bene Kedem, and in the 

aforementioned interview in London with Zionist leaders he asserted 

that "the WUSJ.. .in spite of its pretended Zionist tendencies, only 

created obstacles for us, and made our Zionist work much more difficult.. 

.trying to convince us to change our allegian~e."~' In a campaign 

to discredit the Zionist Organization in the eyes of Sephardic 

communities all over the world, the WUSJ published some of its attacks 

in an independent Sephardic publication which had a large following 

among Sephardim all over South and Central America and in 

Morocco. These articles argued that the Zionist Organization did not 

help the Sephardim in Palestine and did not appoint Sephardim to 

posts in its bureaucratic hierarchy. The WUSJ would do a better job." 

At the end of 1928, after a visit to the United States, Djaen returned 

to Argentina. With the help of some leaders of the Moroccan Jews 

(Congregaci6n Israelita Latina) and the Jews from Turkey (Comunidad 

Israelita Sefaradi), he formed a Consistorio Rabinico to deal with 

rabbinical questions among Sephardic Jews. He also became Gran Rabin0 

of the Moroccan and Turkish Jews. Meanwhile, Akiva Ettinger, 

the Argentine delegate of the Keren Hayesod, proposed to the central 

office in Jerusalem that Djaen be asked to spend four months working 

among the Sephardim as part of the annual fund-raising campaign. 

The first 3,000 pounds he collected would go to the Keren Hayesod; 

30 percent of anything over that amount would be given to the WUSJ. 

The central office approved, and for some time Djaen handled this 

work, though without great success. The Keren Hayesod approached

Early Zionist Activities 20 I 

Djaen again on the eve of the enlargement of the Jewish Agency, this 

time asking him to permit the inclusion of his name, along with the 

names of Chief Rabbis and teachers in all the countries where the or- 

ganization was active, on a circular sponsoring Keren Hayesod7s work 

as provider for the Jewish Agency. Despite the recognition of his 

standing that these invitations reflected, Djaen was already complain- 

ing about his personal situation in Buenos Aires. In June 1930, the 

Consistorio Rabinico was permanently closed, having accomplished 

little, and soon after Djaen left the country for Europe.34 

Bene Kedem initiated its Zionist activities with energy and enthusi- 

asm, but as often happens, once its founder-in this case Ariel Ben- 

sion-left, and contacts with him became more diluted, the 

organization languished. Bene Kedem published a booklet containing 

a "Call to Sephardim" by Bension and salutations by Weizmann, So- 

kolow, Sir Alfred Mond, president of Keren Hayesod in England, and 

Isaac Nissensohn, from the FSA. The goals of Zionism and the func- 

tions of each of its institutions and funds were explained in this publi- 

cation, emphasizing the partjcular interests of the Sephardim." The 

organization was chiefly involved in financial affairs, promoting a 

shekel campaign. During its first two and a half years of activities, un- 

til May 1929, Bene Kedem did poorly even in the distribution of she- 

kalim. Ettinger in 1928, and Pazi, as Keren Hayesod delegate in 1929, 

believed there was no hope of effective action among Sephardim. Pazi 

wrote, just before the Jerusalem riots of 1929, that Djaen could help 

with the shekel campaign, although he was convinced that "for Keren 

Hayesod it is impossible to do anything among Se~hardim."'~ 

The 19 29 Emergency Campaign 

Bension's efforts, and the continuation of his work by the leaders of 

Bene Kedem, finally had positive results in the aftermath of the anti- 

Jewish riots that swept Palestine in 1929. Argentine Jewry, seriously 

concerned about the safety of the Palestinian Jewish community, immediately 

proclaimed an Emergency Campaign at a meeting attended 

by Jews from all sectors, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Zionists and 

non-Zionists. The grandiose goal of raising ~,ooo,ooo pesos by September 

30,1929, was not achieved. However, although the harvest in 

the Jewish agricultural colonies had been poor and the country was


experiencing a monetary crisis, Argentina's Jews contributed 3 I 3,000 

pesos to the Emergency Fund. More than ~o,ooo pesos were collected 

by and among Sephardim. In Buenos Aires alone, where a total of 

194,399.69 pesos was raised, fully 35,661 pesos were contributed by 

Sephardim. These figures make it evident that Bension and Bene Kedem 

had succeeded in influencing wider circles of the various Sephardic 

communitie~.~' 

The localism of the Sephardim, however, remained strong. The 

Emergency Campaign was intended to aid Palestinian Jewry, but the 

Aleppine community in Buenos Aires, for example, decided to allocate 

only half of the money it raised to Zionists in Palestine and to divide 

the other half among institutions in Aleppo, Sephardim in Palestine, 

and the Ahavat Zedek society, which helped Aleppine widows, orphans, 

and poor people in Buenos Aires. Thus only half of the proceeds 

were turned over to the Federaci6n Sionista Argentina.38 

The leadership of the FSA enthusiastically welcomed the participation 

of the Sephardim in this campaign. Dr. Isaac Nissensohn, its president, 

wrote to Chaim Weizmann in London that "the Sephardim, 

who had hardly contributed to the upbuilding of Palestine, are now 

contributing to the Emergency Fund with a liberal hand."" Bension 

had brought the Zionist message to the Sephardim in Argentina in a 

language they understood. As a result, they were now somewhat more 

conscious of the Zionist program and recognized the importance of 

working for and contributing to its fulfillment. They had also begun to 

realize that the Sephardim already in Palestine and potential Sephardic 

immigrants were benefiting from the building of the Jewish national 

h~meland.~" 

The 193 0's and Afterward 

Despite these accomplishments, however, Zionism made little 

progress among the Sephardim of Argentina in the years that fol- 

lowed. Although some of the Sephardic leaders had begun warming 

up to the Zionist program and had worked together with Ashkenazim 

in an effort to propagate the Zionist idea among the country's Jews, 

the Sephardic rank and file continued to distrust the Ashkenazic lead- 

ership. Strongly linked to their communities of origin and imbued 

with intense localist feelings, Argentina's Sephardim required much 

more in the way of explanation and reassurance if they were to over-

Early Zionist Activities 203 

come their suspicions and doubts. In the I~~o's, however, both the 

Zionists and world Jewry as a whole were preoccupied with other issues 

that took precedence over the work of reassuring the Sephardim. 

Thus the necessary effort was not forthcoming, and the attempt to win 

over the Sephardim was dropped before it ever attained substantial results. 

In part because of this unfortunate inconsistency in the approach 

to Argentina's Sephardim, a segment of the community was permanently 

alienated from Zionism. 

As the account in this paper indicates, the Zionist movement failed 

to win the cooperation of the Sephardim during its early decades, both 

locally in Argentina and at the international level. In later years, especially 

after the creation of the State of Israel, and once its most urgent 

challenges-including the absorption of large numbers of refugees in a 

very short period of time-were met, the rift between these two major 

segments of Jewry would again be evident. Even today it continues to 

be a concern shared by Sephardim and Ashkenazim in Israel and the 

diaspora. 

Victor Mirelman is rabbi and spiritual leader of Congregation Bnai Is- 

rael in Millbourne, New Jersey. He has published previous articles on 

Jewish immigration to Argentina. 

Notes 

I. Silvia Schenkolewski, "Di Zionistishe Bavegung in Argentine fun I 897-1917" [The Zionist 

movement in Argentina during 1897-19171, Pinkas fun der Kehila (Buenos Aires), 1969, pp. 

101-130. 

2. Victor A. Mirelman, "Zionist Activities in Argentina from the Balfour Declaration to 

1930,'' in Studies in the History of Zionism, ed. Yehuda Bauer, Moshe Davis, and Israel Kolatt 

(Jerusalem, 1976), pp. 188-223 (Hebrew). 

3. Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem (hereafter cited as CZA), zq 3579111 (1928); also in 

New Judea, 4, no. 11 (April 27, 1928). 

4. On the migration of Sephardic Jews from North Africa and the Ottoman Empire to Argenti- 

na, see Victor A. Mirelman, "The Jews in Argentina (189-1930): Assimilation and Particu- 

larism" (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1973), pp. 33-43. 

5. CZA Z1 (405), # I4 (1904). 

6. CZA ZI (405), Enrique Rubinsky and Esteban Crenovich to Vienna, May 5,1904. Benza- 

quen was vice-president of Congregaci6n Israelita Latina (CIL) in 1903, cf. Minutes of ibid., Sep- 

tember 20, 1903; Benchetritwas vice-president in 1899, secretary in 1905, and later on president 

of CIL, cf. Minutes, passim. 

7. El Sionista (Buenos Aires), I, no. 12 (December I, 1904): 6. 

8. CZA Z.B. Koln B.Ig 123, fasc. 3, "Report on the History of Zionism in Argentina," by J. L. 

Liachovitzky, A. Crenovich, G. Dabin, and G. Zeitlin, March 14, 1907, 22 pp.


9. CZA Z.B. Koln B.1g 123, fasc. I. 

10. See note 8. 

11. CIL, Minutes, October 30, 1918. 

12. Ibid., August 3, 1924. 

13. La Luz 12, no. 8 (April 17,1942): 184-186, in a report on the antecedents of the Centro 

Sionista Sefaradi presented by Maurice Alacid to the First Sephardic Convention. 

14. A1 Gala (Arabic; Hagolah in Hebrew), I, nos. 13-14 (December 28, 1917). 

IS. Habima Haivrit I, no. 6 (Elul-Tishre 1921): I I f. The three delegates from GeulatSion to 

the Zionist Congress in Argentina were Josi Cassuto, Yedidiah Abulafia, and Jacobo Setton. Cf. 

Habima Haivrit 5 (1925): 37. 

16. Habima Haivrit I, no. 6 (1921): 11 f. 

17. Cf. note 13. 

18. The Third Zionist Conference in Argentina tried to encourage Sephardim (cf. Schenkolewski, 

"Di Zionistishe Bevegung in Argentine," p. I IS), as did the Twelfth Conference (cf. Semanario 

Hebreo, May 23, 1930, p. 3). 

19. Cf. the suggestion of Moises Senderey in Habima Haivrit I, no. 7 (December 1921): 11. 

20. HabimaHaivrit I, no. I (Nisan 1921): 2; reproduced in I. L. Gorelik, Be'eretz Nod [In the 

land of Nod] (Buenos Aires, 1943), p. 135. Cf. also Atideinu, no. I Uanuary 1926): I f. 

21. Israel (Mundo Hebraico Argentino) had correspondents in eleven provinces. 

22. Arabic-speaking Jews put out, in 1917, the fortnightly A1 Gala, of which only one number 

was available. Cf. above, note 14. 

23. El Sionista was directed by J. S. Liachovitzky. Only forty-seven numbers of this fortnightly 

were published. 

24. Especially at the end of 1926, and during 19zg-1930, Semanario Hebreo published news 

and articles about Sephardim in Buenos Aires, coinciding with visits of Sephardic personalities or 

emissaries from Zionist centers in Jerusalem. 

25. Cf. "El Silencio de 10s Sefaradim," Semanario Hebreo, August 23, 1924, p. I. 

26. Cf. the summary of Report of the World Union of Sephardic Jews for the period Iyar 

5684-Elul 5686 (approx. April 1924September 1926) at CZA Zq 35791. 

27. Cf. CZA Zq 2412, letters from Bension to the Zionist Organization (London), dated Mendoza, 

September 22,1926, and Buenos Aires, September 29,1926; also s z 519, ~ Bension to Dr. 

Leo Hermann (Keren Hayesod, Jerusalem), November 9, 1926. 

28. CZA Zq 35791, FSA to Keren Hayesod Uersualem), December 12, 1926. 

29. The quotations are from the letters mentioned in notes 27 and 28. Hacham Shaul Setton's 

participation in Agudat Israel is asserted in the letter cited in note 28, and in CZA KHq 4531, 

notes on Akiva Ettinger's conversation with Shmuel Pazi and Schwam, Jerusalem, January 21, 

1929. The Argentine branch of Agudat Israel was founded in 1920, and Hacham Setton joined in 

some capacity. Cf. Habima Haivrit I, no. 6 (1921): 14. In his collection of Responsa, Dibber 

Shaul Uerusalem, 1928), Hacham Setton deals with the question whether in Argentina, which 

has opposite seasons to Eretz Israel, Jews should include the petition for rain and wind in their 

prayers-which is done during the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere-according to the 

climate of Israel, or during the actual winter in Argentina. His answer was that Jews should follow 

the seasons of their place of dwelling, which is the custom of the Aleppine community in 

Buenos Aires, contrary to the practice accepted in all other synagogues in the country. For Hacham 

Setton's position on the program of studies at the Talmud Torah, see Yesod Hadath, Minutes, 

February 22, 1928; also Yesod Hadath, Minutes of General Assemblies, March 25, 1928, 

and March 10, 1929. 

30. CZA Zq 35791, Zionist Organization (Jerusalem) to all Zionist Federations and Organizations 

in the Diaspora, December 7, 1926.

Early Zionist Activities 20.5 

3 I. CZA Zq 3 5791, Bension to Zionist Organization, September 21,1927, quotes Cadoche's 

words. 

32. Cf. above, note 3. 

33. Among the goals of WUSJ, according to lsrael magazine, February 3,1928, were the fol- 

lowing: "To coordinate, to strengthen, and to unite our forces In the Diaspora, in order to 

present a single front in Palestine, capable of representing before the proper authorities, our 

claims and the vindication of our brothers. Besides, we feel the urgent necessity to propagate 

amongst the Sephardim of the whole world the Zionist ideal, and influence them to take part in 

the common task." 

34. Cf. CZA KHq 4531, Ettinger (Buenos Aires) to Keren Hayesod (Jerusalem), September 27, 

1928, and Jerusalem's answer. In his conversation with Pazi (CZA, same file), January 21,1929, 

Ettinger confirmed that Djaen worked for Keren Hayesod and WUSJ, though he had put some 

pressure on Cadoche and other activists of Bene Kedem against contributing to Keren Hayesod. 

35. Cf. Los Sefaradirn y el Sionisrno (Buenos Aires, 1926). 

36. See Ettinger's conversation with Pazi, CZA KHq 4531, January 21, 1929; Pazi's letter to 

Zionist Organization (London), May IS, 1929, CZA Zq 3659; and interview with Cadoche, 

note 3 above. 

37. Cf. Report of Activities presented to the 12th Land Conference (FSA), May 1930 (Yid- 

dish), p. 9. Also CZA KHq 4541, Nissensohn (FSA) to Weizmann (London), September 23, 

1929; and Pazi to Keren Hayesod (Jerusalem), September 17, 1929. 

38. Cf. Hesed She1 Emeth Sefaradit, Minutes, September 4, 1929; Yesod Hadath, Minutes, 

September 4, 1929, and November 5, 1929. 

39. Cf. Nissensohn to Weizmann, quoted above, note 37. See also Allgemeine Tetigkeit 

Baricht, October 1928-May 1930, 8 pp. (Yiddish), at CZA KHq 4561. 

40. Cf. Los Sefaradirn y el Sionismo, pp. 66-71.

Hombre de Paso: 

Just Passing Through 

Isaac Goldemberg 

The Peruvian Jewish author and poet Isaac Goldemberg aroused con- 

siderable attention with the publication several years ago of his first 

novel, The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner, which provided 

English readers with a glimpse into the life of the Jewish community of 

Peru. Now, with his new collection of poems, Just Passing Through 

(Hanover, N.H.: Ediciones del Norte, 198 I), Goldemberg attempts to 

bridge two cultures-Jewish and Inca-that are so distinct that possibly 

only the sensibilities of a poet could establish a connection between 

them. 

Haggadah 

The abundance of wine the ritual of those gentle grapes 

on my father's joyous table 

humble is the yeast for the unleavened bread 

the bruised loneliness of the table and its edges 

the scattered history of my forefathers 

in the scarcity of wine 

in the zigzag 

of their peddling legs 

wheeling and dealing from the patched up Ukrainian landscape 

to the mummified bone of a Peruvian graveyard 

My grandfather is still the same old urn digger 

on his way back from plundering graves 

from the world above 

from the world below 

Ay ayayai the turning of his poncho into the wind 

Ay ayayai the broken echoes of his quena* 

My father's history walks down the dirt roads 

of my country 

* Quena: a reed flute made by the Incas.


his exile spirals all the way around my tent 

Ay ayayai the high noons of his shadow 

Ay ayayai in his shofar the echo of a quena 

To you father I give all the silence of my kaddish 

the proud majesty of a wheat stalk that will never be 

unleavened bread in your hand 

the northern seas that fling you door to door 

from the world above 

from the world below 

To you I give all the hinges of my wrapped up bone that you 

count and recount from inside the hidden spaces of my urn 

Ay ayayai the twisted silence of your Yiddish words 

Ay ayayai the broken echo my words in Quechua 

Lesson 

History taught me some years ago 

that Wiracocha* 

sent Manko Capact 

to build an empire on top of a mountain 

History later taught me 

that Jehovah created man 

in the image and likeness of Wiracocha 

who then created Manko Chpac 

in Jehovah's image and likeness 

The Jews in Hell 

As the story goes, 

the Jews bought for themselves 

a private spot in hell. 

* Wiracocha: the principal Inca god. t Manko Capac: the first Inca.


In the first circle, 

Karl Marx sits on a wooden bench 

using his hand as a fan. 

The prophet Jeremiah 

fights off the heat by singing psalms. 

In the second circle, 

Solomon carefully studies 

the stones from his Temple. 

On some yellowing rolls of paper, 

Moses draws hieroglyphics. 

Christ dreams of Pontius Pilate 

in the third circle. 

Freud's clinical eye 

follows every move he makes. 

In the fourth circle, 

Spinoza edits 

a history of the Marranos. 

In the fifth circle, 

Jacob wrestles with a devil. 

Cain and Abel 

treat each other like brothers. 

In the sixth circle, 

Noah rides drunk on a zebra. 

Einstein searches for atoms 

in the space between rocks. 

In the final circle, 

Kafka tilts his telescope 

and bursts out laughing. 


It's just that sometimes our body 

is born so suddenly 

then lags behind 

as if adrift


It shares other births 

leaving proof 

that it was made 

in solidarity 

Our body comes from having sunk 

its sad eyes 

and picking up layer after layer 

in its rush 

to dig up full days 

It's just that our body knows nothing about 

death 

till it goes out and risks 

its life 

One Day 

One day 

a man wakes up seized 

by an unbearable fear 

he feels like a monster 

eating itself up from inside 

a little at a time 

He shouts he struggles . 

curses himself outloud 

Reaching out he touches his childhood 

floats toward his memories 

turns around 

comes face to face with himself 

crying 

tired of knowing 

he'll always be 

both man and monster 

taking up too many spaces 

He falls asleep he backs off from his teeth 

his nails 

he speaks again 

changes his name 

hides his past


sheds his skin considers 

then rejects suicide 

chases the monster off 

and calms down 

sleeps 

until one day 

when he least expects it 

he wakes up 


It's obvious no one knows who has died 

They're already rushing to seal up 

doors and windows 

as if no one still lived in this house 

I keep getting lost in its corners 

holding up walls forced down by their weight 

I greet the furniture and its sorrow 

the one smell coming from the kitchen 

I pause now and take stock 

of my years 

Here with all the uncertainty 

of a stranger 

I seek refuge in this house 

A Peddler's Memories 

What if I were to see her passing this peddler's corner 

with her basket of bread 

her skin dark as a Besarabian wheatfield without 

so much as a smile on her lips 

never stopping on this peddler's corner 

to argue over my prices 

And if I were to see her in my dreams draped with beads 

a tender concubine against the somber walls 

of my palace 

radiant as the tall Judean wheat 

And if I were to see her every morning from this corner

Just Passing Through 21 I 

passing always with a large basket under her arm 

her heels softly tapping the delicate notes of a Peruvian waltz 

to the beat of all my offers shaking the sidewalks 

with her peasant hips 

without ever glancing at the weight of my goods 

and what if I were to see her pass this peddler's corner 

slowly draining and embezzling the rest of my days 

Anniversary 

I tell myself over and over 

that those were different times 

And there where I dreamed of 

living on a ship 

that never set to sea 

the summer grew even drier 

and the world filled up 

with men pulled by the tide 

The Duties of a Prophet 

Nothing special would mark my life if it weren't 

for the fact that I died January 2 1944 in Dachau 

The balance is made up by the traits 

of a thousand year old tradition: 

blind 

(used to always keeping an eye open) 

having too much of a weak spirit 

and full of excuses taken 

in steady doses 

Forced into living by the Commandant's mercy 

playing the role of court jester 

or obedient page 

in the General's entourage 

(a role I took on orders from an Absent God) 

I was his witness: I improvised a two-faced image 

of judge and victim


That's how my history can be summed up 

except for a few rather apocryphal events 

the fruits of either old age 

or dreams 

Caretaker of the cemetery for victims 

men with no future look for rest in my house 

where it's my duty to seal hollow doors and windows 

Elegy for Hershel Gosovsky 

They must have seen him with neckties under his arms 

every winter in the city 

they must have asked him what's it worth 

how much 

for this summer tie 

on those passing days 

And Gosovsky walking all his life from Jiron de la 

Union to Colmena Avenue 

must have let them go at wholesale prices 

or let them 

fly from the city rooftops 

at bargain rates 

he would've used them on credit to keep warm 

every winter 

setting up stands full of sunlight on all 

the quiet corners of Lima 

All his life blue-eyed Gosovsky would've 

dragged his feet 

to the whorehouse on Jiron Huatica 

lit up back alleys and shabby rooms with his 

milky circumcised erection 

crawled on his knees to the Banco Popular 

reached up to the teller's window Peruvian coins 

encrusted on his hands 

his body searching for a place to sleep 

each night 

every morning he would've used his key 

to open all the hotels in Lima


until they saw him die face down 

with his feet 

his hands 

his whole body 


Here's where my life begins 

shoulder to shoulder 

against fate 

and those days rushing by in fear 

It all hangs on luck: 

you lose the fear of death 

because there are days in a man's life 

that escape it 

But it's hard not to give up 

when we trip over our feet 

at each turn 

and we fall down out of reach 

with our ankles 

split wide open 

and then they lay us down on a gravestone 

and tell us: 

Sleep calmly 

the tide doesn't rise this high 

It's hopeless: I'm about to unmask myself 

but my words stop me 

at the tip of my tongue 

It's hopeless: here's where my life begins 

and I'm just passing through 

Chronicles 

Then I set out on my journey through history 

and now I remember that heroes-I mean those 

who thought about life as they were dying- 

flashed their ghostly claws


And it so happened that in the end 

I couldn't forget Mariategui's seven poems 

that even though my head had been cut off 

I still kept in my pocket 

(the left pocket) 

two cents worth of patriotism 

Then I took the road that neither began 

nor ended in Jerusalem or Cuzco 

finally I discovered that confuciusjesuschristkarlmarx 

were scheming to put out a new edition of the bible 

and that the earth's navel 

could be found inside a barren woman 

Solomon ordered that the son of my conscience be cut in half 

and that the head be handed over to the Western mother 

and an ass with two legs to the Eastern mother 

and that's how a lie the size of a nose 

began growing on our culture 

A parched, dying voice revealed to me that 

civilization began when Cain committed his crime 

who cared if Wiracocha was born in a Bethlehem manger 

or if Jesus was Lake Titicaca's son 

we didn't need sperm tests 

but tests of conscience 

in the end I, the offspring of Abraham's rape of Mama Ocllo 

paternal step-brother of David the Hebrew Pachaciitec 

spun my roots in the Span-Jewish wool of Tahuantinsuyo 

Poets: don't waste your words 

today the word is no longer the prophet's sword 

and reason, in this age, further removed than ever 

from the mystery that the universe weaves around us 

is only reflected in the stubborn silence of our dead 

It's necessary, however, if you are looking for pseudonyms 

to understand that it makes no difference to be called a lion 

a horse or a cat

Just Passing Through 21 5 

that heroes' names already smell like parchments 

and that's why it's better to be called ram than Abraham 

lamb instead of Jesus or llama instead of Manko. 


At the end of the day 

we all compare dusk 

to death. 

If a man goes 

to meet death, 

we let him 

keep his shadow, 

we follow him 

as an eye follows a ship. 

If the light rips 

the seams of our body, 

we abandon him for a second: 

if we think we're ready 

to join him on his journey, 

we slowly tie 

our shoes, 

repeat our goodbyes, 

and assure him that we've never 

seen him 

go by naked 

flashing like metal: 

we go our separate ways 

facing this day already controlled 

by habit. 

- - 

Isaac Goldemberg is the Peruvian-born author of The Fragmented 

Life of Don Jacobo Lerner. He is now teaching at New York Universi- 

ty and is at work on a new novel, La conversi6n.

Some Aspects of 

Intermarriage in the Jewish Community 

of SHo Paulo, Brazil 

Rosa R. Krausz 


Intermarriage has been part of the Jewish experience throughout his- 

tory and in fact is a common phenomenon whenever a minority lives 

in constant contact with a majority group in an open society. Studies 

of intermarriage usually focus on tendencies related to demographic 

data, such as age, sex, education, nationality, and religion, and rarely 

explore how factors like identity, prejudice, values, commitment, and 

alienation influence the patterns of intermarriage. In contrast, the re- 

search project described in this paper was specifically designed to de- 

termine the extent to which the educational process and individual 

experiences, values, and concepts affect the rate of intermarriage. It al- 

so sought to determine the consequences of intermarriage for the sur- 

vival of Jewish communities in the diaspora. 

Research Methodology 

Intermarriage defined. Intermarriage is the formal union through 

marriage of an individual who was born Jewish with one who was not 

born Jewish and was not raised as such. Based on this broad defini- 

tion, it is possible to distinguish three categories of intermarriage: (I) 

Jewish conversionary intermarriage, in which the non-Jewish partner 

converts to Judaism; (2) Christian conversionary intermarriage, in 

which the Jewish partner abandons Judaism through formal conver- 

sion; and (3) mixed marriage, in which neither partner converts.' 

The respondents. Originally the research project was designed to 

reach forty randomly selected Jewish-born partners in each of the 

three intermarriage categories. A fourth group, consisting of endoga-

Aspects of Intermarriage 217 

mous Jewish couples, was added as a control to determine whether the 

members of the various intermarriage categories differed in any signif- 

icant way from a similarly selected group of persons who had chosen 

Jewish marriage partners. Unfortunately, it proved difficult to find 

and interview Jews who had converted to Christianity (category 2 

above). Of the ten converts identified in the S2o Paulo Jewish commu- 

nity, six refused to be interviewed. Although the data for the remain- 

ing four are presented, the number of respondents was too small to 

permit comparative analysis. Because of the difficulty in finding con- 

verts, the research universe of the study was reduced from 160 re- 

spondents to 124. 

Research procedure. The data presented in this study were collected 

through a questionnaire and an interview with specific items for each 

category of intermarriage. Both the questionnaire and the interview 

were answered by the Jewish partner in each of the intermarriage cate- 

gories. 

Characteristics of the Population 

Age and sex. The age and sex characteristics of the respondents are 

shown in Table I. The group that participated in the study was made 

up of men and women between the ages of twenty-one and seventy- 

four. Twenty-nine of the respondents (8 percent), the largest single 

group, were from the thirty to thirty-nine age bracket, and seven (3 

percent), the smallest group, were from the sixty to seventy-four 

bracket. In the intermarriage categories, most of the respondents were 

between twenty and thirty-nine years old (60.6 percent), while in the 

endogamous category the highest concentration was found in the for- 

ty to fifty-nine age bracket (55.0 percent). The majority of the re- 

spondents in the intermarriage categories were male (66.5 percent). In 

the endogamous category the distribution was more balanced: 55.0 

percent male and 45.0 percent female. 

Place of birth. Table LA shows that the respondents were predomi- 

nantly first-generation Brazilians born in SPo Paulo City. Of the sixty- 

eight first-generation Brazilians, the majority (66.2 percent) were 

intermarried. This proportion grew even higher among the thirty- 

three second-generation Brazilians (84.9 percent). The lowest inci- 

dence of intermarriage was found among the foreign-born (47.9 

percent). Thus the population studied showed a clear tendency to in-


termarriage as we pass from immigrants to second-generation Brazil- 

ians (see Table 2B). 

Education. The educational characteristics of the respondents are 

shown in Table 3A. Most of them had a university education, al- 

though fewer females than males had attained this level of education 

(61.7 percent and 79.2 percent respectively). The second-generation 

Brazilians included the highest proportion of university graduates 

(87.9 percent) as compared to the first-generation Brazilians and the 

foreign-born (75.5 percent and 43.4 percent respectively). The data in 

Table 3B make it evident that the Jewish conversionary group had the 

greatest number of respondents with a university education, and that 

the endogamous group registered the lowest. 

The Jewish partner. Table 4 shows the sex of the Jewish partners in 

the various groups. There was a clear predominance of male Jewish 

partners in the Jewish conversionary category. This can be explained 

by two facts: (I) conversion to Judaism is easier for women than for 

men, and (2) in a male-oriented society like Brazil, women tend to sub- 

mit more easily than men to their spouses' way of life. The sexual dis- 

tribution of the Jewish partners was more balanced in the mixed and 

endogamous categories. 

Identification with Judaism 

Identification with Judaism is a multifarious and complex process. 

Herman says that "Jewish identity deals with: (a) The nature of the in- 

dividual's relationship to the Jewish group as a membership group; 

and (b) The individual's perception of the attributes of the Jewish 

group, his feelings about them, and the extent to which its norms are 

adopted by him as a source of reference."' 

For the purposes of the research described in this paper, we consid- 

ered Jewish identification as the outcome of the educational process to 

which the individual was submitted, also including the individual's 

personal experiences and the values cherished and transmitted by his 

family. In order to measure the respondents' degree of identification 

with Judaism, we used the following indicators: attendance at a Jew- 

ish school; membership in Jewish youth groups; observance of Jewish 

traditional holidays in the parental home; Bar or Bat Mitzvah; observ- 

ance of Kashrut in the parental home.

Aspects of Intermarriage 

Table I: Sex and Age of Respondents 

Intermarriage Endogamous 

Age Female Male Total Female Male Total Grand Total 

2-29 6 12 18 21.4% 6 4 10 25.0% 28 22.6% 

3-39 I2 21 33 39.+% 2 2 4 10.0% 37 29.8% 

4-49 2 I3 15 17.8% 7 6 13 32.5% 28 22.6% 

5-59 5 8 13 15.4% I 8 9 22.5% 22 17.7% 

60 + 4 I 5 5.9% 8 z 4 10.0% 9 7.3% 

Total 29 55 84 100.0% 18 22 40 100.0% 124 100.0% 

Table 2A: Place of Birth of Respondents 

Place of Birth Intermarriage Endogamous Total 

Brazil (1st generation) 45 66.2% 23 33.8% 68 100.0% 

Brazil (2nd generation) 28 84.9% 5 15.1% 33 100.0% 

Foreien 11 47.9% I+ (2.1% 2% 100.0% 

Total 84 40 124 

Place of Birth 

Table 2B: Place of Birth and Intermarriage Category 

Jewish Christian 

Convenionary Conversionary Mixed Total 

Brazil (1st generation) 

Brazil (2nd generation) 

23 

13 

57.5% 

32.5% 

3 75.0% 

- - 

I9 

15 

47.5% 

37.5% 

45 

28 

Foreign 4 10.0% I ~5.0% 6 15.0% I I 

Total ro 100.0% A 100.0% 40 100.0% 84 

Table 3A: Education and Place of Birth 

1st Generation 2nd Generation 

Educational Level Brazilian Brazilian Foreign-Born Total 

Grammar school I 1.4% - - I 4.4% 2 1.6% 

High School 16 23.6% 4 12.1% 12 52.2% 32 25.8% 

University 51 75.0% 29 87.9% 10 43.4% 90 72.6% 

Total 68 100.0% 33 ~oo.o% zr 100.0% 124 100.0% 

Table 3B: Education and Marriage Category 


Educational Level Convenionary Conversionary Mixed Endogamous Total 

Grammar School - - - - - - z 5.0% 2 

High School 4 10.0% I 25.0% 7 17.5% 20 50.0% 32 

University 36 90.0% 3 75.0% 33 82.5% 18 45.0% 90 

- - - 

Total 40 100.0% 4 100.0% 40 100.0% 40 100.0% I24


Jewish school attendance. As shown in Table 5, approximately one- 

third (37.4 percent) of the respondents attended Jewish day schools. 

Of the thirty-six respondents who went to Jewish grammar schools 

(four years), 3 6. I percent married Jewish partners, 3 3.3 percent mar- 

ried gentiles who converted to Judaism, and 30.6 percent married 

nonconverted gentiles. Of the eleven respondents who attended Jew- 

ish day schools for a period of eight or more years, 54.5 percent mar- 

ried Jewish partners, 3 6.4 percent married gentiles who converted to 

Judaism, and 9. I percent married nonconverted gentiles. Thus, in the 

population studied, attending a Jewish day school diminished the rate 

of intermarriage and increased the rate of endogamous marriage only 

when a Jewish school was attended beyond the grammar-school level. 

Jewish youth groups. Table 6 shows the pattern of participation in 

Jewish youth groups. The majority of the respondents had belonged to 

groups of this kind. Although the length of their participation does not 

seem to be relevant, the very fact of participation shows a slight influ- 

ence on marriage behavior. Of the seventy individuals who were in- 

volved in Jewish youth-group activities in some way, 40 percent 

married Jewish spouses, 3 I .4 percent married gentiles who converted 

to Judaism, and 25.7 percent married nonconverted gentiles. In con- 

trast, of the fifty respondents who did not participate in Jewish youth 

activities, 36 percent married gentiles who converted to Judaism, an- 

other 36 percent had nonconverted gentile spouses, and only 24 per- 

cent married Jews. 

Jewish observances in the parental home. As shown in Table 7, the 

holiday most frequently observed by the parents of the respondents 

was Yom Kippur, followed by Pesach (Passover) and Rosh Hashana. 

All of the respondents in the endogamous group reported that their 

parents had observed Yom Kippur, as did 75 percent of the respond- 

ents in the intermarriage categories. A similar pattern was found for 

Passover and Rosh Hashana. Although Sabbath observance was not 

as widespread, the pattern of observance showed the same ordering of 

frequency among the groups: 50 percent of the parents in the endoga- 

mous category, 27.5 percent of the parents in the Jewish conver- 

sionary category, and only 15 percent of the parents in the 

mixed-marriage category. Thus it appears that there is a connection 

between a high degree of Jewish holiday observance and a tendency 

toward endogamous marriage.

Marriage Cateaorv 

Aspects of Intermarriage 

Table 4: Sex of Jewish Partner 

Sex of Jewish Partner 

Female Male Total 

Jewish Conversionary 7 17.5% 33 82.5% 40 100.0% 

Christian Conversionary I 25.0% 3 75.0% 4 100.0% 

Mixed 21 52.5% 19 47.5% 40 100.0% 

Endogamous 18 45.0% rz 55.0% 40 100.0% 

Total 47 97.9% 77 62.1% 124 100.0% 

Table 5: Level of Jewish Schooling 

Jewish School Jewish Christian 

Attended Conversionarv Conversionarv Mixed Endoaamous Total 

Grammar school 12 33.3% - - 11 30.6% 13 36.1% 36 100.0% 

High school - - - - - - - - - - 

Both 4 36.4% - - I 9.1% 6 54.5% 11 100.0% 

Total 16 34.1% - - 12 25.5% 19 40.4% 47 100.0% 

Table 6: Participation in Jewish Youth Groups 

Level of Jewish Christian 

Participation Conversionarv Conversionarv Mixed Endogamous Total 

Participated 22 31.4% 2 2.9% 18 25.7% 28 40.0% 70 100.0% 

Didn't Participate 18 36.0% 2 4.0% 18 36.0% 12 24.0% 50 100.0% 

No answer - - - - 4 100.0% - - 4 100.0% 

Total 40 4 40 do IZA 

Table 7: Jewish Holiday Observance in Parental Home 


Holiday Observance Conversionary Conversionary Mixed Endoaamous 

Passover 30 75.0% z 50.0% 29 72.5% 40 100.0% 

Rosh Hashana 30 75.0% 2 50.0% 28 70.0% 38 95.0% 

Yom Kippur 30 75.0% 3 75.0% 30 75.0% 40 100.0% 

Shabbat 11 27.5% I 25.0% 6 15.0% w 50.0% 

Hanukah 8 20.0% - - 6 15.0% I7 42.5% 

Table 8: Bar Mitzvah 


Had Bar Mitzvah Convenionary Conversionary Mixed Endogamous 

Yes 28 84.8% 3 100.0% 14 73.6% 20 90.9% 

No 5 15.2% - - 5 26.4% 2 9.1% 

Total 13 100.0% t 100.0% 19 100.0% 22 100.0%


Bar and Bat Mitzvah. The BarJBat Mitzvah is an important event in 

the strengthening of Jewish identity. It is a milestone of a youth's expe- 

rience as well as a solemn entrance into the adult life of the Jewish 

community. As the data in Table 8 show, 84.4 percent of the male re- 

spondents had been Bar Mitzvah, while only 4.2 percent of the female 

respondents had experienced a Bat Mitzvah ceremony. The highest in- 

cidence of Bar Mitzvah was found in the endogamous category (90.9 

percent), followed by the Jewish conversionary group (84.8 percent). 

It should be noted that all the male respondents in the Christian con- 

versionary category had been Bar Mitzvah. 

Kashrut observance. Parental observance of the dietary laws is tab- 

ulated in Table 9. Few of the respondents had parents who observed 

the dietary laws. The highest percentage was found in the endogamous 

group (42.5 percent), followed by the mixed-marriage category (7.5 

percent). 

Jewish Education Influence Degree (JEID). The global analysis of 

the five factors described above and selected as relevant to the devel- 

opment of an identification bond with Judaism was made through a 

compound index called the Jewish Education Influence Degree (see 

Appendix A). The analysis of these related factors sheds some light on 

the rather complex process of Jewish identification. Table 10 shows 

that the majority of the respondents in the endogamous category (5 2.5 

percent) had a JEID of 3 or more. The percentage of respondents with 

3 or more on the JEID decreased in the Jewish conversionary group 

(27.5 percent) and more so in the mixed-marriage category (12.5 per- 

cent). While the number of respondents in the Christian conversionary 

group was too small to permit comparisons, it is worth noting that all 

of them had a JEID of less than 3. The data assembled in the study indi- 

cate that there is a clear association between a high JEID and endoga- 

mous marriage, and also that a lower JEID indicates a higher 

probability of an intermarriage that will draw the Jewish spouse away 

from Judaism. 

Participation in Jewish Community Life 

The maintenance of an organized Jewish communal life is essential for 

the survival of Judaism in the diaspora. Two indicators were selected 

for assessing the participation of respondents in the life of the S5o

Aspects of intermarriage 223 

Paulo Jewish community: (I) affiliation with Jewish communal or- 

ganizations, and (2) enrollment of their children in Jewish schools. 

Affiliation with Jewish communal organizations. As the data in Ta- 

ble I IA demonstrate, the number of affiliated respondents was rela- 

tively high. Organizational affiliation was 87.5 percent in the 

endogamous group, 80 percent in the Jewish conversionary group, 

and 60 percent among mixed-marriage respondents. The data in Ta- 

ble IIB reveal that there was a close relationship between organiza- 

tional affiliation and a high JEID. 

Enrollment of children in Jewish schools. As was also true of the de- 

gree of communal affiliation, both marriage category and JEID clearly 

influence the continuity or discontinuity of the process of commitment 

to Judaism. The data in Table I 2 show that the highest incidence of en- 

rollment in Jewish day schools was found among the children of endo- 

gamous couples, and the highest incidence of enrollment in secular 

schools was seen among the offspring of mixed marriages. Although 

some of the mixed-marriage respondents were ambivalent about pro- 

viding their children with a Jewish education, only one couple, from 

the Christian conversionary group, decided to raise their children as 

Christians. 

The Concept of "Jew" 

How one answers the question "Who is a Jew?" has a considerable 

amount of relevance in regard to the subject of intermarriage, since it 

determines one's approach to Judaism, to the Jewish community, to 

the larger society, and, perhaps most important, toward oneself. The 

answers the respondents provided to this question revealed that they 

entertained a wide range of views on what being a Jew means. In the 

endogamous category, the main points underlined under the heading 

Jew were "tradition" and "religion." The respondents from the Jew- 

ish conversionary group emphasized "tradition," "education," and 

"feelings." The mixed-marriage respondents mentioned "tradition" 

and "education" but also referred to other frames of reference, such as 

"race," "descent," "culture," "people," and "specific values." While 

respondents from the endogamous group limited their choices to just a 

few concept options, there was a progressive increase in the number of 

options selected by the respondents in the other categories, perhaps as 

a means of preventing cognitive dissonance. This is an extremely im-


portant point that warrants further exploration in an in-depth re- 

search study. 

Intermarriage 

Parental attitude toward intermarriage. Social scientists have gener- 

ally recognized that the family group influences the child's view of the 

world and of himself. The family exerts strong pressures on its chil- 

dren to shape their behavior to fit into the patterns sanctioned by the 

group. By asking the respondents to provide information about 

whether and to what extent their parents regarded endogamous mar- 

riage as a traditional Jewish value to be maintained and encouraged, 

we were able to form some insights into the degree of influence that 

parental values have on the younger generation in an open society like 

that of Brazil. 

The attitudes toward intermarriage expressed by the parents of the 

respondents, as reported by the respondents, are shown in Table 13. 

The parents of the respondents in the endogamous group were the 

ones who most strongly maintained the value of endogamous mar- 

riage. Among the respondents in this group, 75 percent reported that 

their parents had strongly opposed intermarriage-the highest inci- 

dence of parents taking this stance-and in addition 17.5 percent re- 

ported that their parents had expressed some disapproval of 

intermarriage. In the Jewish conversionary group, the proportion of 

parents strongly opposed to intermarriage dropped to 45 percent, but 

another 27.5 percent had a somewhat unfavorable attitude toward in- 

termarriage. In the mixed-marriage group, only 25 percent of the re- 

spondents reported that their parents had strong feelings against 

intermarriage, but another 27.5 percent reported that their parents 

were somewhat unfavorable toward it. These data lead to the conclu- 

sion that there is a correspondence between parental views on inter- 

marriage and the likelihood that offspring will marry a non-Jewish 

mate. 

Favorable and unfavorable aspects of intermarriage. Our analysis 

of perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of intermarriage 

among the various categories of respondents provided an overview of 

their marital expectations. As Table 14 shows, the majority of the en- 

dogamous category (57.5 percent) stated that "there are no favorable 

aspects" to intermarriage, but at least 25 percent mentioned favorable

Aspects of lntermarriage 225 

Table 9: Kashrut Observance in Parental Home 


Kashrut Obsetved Conversionary Convetsionary Mixed Endogamous 

Yes 2 5.0% I 25.0% 3 7.5% 17 42.5% 

No 38 91.0% 3 75.0% 37 92.5% 7-3 57.5% 

Total 40 100.0% 4 100.0% 40 100.0% 40 100.0% 

Table 10: Jewish Education Influence Degree 


IElD Conversionarv Conversionarv Mixed Endoeamous Total 

Total 40 100.0% 4 100.0% 40 IOO.O% 40 100.0% 124 100.0% 

Table IIA: Affiliation with Jewish Communal Organizations 


Affiliated Conversionarv Conversionarv Mixed Endoearnous Total 

Yes 32 80.0% - - 24 60.0% 35 87.5% 91 73.4% 

No 8 20.0% 4 ioo.o% 16 40.0% 5 12.5% 33 26.6% 

Total 

Table I I B: Jewish Communal Affiliation and JEID 

lEID Affiliated Not Affiliated Total 

Total 91 73.4% 33 26.6% 17.4 100.0% 

Table 12: School Enrollment of Respondents' Children 

Jewish Christian Secular 

Marriage Category School School School No Children Total 

Jewish Conversionary 15 36.6% - - 15 28.3% 10 34.5% 40 

Christian Conver- 

sionary - - I 100.0% I 3.8% I 3.4% 4 

Mixed 2 4.9% - - 27 50.9% XI 37.9% 40 

Endoeamous zd 58.5% - - 9 17.0% 7 nr.+% do 

Total 41 100.0% I 100.0% 53 100.0% 29 roo.o% 124


Table 13: Attitude of Respondents' Parents Toward Intermarriage 


Parental Attitude 

Freedom of choice 

No comment 

Duty to maintain 

tradition 

Intermarriage is 

trouble 

Against 

intermarriaee 

- 

Conversionary Conversionary Mixed Endogamous Total 

Total 40 100.0% 4 loo.o% 40 100.0% 40 roo.o% 12.4 loo.o% 

Table I 4: Perceptions of Favorable Aspects of Intermarriage 

Favorable Jewish Christian 

Asvecrs 

None 

Doesn't know 

A marriage like 

any other 

A new experience 

Spreads out Judaism 

Adjusts to larger 

society 

Brings the couple 

together 

Other 

Conversionary Conversionary Mixed Endogamous Total 

Total 40 100.0% 4 100.0% 40 100.0% 40 100.0% 124 100.0% 

Table IS: Perceptions of Unfavorable Aspects of Intermarriage 

Unfavorable 

Aspects 

None 

Children's 

education 

Problems of family 

integration 

Problems of 

couple's integra- 

tion 

Loss of tradition 

Family pressure 

Different outlooks 

Loss of community 

integration 

Other 

Jewish 

Conversionary 

14 35.0% 

8 20.0% 

Christian 

Conversionary 

2 50.0% 

Mixed Endogamous Toral 

Total 40 100.0% 4 loo.o% 40 100.0% 40 100.0% 124 loo.o%


points. In the Jewish conversionary group, 32.5 percent denied that in- 

termarriage had any positive aspects, while 40 percent indicated fa- 

vorable points. It is especially noteworthy that while the majority of 

the mixed-marriage group (5 5 percent) mentioned favorable aspects 

of intermarriage, 27.5 percent said "there are none." On the other 

hand, as shown in Table IS, that intermarriage has unfavorable as- 

pects was denied by 7.5 percent of the endogamous respondents, by 3 5 

percent of the Jewish conversionary group, and by 45 percent of the 

mixed-marriage respondents. Even in the Christian conversionary 

group, 50 percent of the respondents mentioned unfavorable aspects. 

Overall, while the endogamous and Jewish conversionary groups in- 

cluded a higher percentage of respondents emphasizing the negative 

aspects of intermarriage, the respondents in the other two groups gave 

the same weight to negative and positive aspects. 

The non-Jewish partner's option. An area of interest in the study of 

intermarriage is the question of why some gentiles who marry Jews 

convert to Judaism while others maintain their original religious affili- 

ation. In order to elicit information on this subject, it was necessary to 

formulate somewhat different questions for each of the three groups, 

depending on how they were constituted. 

The respondents in the Jewish conversionary group were asked to 

explain why their spouses had converted. The answers are shown in 

Table I 6: 25 percent had converted of their own volition, I 5 percent 

to facilitate family integration, 12.5 percent for the sake of the chil- 

dren, 20 percent because they were asked to by the Jewish spouse or 

his family, and 10 percent because they were of part-Jewish descent. 

The respondents in the mixed-marriage category were asked why 

their spouses had not converted. The answers are shown in Table I 7: 

3 2.5 percent of the respondents said that they and their spouses had 

never even discussed the issue; another 3 2.5 percent declared that they 

did not identify with Judaism, and 22.5 percent reported that neither 

partner had desired conversion. 

The respondents in the endogamous category were asked why Jews 

marry gentiles. Their answers are shown in Table 18. Almost one- 

third said that "it just happens" and 22.6 percent attributed such mar- 

riages to "love," while only I 3.2 percent mentioned "erroneous 

education." These answers revealed that the endogamous respondents 

held a rather open and romantic view of intermarriage and regarded


Jewish tradition and the survival of Judaism as of secondary impor- 

tance when compared to the right to choose a marriage partner freely 

and without barriers. In other words, commitment to the values of an 

open society seemed to be stronger than the roots linking even the en- 

dogamous respondents to traditional Jewish values. 

~ - 

Table 16: Why Non-Jewish Partner Converted to Judaism 

(Jewish Conversionary Category Only) 

Reasons for Conversion Number Percentage 

Personal choice 10 2s.0 

Partner's parents asked 3 7.5 

To bring family together 6 15.0 

Children's education 5 12.5 

Partner asked 5 12.5 

Of Jewish ancestry 4 10.0 

To have religious marriage 3 10.0 

Other 3 7.3 

Total 40 100.0 

Table 17: Why Non-Jewish Partner Did Not Convert 

(Mixed-Marriage Category Only) 

- - - 

Reasons for Nonconversion Number Percentage 

Issue never discussed 13 32.5 

Couple did not wish conversion 9 zz.5 

Both partners agnostic 4 10.0 

Never though of religious marriage 3 7.5 

Don't believe in Judaism 6 15.0 

Against couple's principles 3 7.5 

Other 2 5 .o 

Total 40 100.0 

Table 18: Perceptions of Why Jews Intermarry 

(Endogamous Category Only) 

Reasons for Intermarriage Number Percentage 

Lack of identification with Judaism 

Erroneous education 

Love 

It just happens 

Rebellion 

Don't have money for dowry 

Other 

Total 53. roo.o% 

*Multiple choice.


Conclusions 

The data assembled in the study described in the preceding pages sup- 

port the following conclusions: 

I. Among Brazilian Jews, the frequency of intermarriage tends to be 

higher among native-born university graduates. 

2. There is a demonstrable relationship between the Jewish Educa- 

tion Influence Degree and marital pattern; the higher the JEID, the 

greater the observed tendency toward endogamous marriage; the low- 

er the JEID, the greater the observed tendency toward mixed mar- 

riage. 

3. On the basis of the factors comprising the JEID, growing up in a 

home where Jewish traditions are observed is one of the most positive 

influences on. the process of Jewish identification-leading to endoga- 

mous marriage or Jewish conversionary marriage. 

4. The higher the JEID of the Jewish partner, the more likely that the 

couple, whatever the marriage category, will raise their children as 

Jews. 

5. Affiliation with Jewish communal organizations was relatively 

high in the endogamous category but tended to decrease somewhat in 

the Jewish conversionary category and still more in the mixed-mar- 

riage category. 

6. Respondents from the different marriage categories tended to de- 

fine the concept of "Jew" in different ways. The definitions given by 

members of the endogamous group were the narrowest, those given by 

the Jewish conversionary respondents were somwhat broader, and 

those given by the mixed-marriage respondents were the broadest of 

all. 

7. Respondents whose parents had strong views against intermar- 

riage were less likely to intermarry. 

8. Respondents from the endogamous and Jewish conversionary 

categories were more likely to underline the unfavorable aspects of in- 

termarriage than were those from the mixed-marriage category. 

Rosa R. Krausz was formerly Research Coordinator and Professor of 

Jewish Sociology at the Center for Jewish Studies of the University of 

S2o Paulo.


- ~ 

Appendix A: Jewish Education Influence Degree 

The index is based on the quantification of the following items: 

I. Jewish grammar school attendance: 

Yes I 

No 0 

2. Jewish youth-group membership: 

Less than one year o 

One to two years 0.5 

Three or more years I 

3. Barmat Mitzvah: 

Yes I 

No 0 

4. Jewish holiday observances in parental home (Shabbat, Yom Kippur, Rosh 

Hashana, Passover, Hanuka): 

One festival o 

Two to three 0.5 

Four or more I 

5. Kashrut observance in parental home: 

Yes 2 

Partially I 

No 0 

The Jewish Education Influence Degree results from adding together the weights assigned each 

item, with a range of o to 6. 

Notes 

The research project described in this article was conducted on a grant from the Memorial Foun- 

dation for Jewish Culture. 

I. The intermarriage categories outlined here are broadly the same as those used by E. Mayer 

and C. Sheingold, Intermarriage and thelewish Future (New York: American Jewish Commit- 

tee, 1979). 

2. Simon N. Herman, ]ewish Identity (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1977). p. 39.

A Demographic Profile of 

Latin American Jewry 


A problem for anyone laboring in the field of Latin American Jewish 

studies is that no one knows just how many Latin American Jews there 

are, or how to count them. Official data are scarce, the attitudes of the 

various Jewish communities toward the taking of a census have been 

defensive, and even the question of who is a Jew is controversial. No 

official census of the Jews of Latin America has ever been conducted, 

nor is one likely to be. 

U. 0. Schmelz and Sergio Della Pergola, the leading demographers 

at work on this subject, provide some estimates of the size of Jewish 

populations in South and Central America in the 1982 edition of the 

American Jewish Year Book (see Table I). Although some of the fig- 

ures are estimates only, they are the most reliable data available. 

The dimensions of the Latin American Jewish population are con- 

siderably less ample than believed by those who embrace the most gen- 

erous definition of Jewish identity. In recent years, the best-received 

estimates were from 800,ooo to 825,000 for Latin America as a 

whole, some 500,ooo to 5 50,000 of these in Argentina alone. But Sch- 

melz and Della Pergola calculate that there may actually be as few as 

493,250 Jews in all of South and Central America today, 249,000 of 

them in Argentina. To understand why the claimed figures had to be 

scaled down, it is necessary to understand how they were arrived at. In 

the process, we will learn something about the dimensions and charac- 

teristics of this population, and also about the psychology of the com- 

munal agencies which were responsible for the earlier, inflated, 

figures. 

Estimating the Size of Jewish Populations 

Special problems beset the field of Jewish demography generally; 

some others bedevil Latin American Jewish demography specifically. 

Fundamental to any enumeration of Jews is the determination of 

who is a Jew. According to Jewish religious law (halakhah), a Jew is a


person who was born of a Jewish mother and has not accepted conver- 

sion to another religion; or who has been converted to Judaism accor- 

ding to halakhic procedures. In practice, some persons in marginal 

categories regard themselves as Jews while others do not: for example, 

persons born of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers. Also, there is 

the question of those who qualify under halakhic definition but 

choose to dissociate themselves from Jewish life. Are such individuals 

to be counted as Jews? Because of the existence of "marginal" Jews, 

the practice has arisen of adding to Jewish census data an estimate of 

the number of such persons, thus occasionally producing an error 

equal to the difference between the figure thus obtained and the figure 

that existed before any correction was attempted. Reliance on esti- 

mates is, however, a necessity for all Jewish populations outside the 

State of Israel. 

In countries that have separated church and state, the collection of 

information regarding religious preference is regarded as invidious, 

since the registration of individuals as Jews has been used as the basis 

for discriminating against them.' Many Jews living in Latin America 

entered their present countries of residence on baptismal certificates, 

and would be unwilling to compromise their status for the sake of a 

census. Such life experiences combine with more remote memories of 

the Spanish Inquisition to limit the willingness of Latin American Jews 

to check the category israelita on a census. 

In recent years, five Latin American nations have included a ques- 

tion on religion in their national censuses. Most of these produced 

puzzling results. The Chilean census of 1960 showed I 1,700 Jews in 

the country, or about one-third the number actually affiliated with 

Jewish institutions at that date. Conversely, the Mexican census of the 

same year showed 100,750 Jews, an impossible 470 percent increase 

over the 1950 census.' Despite the theoretical possibility of deriving 

information on Jewish communities from national censuses, these 

must be handled with extreme care. 

Until recently, most of our knowledge has come from studies pre- 

pared by Jewish community-service organizations. From 1966 to 

1975, the series Comunidades Judias was compiled biannually by 

community leaders and social-welfare professionals in each republic, 

and edited by staff of the ComitC Judia LatinoamCricana. This came to 

an end due to the harassment and eventural flight of the staff.

A Demographic Profile 

Table I: Estimated Jewish Population 

Distribution in the Americas, 19 80 

Jews per 

Total Jewish 1,000 Accuracy 

Country Population Population Population Rating 

Canada 23,690,000 308,000 13.0 A 1971 

U.S.A. ~~0,584,000 5,690,000 25.8 B 1970--71 

Total Northern America 5,998,000 

Bahamas 224,000 500 2.2 B 1970 

Costa Rica 2,193,000 2,500 1.1 C 

Cuba 9,775,000 1,000 0. I D 

Dominican Republic 59275,000 zoo 0.0 D 

El Salvador 4,435~000 3 50 0.1 C 

Guatemala 7,046,000 1,100 0.2 C 

Haiti 4,919,000 150 0.0 D 

Jamaica 2,162,ooo 250 0.1 D 

Mexico 69,381,000 35,000 0.5 C 

Netherlands Antilles 260,000 700 2.7 C 

Panama 1,881,000 2,000 1.1 C 

Trinidad 1,127,000 300 0.3 D 

Total Central ~rnerica~ 44,050 

Argentina 26,729,000 242,000 9.1 B 1960 

Bolivia S,425,000 1,000 0.2 C 

Brazil 118,645,000 110,000 0.9 B 1960 

Chile IO,~I~,OOO 25 ,000 2.3 D 

Colombia 26,3 60,000 7,000 0.3 B I977 

Ecuador 8,146,000 1,000 0.1 D 

Paraguay 2,973,000 700 0.2 c 

Peru 17,293,000 5,000 0.3 C 

Surinam 381,000 5 00 1.3 C 

Uruguay 2,878,000 40,000 13.9 D 

Venezuela 13,5IS~OOO 17,000 1.3 D 

Total Southern ~merica~ 449,200 

Other 700 

Total 6,4919950 

a. Total of countries reported in detail 

b. A-reliable, B-less accurate, C-partial or old data, D-conjectural. 

Source: American Jewish Year Book, 1982, p. 284. 

Community records, however, are never complete. There is no cen- 

tralized recordkeeping for births, marriages, or deaths among Jews. 

Thus, Jews who are not organized do not get counted. Gaps in data are 

difficult to fill because of uncertain political conditions that make field 

work impracticable. In practice, some efforts to fill in lacunae in Jew-


ish census data, if not objectively verifiable, are logically persuasive. 

Furthermore, much Jewish history has been written without the assistance 

of official information-gathering agencies. It would be self-defeating 

to assert that, where there is no certainty, there can be no 

knowledge. Much can be learned from the sources that are available, 

and even more from integrating information derived from them all. 

In attempting to construct a demographic portrait of Latin American 

Jewry, the most weight will be given to three studies that encompass 

the bulk of the populations and were carried out by qualified 

researchers. The demographic dimensions of the Jewish community of 

Argentina were defined through computer analysis of the national 

census of 1960.~ S5o Paulo's Jewish population was surveyed in 1969 

under the direction of a soci~logist.~ In Mexico, a non-computer analysis 

of the census of 1950 was conducted by a Jewish demographer.' 

It is not necessary to impose on the data-derived from widely different 

sources by way of a wide variety of techniques-an artificial gleichshaltung 

that in the nature of things would only intensify inaccuracies. 

The data as found present a startlingly clear pattern. When this pattern 

in turn is compared with the demography of the matrix populations, 

the distinctive profiles of Jewish and non-Jewish populations 

appear in sharp relief. 

Characteristics of 

Latin American Jewish Populations 

The 1936 municipal census of Buenos Aires identified 120,195 Jews, 

comprising 5 percent of the population of the city. This figure was credited 

by Ira Rosenswaike, the researcher who analyzed the census for 

its Jewish c~mponent.~ He further enlarged this figure by a factor of 

from 8 to 12 percent to include persons who were ethnic Jews but who 

had declared themselves to be without religion. The Jewish population 

of the country as a whole he assessed at 230,955. 

In an effort to arrive at a rate of natural increase, Rosenswaike uti- 

lized data derived from national and municipal censuses, as well as the 

records of Jewish institutions, particularly the Jewish Colonization 

Association, which had conducted its own census in 1909. From these, 

Rosenswaike inferred three decreasing rates of natural increase during 

the twentieth century. The I .S percent rate of natural increase compu-

A Demographic Profile 23 5 

ted by Simon Weill, director of JCA, was accepted for the early years 

of the century. "However, after World War I the Jewish rate of natural 

growth throughout the western world suffered a sharp decline. Everywhere 

the birth rate reached unprecedented lows, while the mortality 

rate generally fell but slightly."' Seeking to confirm or refute the existence 

of this worldwide trend among Argentine Jews, the demographer 

turned to the Buenos Aires municipal census of 1936. In that year, native-born 

israelitas of less than fifteen years of age accounted for 23.5 

percent of the israelita population; by comparison, 21.8 percent of the 

total population were under fifteen. Assuming a lower rate of infant 

mortality among Jews, Rosenswaike inferred that the Jewish and non- 

Jewish birth rates in the city were about the same. That figure stood at 

19.3 per 1,000 for the general population in 1931-35, and it was accepted 

for the Jewish population as well. The Jewish death rate was ascertained 

from the number of burials in Jewish cemeteries: 9 per 1,000 

population in 1934. Taken together, the figures indicated a rate of natural 

increase of 10 per 1,000 per year.' 

Despite this evidence of a low birth rate, Argentine Jews as well as 

outside observers did not believe the official census returns that 

showed fewer israelitas in 1947 than in 193 5 ; ~49~3 30 compared to 

25 3,242. Reasoning that Jewish and non-Jewish demographic trends 

must be similar, they assumed that the figures were in error. Estimates 

of the number of Jews continued their steady upward trend. In 1947, 

the American Jewish Year Book suggested 3 50,ooo; thirteen years later, 

the same publication increased this to 400,000, although the preliminary 

census returns for 1960 recorded just 275,913 israelitas over 

age five. In 1962, the American Jewish Year Book estimate jumped another 

~O,OOO, and in 1968 yet another ~O,OOO, with ComunidadesJudias 

adding still another 50,000 for good measure in 1970, for a total 

of 5 50,ooo Jews in Argentina. But a 25 percent increase in population 

over a period of ten years implies a growth rate of 2. I percent annually 

(or even greater, considering additional factors such as emigration and 

outmarriage). So high a rate of natural increase is not characteristic of 

any developed area of the world, nor does it exist in Argentina, nor is it 

characteristic of Jews worldwide. The rate of natural increase among 

the Jews of Canada (a population very similar in its origins to that of 

Argentina) is considerably less than I per~ent.~ Furthermore, the fragmentary 

evidence that could be assembled pointed to a declining birth 

rate.

23 6 American Jewish Archives 

When the Argentine census of 1960 became available in full, it recorded 

291,877 Jews. This number represented about three-fourths 

the number believed by the Jewish establishment to be living in the 

country. The discrepancy was accounted for by the fact that the census 

had been taken on the eve of Yom Kippur: after sundown, observant 

Jews were not at home but at the synagogue. In addition, some 5 percent 

of the population, almost one million people, declared themselves 

to be "without confession." As a result of the omission of both religious 

and marginal Jews, it appeared that the size of the Jewish population 

had been seriously underestimated by the government. 

This anomaly was taken up by Schmelz and Della Pergola, who analyzed 

the computer tape for "Jewish" and "without confession" responses. 

In a persuasive analysis, they determined that the published 

census total might be supplemented by 6 percent to take in the proportion 

of respondents living in Buenos Aires (the area where most Argentine 

Jews are concentrated) who were born Jewish and answered "no 

religion" or "without confession" to the question on religion. Having 

considered the data on these nonrespondents, the authors adopted a 

corrected total of 3 ~o,ooo Jews in Argentina in 1960, the bulk of these 

in Buenos Aires. The new total was the most significant datum to 

emerge since the establishment of Jewish settlement in Argentina, 

since it meant that one-quarter of the presumed 1960 population did 

not exist, that presumed rates of natural increase were inoperative, 

and that 1970 estimates of half a million were even more off the mark. 

Furthermore, it called into question accepted population figures for 

Jews in other parts of Latin America. These had been rising pari passu 

with population estimates for Argentina, and now had to be scaled 

down in similar fashion. For the area exclusive of Argentina, the 

American Jewish Year Book estimated 237,850 in 1948; 302,250 in 

1960; and 3 24,000 in 1970. These totals included large rounded sums 

for cities such as Santiago, BogotP, Mexico City, Montevideo, and 

Caracas, despite the fact that in a large metropolis it is very nearly impossible 

to sift out Jewish individuals without an official census. Taking 

into account recent findings for Argentina, it had to be assumed 

that rates of growth for other Latin American Jewish communities 

were overly generous. Quite probably, there were no more than 

240,ooo Jews living in Latin America exclusive of Argentina, or about 

the same number as in 1948.


Birth rate. Information on the demographic characteristics of Latin 

American Jewry displays an internal consistency that confirms the ex- 

istence of a group that is quite distinct from the majority members of 

the matrix populations. The gravest difference appears in the contrast- 

ing birth rates. For whatever country we examine, the Jewish birth 

rate is just half that of the matrix population. In 1965, the crude birth 

rate for Argentina as a whole was 22 per 1,000; during the same peri- 

od, the Argentine Jewish birth rate was 10.5 per 1,000 (see Table 2).1° 

The number of Argentine Jews in each age cohort born since 1953 

shows steady attrition. In 1960, there were 4,434 children aged eight, 

but only 3,662 aged four and 3,022 aged one. In the group below age 

four, there were to be found only three-quarters of the number of chil- 

dren aged five to nine. The proportion of children dwindled faster 

than the number of Jewish women of childbearing age, because of a 

continuous drop in completed fertility, and also because of a continu- 

ous rise in the frequency of mixed marriages, in the majority of which 

the children are not reared as Jews. The completed fertility rate of 

Argentine Jewish women in 1960 yielded a ratio of 947 daughters per 

1,000 mothers, more than 5 percent short of the number required for 

replacement of the parent generation. 

The Siio Paulo Jewish community was surveyed during the five- 

month period January-May 1969. The precise number of births, ex- 

trapolated over a one-year period, yielded a birth rate of 2.4 percent 

per year. This rate obtained during a period when the Brazilian popu- 

lation as a whole was experiencing a birth rate of 4.4 percent per year. 

Table 2: Estimates of Vital Rate Among Argentinelews 

(Yearly Averages per 1,000 population, 1946-1980) 

Years Birth Rate Death Rate Balance 

1971-75 10.5 

1976-80 (est.) 11.0 

- - 

Source: Schmelz and Della Pergola, Hademografia she1 hayehudim, p. 164.


Ninety-five percent of Jewish families have fewer members than the 

average Brazilian family. Moreover, there is a secular trend toward 

fewer children in Brazilian Jewish families. In an earlier study carried 

out in 1965, Henrique Rattner found that Jewish university students 

in Sgo Paulo belonged to families with an average of 2.7 children, but 

that their parents' families had averaged 5 children per family. The 

Brazilian Jewish birth rate is declining during a period when the coun- 

try as a whole is experiencing accelerating population growth. 

Working with the Mexican national census of 1950, Tovye Meisel 

found that the Jewish community experienced a birth rate of 23 per 

1,000, contrasted with 46 per 1,000 among the population at large. 

Again, though the figures are higher, the Jewish birth rate shows up as 

one-half the prevailing rate. 

Low fertility rates characterize all Jewish populations of the dias- 

pora except those in Asia and North Africa. Worldwide, the birth rate, 

and consequently the rate of natural increase, is lower among Jews 

than among the general populations of their respective countries. Ac- 

cordingly, and considering that the Jewries of all the Latin American 

republics proceeded from the same immigrant streams, it is reasonable 

to infer similar low rates for Jewish populations in those parts of Latin 

America for which there are no data. The inference is backed up by 

scattered available data on Jewish age structure in Brazil, Chile, and 

several small Central American communities. 

This phenomenon reflects modernized attitudes toward the family, 

the status of women, and child-rearing practices. In modern times, 

Jews preceded the populations among whom they lived "firstly, in re- 

ducing mortality, and subsequently in lowering fertility."" 

Evidently, emigration does not change the patterns of Jewish fertili- 

ty. The United States trial census of 1957 showed that, for Jewish 

women still of childbearing age, fertility was 20 percent below that of 

the rest of the urban population, zj percent below that of the entire 

white population, and almost 30 percent below that of the total Unit- 

ed States population. Evidence from community surveys taken since 

that date indicates that the birth rate continues to fall. Jews imported 

low birth rates into their present countries of residence, and the Latin 

American experience has not converted them to high levels of fertility. 

Death rate. A complete record of deaths among Ashkenazic Jews of 

Buenos Aires exists for the years 1953-63. It shows continuous in-


crease, being 40 percent greater at the end of that period than at the be- 

ginning. In 1963, there were three and a half times more burials than 

marriages within the Ashkenazic community of Buenos Aires. This 

partially reflects increasing resort to marriage by civil contract. Never- 

theless, a decline in the number of persons who identify as Jewish is 

undeniable. 

The major cause of the rising death rate is the aging of the popula- 

tion. In 1963, the single year for which records are available for all 

Jews in Buenos Aires, 2,43 8 Jewish deaths were recorded. Subtracting 

3 5 stillbirths, Schmelz and Della Pergola compute a rate of 10 deaths 

per 1,000 Jews of Greater Buenos Aires. The death rate for the general 

population of the city that year was lower, standing at 8 per 1,000. 

The composition of the two mortality rates was different. Infant 

mortality (death in the first year of life) was 9.3 per 1,000 among Jews, 

compared with 40 per 1,000 among the general population of Greater 

Buenos Aires in I 9 61 and 5 7 per I ,000 among the general population 

of Argentina in 1967." The Jewish death rate continues low until age 

sixty, when mortality starts running higher than among the general 

population. Compounding the trend, the death rate among Jews was 

rising at a time when the Argentine death rate was declining. 

By the 1960's, the Jewish mortality rate surpassed that of the gener- 

al population, due to aging. It also surpassed the Jewish birth rate. 

There is now a negative balance of deaths over births within the Jewish 

community, with an estimated I 5 deaths to I I births per 1,000 popu- 

lation per year. 

The mortality rate among Siio Paulo Jews is 1.6 percent per year; the 

rate among the Brazilian population as a whole is I. I percent per year. 

The national figure includes a high rate of infant mortality. In fact, the 

hazards of infancy in Brazil are so great that expectation of life at birth 

was calculated at forty-three years in 1950.'~ The rate of infant mortal- 

ity among Brazilian Jews is almost nil, and the majority of deaths oc- 

cur after age sixty. 

Meisel found the Mexican Jewish mortality rate to be 9 per 1,000 as 

compared to I 5 .S per 1,000 among the general population. Both 

groups were growing in I 9 50; Jews at the rate of I .4 percent per year, 

the majority population at 2.9 percent per year." Over the next fifteen 

years, Mexican mortality dropped sharply as measures of public hy- 

giene took hold. Mortality dropped by a third while the birth rate de-


creased only slightly, resulting in one of the highest rates of natural in- 

crease in the world. Among infants, the most vulnerable sector of the 

population, mortality continued high, with 61 infant deaths per 1,000 

live births. However, there was no infant death among the approxi- 

mately 20,000 Ashkenazim of Mexico City during several years of the 

1960's. 

Infant mortality is at a very high level throughout Latin America. 

Considering only Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil, the location of a ma- 

jority of Latin American Jews, the rate of infant mortality for the first 

two countries is 60 and 61, respectively. Brazil does not supply data on 

infant mortality to the United Nations; for the state of Guanabara 

alone (site of the former capital city of Rio de Janeiro), the rate of in- 

fant mortality in 1959 was 94.4 per 1,000 live births, and in 1960,700 

per 1,000. In these countries, as we have seen, the rate of infant deaths 

within the Jewish communities tends toward nil. 

Here again, a global demographic pattern is working itself out. In- 

fant mortality among Jews worldwide is extremely low, and it appears 

that Latin American Jews follow the pattern of other Jews, rather than 

the national pattern characteristic of their matrix populations. There 

have been systematic and far-reaching changes in health care univer- 

sally. These are now penetrating Latin America, as the declines in the 

death rate show. The speed of the process differs, but because Jews in 

Latin America are in a more advanced time frame than their matrix 

populations, their infant mortality rate is considerably lower. 

Infant mortality rates are a commonly accepted index of moderni- 

zation. The capacity to save infants from death caused by endemic dis- 

ease is dependent upon relatively low levels of technology and a 

modest expenditure of funds. The inability or disinterest of govern- 

ments in providing elementary hygienic services is a salient character- 

istic of underdeveloped countries. The contrast between the high rates 

of infant mortality throughout Latin America and the low rate within 

the region's Jewish communities throws into relief the modernized 

character of Jewish life as contrasted with the traditional pattern of 

human wastage that continues to prevail in Latin American society at 

large. 

Longevity. The anticipated life-span of Jews and non-Jews in the 

city of Buenos Aires is almost the same, being 68.9 and 73.9 for Jewish 

males and females respectively, and 67.9 and 74.2 for non-Jewish

A Demographic Profile 241 

males and females. Uruguay and Venezuela fall into the same longlived 

category as Argentina. Outside the modernized sectors of the 

continent, life expectancy drops sharply for the majority populations 

but remains high for Jews. For example, in 1968, 40 percent of Sio 

Paulo Jews were over age forty, 14 percent over age sixty. In the same 

year, only 25 percent of the general population of Sio Paulo were past 

forty, and just 6 percent were past sixty." Jews achieved their pattern 

of longevity independent of their immediate environment. Among the 

general population of the city, those over forty gained 5.5 percentage 

points between 19 50 and 1968, reflecting improved health conditions; 

but the Jewish age distribution showed no material change over 

this eighteen-year period. 

Within the Guatemalan community in 1965, some 130 individuals, 

or 10 percent of the Jewish population, were aged sixty and over. 

Comparable data do not exist for the Guatemalan population as a 

whole; but expectation of life at birth for the Guatemalan population 

was 49.5 in 1950, and had not changed significantly in 1973. It is thus 

most unlikely that 10 percent of Guatemaltecos live to age sixty-five.16 

Since many of the health practices that eliminate infant mortality also 

work to prolong the life-span, it is not arbitrary to conclude that life 

expectancy among Jews in areas for which no data exist approximates 

the modernized model of Buenos Aires more closely than it does the 

traditional rate still prevalent in most of Latin America. 

Low fertility, low infant mortality, and extended life expectancy 

among the Jewish populations contrast with high fertility, high infant 

mortality, and low life expectancy among the non-Jewish populations 

(with the exception of Argentina). The result is a higher median age for 

Jewish than for non-Jewish populations (see Table 3). 

A longer life-span, in addition to being its own reward, enables individuals 

to develop their skills to the utmost. The blighting of promising 

careers through early death is far less frequent among Jews than in 

the general population. Furthermore, survival into the sixties ensures 

that most parents are able to nurture their children to maturity. The 

phenomenon of parentless children is comparatively rare. 

Family size. Small families are typical of Jewish populations. In 

countries that maintain traditionally high birth and death rates, the 

Jewish family stands out in sharp relief as having passed through a demographic 

transition: there are fewer wasted pregnancies, fewer chil-


dren per family, and more of these children reach maturity. In Latin 

American nations that have passed as an entity through the demo- 

graphic transition from traditional to modern patterns of family life, 

Jewish populations are less clearly differentiated-except in the matter 

of infant mortality. 

The average family size of members of the Asociaci6n Mutual 

Israelita Argentina, the principal Ashkenazic organization of that 

country, diminished from 4.53 to 4.14 between 1920 and 1930. By 

that date, Jewish families were smaller in Argentina than in Central 

Europe. By 1960, Jewish families were smaller than non-Jewish fami- 

lies in Buenos Aires, with an average 2.2 children being born to Jewish 

married women, as compared with 2.7 for non-Jewish women.'' Jew- 

ish households averaged a fraction under four persons each. The 

downward trend shows up clearly in Quilmes (a district of Gran 

Buenos Aires) in a 1963 survey which found an average 3.45 persons 

in Ashkenazic families. 

Sephardic families tend to be somewhat larger (see Table 4). Mod- 

ernization was a distinctively European phenomenon. Jews originat- 

ing in Arabic or Balkan lands did not participate in it as directly as did 

Jews of Central, Western, or even Eastern Europe. There is thus a con- 

sistent difference in family size between Ashkenazic and Sephardic 

families in all communities for which we have data. Greater tradi- 

tionalism in Sephardic life results in higher fertility rates and larger 

families. 

The less-developed countries, as is well known, are presently experi- 

Table 3: Median Age of Population 

Area and Date Jewish General 

- - - - - - - 

Argentina, 1960' 34.7 27.0 

Slo Paulo, 1969~ 33.78 27.2 

Quilmes, 1963' 32.15 26.61 

Guatemala, 1965~ 26-3 5 n.a.' 

a. Schmelz and Della Pergola, Hademografia she1 hayehudim, p. 66. 

b. Rattner, Tradiciio e mundan~a, p. 23. 

c. AMIA, Censo de la Comunidad Judia de Quilmes, p. 19. 

d. Jacob Shatzky, "Guatemala," p. 302. 

e. Not available. But with 46 percent under age IS, the median age could not lie in the 

26-35 group.


encing a population explosion. Forty-three percent of the population 

of Brazil, for example, is below the age of fifteen. The corresponding 

figure for Siio Paulo City is 3 6 percent for the general population; but 

it is just 21.3 percent for the Jewish population.18 Urban families 

whether Jewish or non-Jewish tend to be smaller than rural families. 

But Jewish families are smaller than the Siio Paulo norm, and as a 

practical matter, since almost all Brazilian Jewish families are urban, 

Jewish families in Brazil are distinctly smaller than non-Jewish fami- 

lies. 

There are age-distribution charts for two other communities: that 

of Guatemala and that of Argentina. The Guatemalan Jewish commu- 

nity consisted of 1,030 persons in 1965. In that year, 26 percent of the 

Jewish population was under age fifteen." In the Guatemalan popula- 

tion as a whole, 46 percent of the population was below that age. 

Twenty percent of Argentine Jews are under age fifteen, compared 

with 30 percent among the general population of the country.'" An at- 

tempt to draw a Jewish "age pyramid" results in a boxlike graph, with 

each five-year cohort below age sixty containing an almost equal num- 

ber of persons. Only two categories differ. The group that was aged 

fifty to fifty-four in 1960 contains larger numbers, men predominat- 

ing, and reflects the migratory wave that peaked in the years just pre- 

ceding World War I. The base of the "pyramid" narrows drastically, 

reflecting the declining birth rate and the assimilation of infants into 

Table 4: Family Size in Selected Cities 

Number of Family Members 

City and Date Ashkenazim Sephardim 

Cbrdoba, 1969' 3.82 4-09 

Quilmes, 1 ~ 6 ~ 3.45 4.48 

Tucumin, 1962' 3.3 4.2 

Valparaiso, 1 ~60~ 3.1 4.19 

Mexico City, 1950' 3-3 4.6 

a. Joseph Hodara, "Hayehudim ba-Cordoba," Dispersion and Unity 2 (June 1960): 34-51. 

b. AMIA, Censo de la Comunidad Judia de Quilmes, pp. 34-35. 

c. AMIA, Primer Censo de la Poblaci6n Judt'a de la Provincia de Tucumrin, p. 35. 

d. Benny Bachrach, "Ha-yishuv hayehudi ba-Valparaiso, Chile," Dispersion and Unity 2 Uune 

1960): 40-47. 

e. Meisel, "Yidn in Medsike," p. 406.


the general population via the intermarriage of their parents. 

Part of the gestalt of underdevelopment is a high dependency ratio. 

Families must provide for large numbers of children, many of whom 

do not survive to become themselves contributors to the family wel- 

fare. Jewish families, with their reduced number of children, do not 

suffer this handicap, but neither do they have the population reservoir 

out of which future growth might occur. 

Rate of natural increase. The Siio Paulo Jewish population exhibits 

a rate of natural increase of 0.8 percent annually, based upon birth 

and death rates alone." If one were to take into account emigration 

and outmarriage, for which no statistics exist, it is probable that the 

community would be found actually to be decreasing in numbers. 

Rattner believes that the demographic pattern revealed by his study is 

applicable to the rest of Brazil. Considering the present high rate of 

population growth of the country, Jews-who already comprise fewer 

than I percent of the population -will be even more negligible statisti- 

cally in the future, if present trends continue. 

Other communities likewise report insufficient numbers of births to 

compensate for deaths. Paraguay, for example, declined from 1,500 to 

1,000 Jews in recent years." The Bolivian community is in process of 

decay. In Mexico, where the Jewish community doggedly refuses to 

permit a census, the population estimate of 3 5,000 offered by Comun- 

idades Judias in 1972 could not be sustained by the estimated rate of 

natural increase of 1.5 percent. Even if the Mexican community actu- 

ally numbers 3 5,000 today, as Table I suggests, it still constitutes a less 

significant proportion of the Mexican population than it did a genera- 

tion ago, considering the rapid growth in the general population. 

Migration. The Jewish communities of Latin America have not 

added to their numbers through immigration since the dispersal of 

Hungarian and Egyptian refugees in 1957. It is estimated that no more 

than 350 Jews were admitted to Argentina in any one year between 

1953 and 1960. Since that time, probably more Jews have left than en- 

tered the country. The brutal civil war of the seventies resulted in the 

death or disappearance of an unknown number of Jews, followed by 

the departure from the country of many others in search of physical se- 

curity. 

In times of political and economic stress; Jews like other nationals 

tend to leave their homelands. Chile is believed to have lost 6,000 Jews


during the Allende years; the entire Jewish community of Nicaragua 

abandoned the country on the fall of the dictator Somoza, and most 

Jews have now left El Salvador as well. Uruguay, which reported 

55,000 Jews in 1970, claimed only 48,000 two years later, and Sch- 

melz and Della Pergola conjecture that there may now be only 40,000. 

Even in quieter times, Jewish youth tend to abandon the smaller 

communities in quest of an education-if not in the capital city of their 

own country, then in the universities of the United States, France, and 

Israel. With a numerically small community to start with, departure of 

the college-bound reduces the number of potential mates so drastically 

that parents are encouraged to send abroad other children, particular- 

ly girls, whom they would otherwise have kept at home, but whom 

they wish to see marry endogamously. While some of these students 

remain in Latin America, many who are sent to the United States or Is- 

rael apparently depart with their parents' blessing to emigrate perma- 

nently if possible. The result is to impoverish Latin American Jewish 

community life and challenge its ability to survive intellectually. 

Intermarriage. It is not possible to know with precision just how 

many Jews marry non-Jewish mates in a given year; nor could one de- 

duce from such a figure whether or not the individual continued to re- 

gard himself as a Jew, and whether or not his children would be raised 

as Jews. Observation, confirmed by some studies, leads one to believe 

that substantial numbers of Jews do intermarry, that more men than 

women marry out of the Jewish faith, and that most children of mixed 

marriages are not raised as Jews. Several calculations enable us to ad- 

vance beyond such observations in order to estimate the extent of as- 

similation among Argentine Jews. 

First, the Argentine census of 1960 showed that more Jews married 

that year than could be accounted for in the records of the Jewish com- 

munity. Approximately 25 percent of the Jews (male and female) who 

married in 1960 were married in non-Jewish rites (whether the partner 

was Jewish or not). Augmenting the figures by 6 percent for marginal 

Jews and subtracting non-Jewish-rite marriages in which both part- 

ners may in fact have been Jews, we are left with an estimated rate of 

30 percent for outmarriage." 

Second, clues derived from gaps in the statistics confirm the obser- 

vation that more men than women drop their affiliation with the Jew- 

ish community. For example, in the age group fifteen to forty-four,


there were 930 men for every 1,000 women, according to the 1960 

census. The inference is that more young and middle-aged males than 

females declined to identify themselves as Jews. 

Third, a distinction must be made between the completed fertility 

rate of Jewish women (i.e., including all their children) and the rate of 

Jewish births (i.e., including only births of infants who are considered 

Jewish and thus increase the Jewish population). Using the first calcu- 

lation, based on the number of live births reported by Jewish mothers, 

the current generation of Jewish women is not replacing itself. Sch- 

melz and Della Pergola projected the 1960 birth rate onto the known 

number of Jewish women aged fifteen to forty-nine in 1960, and 

found a shortfall not of the anticipated 5 percent, but of 29 percent: 

16,300 infants aged four or less in place of the expected 21,700. The 

difference represents infants born to Jewish mothers who had inter- 

married.24 

The high and rising rate of intermarriage among Argentine Jews has 

been noted ever since Jews first settled in that country. Its extent has 

never before been charted. Its ultimate impact, unless the trend is re- 

versed, will be the assimilation of Argentine Jews into the general pop- 

ulation. Consistent with their hopes for Jewish survival, the tendency 

of Jewish organizations has been to deplore the trend to assimilation 

while continuing to count the offspring of mixed marriages as Jews. 

Recent research, however, forces the observer to face facts squarely. 

The Argentine Jewish community is steadily dwindling in size and 

faces a real question of viability, not because of government repres- 

sion, but because of popular acceptance of intermarriages in which 

one partner is a Jew. 

Summing Up 

Jewish demography is of an entirely different nature than the demog- 

raphy of the matrix populations among whom Jews live. The matrix 

peoples have high rates of natural increase (Argentina the exception), 

preponderantly young populations, and a high growth potential capa- 

ble of being unleashed by minimal expenditures on public hygiene. But 

Jews passed through the period of population expansion owing to 

health care during the nineteenth century. They have already re- 

sponded to the enhanced life chances of infants by limiting the number

A Demographic Profile 247 

born. Thus, there is no scope for a Jewish "population explosion" 

based on better health care. The only source of population growth 

among Jews would be an increase in the birth rate; and such a trend 

was not observed in any country studied. To the contrary, Jewish pop- 

ulations are aging, and their mortality at present tends to run higher 

than their birth rate. Intermarriage, while it contributes to the genetic 

pool of the general population, subtracts from the specifically Jewish 

component of that population. Emigration is also taking its toll. In 

light of these facts, the probable fate of Latin American Jewry, already 

an insignificant numerical minority, is to become still less significant 

numerically in the future. 

This phenomenon was hidden from view for many years by a welter 

of assumptions, all of which proved to be wrong: that Jews were re- 

producing at the same rate as non-Jewish latinos, that Jews who left 

the fold would return, that the children of mixed marriages would be 

raised as Jews. As a result, Jewish communal leaders continued to 

count as Jews thousands of individuals who had ceased to consider 

themselves as such and who were not raising their children to be Jews. 

The reason why this was done is unclear; perhaps wishful thinking 

played a part. The result was to obscure the dimensions of the com- 

munities, a situation that is just beginning to right itself as more and 

more scholars enter the field of Latin American Jewish studies. 

Judith Laikin Elkin is the author of Jews of the Latin American Republics 

(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980) and 

Latin American Jewish Studies (Cincinnati: American Jewish Archives, 

1980)~ and convenor of the Latin American Jewish Studies Association. 

Notes 

I. The United States Current Population Survey of 1957 posed a religious question in a trial 

run for the 1960 census. The results were suppressed at the instance of Jewish organizations that 

regarded the collection of separate official statistics on religion as a breach of the First Amend- 

ment. The figures were released ten years later as a result of passage of the Freedom of Informa- 

tion Act and have been a fertile source of information. 

2. U. 0. Schmelz, Jewish Population Studies, 1961-68 (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, Insti- 

tute of Contemporary Jewry, and London: Institute of Jewish Affairs, 1970), p. 104. 

3. U. 0. Schmelz and Sergio Della Pergola, Hademografia shel hayehudim be-Argentina ube- 

artzot aherot shel America halatinit (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1974).


4. Henrique Rattner, Tradiqao e mudanqa: A comunidade judaica em Sdo Paulo (SHo Paulo: 

Atica, 1970). 

5. Tovye Meisel, "Yidn in Meksike," Algemeine Entsiclopedia 5 (New York: Dubnow Fund, 

1957b 

6. Ira Rosenswaike, "The Jewish Population of Argentina," Jewish Social Studies 22 (October 

1960): 195-214. 

7. Ibid., p. 201. 

8. Ibid., p. tot. At that date, the League of Nations Statistical Yearbook gave the Argentine 

birth rate as 29.7, the death rate as I 2.8, and the rate of natural increase as 16.9 forthe country as 

a whole. 

9. Schmelz, Jewish Population Studies, p. 38. 

10. Throughout the remainder of this article, national demographic data are drawn from 

Charles L. Taylor and Michael C. Hudson, World Handbook of Political and Social indicators 

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972). 

11. Schmelz, Jewish Population Studies, p. 14. 

12. Schmelz and Della Pergola, Hademografia shel hayehudim, p. 54. 

13. Eduard E. Arriaga, New Life Tables for Latin American Populations in the Nineteenth 

and Twentieth Centuries (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1968) pp. 1-4. 

14. Meisel, "Yidn in Meksike," p. 407. 

IS. Rattner, Tradiqao e mundan~a, pp. 23-24. 

16. Jacob Shatzky, "Guatemala," Jewish Journal ofSociology 7 (December 1965): 302-303. 


18. Rattner, Tradi~ao e mundanqa, pp. 24 and 178. 

19. Shatzky, "Guatemala," p. 302. 

to. Schmelz and Della Pergola, Hademografia shel hayehudim, p. 65. 

21. Rattner, Tradiciio e mudanqa, p. 33. 

22. Comiti Judio Americano, Comunidades judt'as de Latinoamkrica (Buenos Aires: Editorial 

Candelabra, 1971-72), p. 193. 


24. Ibid., pp. 46-47.

Book Reviews 

Murphy, Bruce Allen. The BrandeislFrankfurter Connection: The 

Secret Political Activities of Two Supreme Court Justices. New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1982. X, 473 pp. $18.95 

Bruce A. Murphy, a political scientist concerned primarily with the 

ethics of judicial behavior, has combined two tasks in The Brandeisl 

Frankfurter Connection. First, he has presented an exhaustive story of 

a political relationship shaped by the personalities of two dynamic, 

brilliant men. Second, he has tried to define a code of judicial ethics 

against which to measure such relationships. Utilizing over sixty letter 

collections, dozens of interviews and oral histories, Murphy explains 

how Louis D. Brandeis as associate justice of the Supreme Court established 

a network of people in and out of government, with Felix 

Frankfurter, law professor at Harvard, at its apex, to influence public 

policy. Frankfurter, a generation younger than his juridical mentor, 

followed him on the court, and was able to continue many of the practices 

through World War 11. Though hardly illegal, the nonjudicial 

practices of the two men, according to Murphy, compromised the 

standards of impartiality that one should expect from a justice. Had 

their behavior become known, he continues, it might well have led the 

public to lose faith in the court's nonpartisan aura upon which respect 

for its decisions allegedly rests. Murphy's descriptive task has been 

achieved far more satisfactorily than his normative one. Both could 

have been improved by more careful attention to the major reason that 

a book about judicial politics should be reviewed in this journal, the 

fact that both men were secular Jews whose social loyalties often affected 

their professional behavior. 

Many of Murphy's "revelations" about a fund established by Brandeis 

in 19 16 to supplement Frankfurter's lobbying and research by his 

students at the Harvard Law School, and the role of both men while on 

the court in influencing the executive branch, have been documented 

or suspected by other scholars. Brandeis quietly subsidized Zianist efforts 

and other "political" activities, and H. N. Hirsch, The Enigma of 

Felix Frankfurter (1981)~ pp. 44, 85, mentioned the fund for Frank-


furter but drew no ethical conclusions. Indeed, Murphy's redundant 

references to "previously unpublished lettersv-the material with 

which historians deal routinely-verges on the comic. Nevertheless, he 

describes meticulously the emergence of a crucial phenomenon in 

twentieth-century American politics, the relationship between agents 

of government, university expertise, and organs of public opinion. 

Brandeis often suggested research projects to Frankfurter, whose stu- 

dents-with Brandeis7s financial aid-completed the work. Frankfurter 

then publicized the findings in unsigned editorials in the New Repub- 

lic, of which he was a trustee. Just as the Department of Agriculture 

subsidized experiments through the extension service, Brandeis pri- 

vately subsidized research into social needs at a time when the Repub- 

lican administration and private foundations ignored problems like 

unemployment and securities regulation. Frankfurter's even more ex- 

tensive work on these topics during the New Deal, again with Bran- 

deis's financial support, reflected the expectation that after decades of 

frustration, public support for social reform would succeed because of 

expert legal draftsmanship. Murphy clearly explains how the "infras- 

tructure" between government, university, and public opinion grew 

even before Frankfurter's "Happy Hot Dogs" populated New Deal 

agencies. 

Murphy, however, emphasizes how such material illustrates a num- 

ber of ethical questions about judicial behavior. He notes that sophis- 

ticated electronic technology would make the concealment of 

relations such as those between Brandeis and Frankfurter almost im- 

possible today, and he expresses the public distrust of government be- 

cause of Watergate. Respect for government can be recreated, at least 

in part, he feels, by holding justices to a narrow ethical code. He ar- 

gues rather conventionally that because members of the federal judici- 

ary hold appointment for life, they must eschew dalliance with the 

legislative and executive branches. He defends this view with three re- 

lated arguments. First, because the powers of government are consti- 

tutionally distinct, justices cannot impartially determine the 

constitutionality of legislation which they have helped, even indirect- 

ly, to draft. Second, to defend the integrity of the judicial review proc- 

ess, the court as a collectivity must be seen as distinct from any 

particular administration. Third, the individual justices must retain 

the image of independence to sustain public acceptance of the impar- 

tiality of specific decisions.

Book Reviews 251 

But how can Murphy define appropriate political behavior for the 

nine persons in America who do not merely decide cases, but who en- 

gage in the highly partisan act of determining the meaning of law? Per- 

sons are appointed to the court not because they are in some abstract 

sense "the best," but because a president has decided that an individu- 

al, often not even a judge, best represents what the country-or his con- 

stituency-needs at a particular moment. And persons of the eminence 

and self-confidence customarily exhibited by justices will hardly 

transform their personalities and loyalties in middle age. Precisely the 

brilliant jurists like Hugo Black, William 0. Douglas, Brandeis, and 

Frankfurter have generated respect for the court-whatever their polit- 

ical visibility-because of their philosophically consistent and forth- 

right interpretation of law. Indeed, public respect for the court, 

assuming the personal honesty of the justices, depends most on the 

consistency, clarity, and perhaps the unanimity of the decisions. The 

activities of individual justices in promoting or influencing legislation 

or foreign policy do less harm to the integrity of a decision than the im- 

age of a court persistently wracked by 5 to 4 decisions. As Bob 

Woodward and Scott Armstrong illustrated in The Brethren: Inside 

the Supreme Court (1979), justices lobby one another intensively and 

change their minds on the meaning of a law throughout the process of 

preparing decisions. The indirect influence even by a Brandeis on the 

drafting of legislation cannot in the end determine how a court will de- 

cide. And justices who feel too personally involved, as Brandeis occa- 

sionally did, can remove themselves from deliberation. 

There appear to be two exceptions to Murphy's insistence that jus- 

tices insulate themselves from the legislative process: (I) during wars, 

when the nation needs the best expertise it can muster, and (2) where 

ethnic ties demand nonpartisan participation in voluntary associa- 

tions. Here again, though, contradictions appear. While critical of 

Brandeis and Frankfurter for aiding Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt 

respectively to edge the country toward belligerency (presumably a 

partisan act), he faults neither for providing advice to the government 

during the world wars. This isolationist moralism suggests that the na- 

tion must forgo some expertise until it faces catastrophe, certainly a 

dubious proposition. An ethics more attuned to the development of 

complex personalities serving in fundamentally political positions 

would serve the court and the public more effectively than what 

Murphy has offered.


Finally, while reiterating the Zionist activities of Brandeis and 

Frankfurter, and criticizing their influence on foreign policy, Murphy 

makes little of their conception of ethnic identification and its bearing 

on their patterns of social affiliation and judicial philosophy. Yet these 

were the two most conspicuous Jewish public figures in American history. 

Allon Gal, Brandeis of Boston (1980), and Hirsch, Enigma of 

Frankfurter, have both penetrated the characters of their subjects by 

noting how anti-Semitism and social ostracism led each to Zionism 

and a sense of where social cohesiveness lay in culturally plural America. 

The Brandeis-Frankfurter mentor-apprentice relationship grew 

from professional interests, but was cemented by ethnic ties and sustained 

by a circle of intellectually and politically prominent Jews. Such 

intense loyalties were then refracted through the judicial branch as 

part of America's pluralistic politics. Indeed, Frankfurter and probably 

Brandeis believed that individual liberties were less important than 

judicial support for a democratic legislative process which alone could 

guarantee the protection of minorities. It was a social perception of 

legislation which most minorities have come to understand. 

-William Toll 

William Toll is the author of The Resurgence of Race and The Making 

of an Ethnic Middle Class: Portland Jewry over Four Generations.

Book Reviews 25 3 

Kalechofsky, Robert, and Kalechofsky, Roberta, Edited by. South 

African Jewish Voices. Marblehead, Mass.: Micah Publications, 

1982. iv, 269 pp. $8.50 

In discussing South Africa one should note that phrases such as "the 

inalienable rights of citizens," "social justice for all," and "human 

equality" are experienced as foreign, about as alien there as frogs' legs 

and squid. In large measure this is because, perhaps more than any 

other "Western" country, South Africa is built upon the old imperial 

principle of "divide and rule." 

Every society has its own peculiar array of horrors which it seeks to 

hide from public consciousness. However, the abhorrent aspects of 

daily nondramatic life in the land of apartheid are worthy of special at- 

tention. 

Growing up in and emigrating from South Africa and settling in the 

United States, I have found few written sources which capture its 

unique reality. Writers tend either to avoid dealing with unpleasant as- 

pects of life in that beautiful land or else to use the tired images of po- 

litical rhetoric to rehash several by now well-publicized South African 

realities: banning and house-arrest, pass-books and legalized racial 

discrimination. 

South African Jewish Voices, an anthology of writings by Jews from 

or living in South Africa, edited by Robert and Roberta Kalechofsky, 

is a notable exception, for in it are pages that vividly bring home not 

only the loveliness of the country, but also the often frightening in- 

comprehensibility and grotesqueness in the lives of its people. 

As in any anthology the level of contributions varies. The poetry is 

little more than second-rate Rod McKuen embroidered with fairly 

standard Jewish or sometimes African themes. Similarly, also, much 

of the narrowly "Jewish" fiction or prose is eminently forgettable. 

However, there are selections whose images and phrases make aspects 

of South African life as clear as a nightmare. 

For instance, in "Light Dark," Rose Moss begins by describing the 

duck that a family once had for Sunday dinner, when the narrator was 

a child. She tells how she saw the raw duck lying in its white enamel


dish-"Ants were coming out of the hole where the neck had been 

chopped off. The whole cavity was creepy with them coming in and 

out in a ribbon like a spill of black, glittering blood.. . [pouring] down 

into the basin like a pool" (pp. 107-108). 

Later that day this duck was served to family and guests as the main 

course of an elegant dinner. The little girl was not allowed to speak of 

what she had seen; no one wanted to make a fuss: "So it became hidden, 

in the place we hide things we were taught as children not to talk 

about" (p. 108). 

In a few short paragraphs Moss then dusts off and exhibits a few 

characteristically South African horror scenes: "respect for authority, 

school spirit, neatness and ladylike manners" (p. IO~), domestic servants 

without legal rights, undernourished black children begging for 

pennies, white ladies who raise prize flowers and worry about the 

cracks in their swimming pools while deliberately ignoring children 

who die or go blind, deaf, or mad. 

In another story, "Invisible Worm," Lionel Abrahams writes how 

his hero reacted to unpleasant facts: "He contained the shock. But as 

one contains an internal haemorrhage" (p. 247). The title of this story 

is taken from William Blake's "The Sick Rose," a poem that speaks 

about the invisible worm whose "dark, secret love / Does thy life destroy." 

This is a recurrent theme of this anthology: It is the dark, hidden 

facts that destroy. Dan Jacobson, in "Beggar My Neighbour," writes 

of a white boy who learns of his love for two black children, whom he 

has mistreated, only after he becomes ill, after any possibility of relationship 

with them is over. 

In her story "The Stench," Jillian Becker writes about blacks who in 

order to protect one another keep a secret from white officialdom by 

deliberately boiling a horse, thus forcing the whites, "the enemy," to 

flee the "spreading, rising, inescapable stench" (p. 46). 

It is in selections such as those here referred to that South African 

Jewish Voices is the most powerful. These are, of course, general statements 

and images, Jewish perhaps only in their indignation, or in their 

ability to see what relative outsiders cannot but see, while those of the 

establishment remain content. 

In a country where divisions are emphasized and prized, the Jew's 

sense of a separate identity receives a measure of societal support. But

Book Reviews 25 5 

as official separation of groupings militates against the quality of indi- 

vidual Jews, though white and visibly affluent, they can never be fully 

part of the South African establishment. They have remained and are 

likely to remain relative outsiders. 

The theme of catastrophe that may change the situation for Jews 

and South Africans is explored in selections such as Barney Simon's 

"Our War," but no one even hints that short of the catastrophic, not 

much is likely to change for blacks, whites and, among the latter, Jews. 

For the foreseeable future there is likely to be a visible Jewish commu- 

nity in South Africa, most of whom will be simply a separately identifi- 

able part of the society; some of whom will be critical of the world they 

can never fully join; others will leave, settling in liberal, English- 

speaking democracies such as the United States and Britain, or in Isra- 

el. 

Irrespective of legislative changes, economic development, or con- 

ceptual reevaluation of the relative status of the different groupings, 

the stressing of divisions remains as a constant of the society and in the 

psyche of its inhabitants. It is this fundamental commitment of the so- 

ciety to separations that lends a static quality to the whole society, as 

Shirley Eskapa writes and repeats in ''mite and Injured": "In ten 

years nothing had changed" (p. 7, I I). A person committed to social 

justice is no more than a "pathetic little liberal. All emotion" (p. IS). 

Eskapa writes about the world of London and the United States, 

"that other world where no one could penetrate my moral claim on 

me, and where, because I had the inalienable right to be foreign, 1 be- 

longed" (p. 18). 

From the perspective of one who left South Africa, I would add that 

for those who accept the inalienable rights of individuals and the pri- 

mary moral claim that one has over oneself, South Africa, the lovely 

and once beloved country of my childhood, appears fundamentally 

and unalterably foreign. 

-Anthony D. Holz 

Anthony D. Holz is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Colum- 

bus, Ohio. A native of South Africa, he served as rabbi of a congrega- 

tion in Pretoria, that nation's capital, from 1972 to 1977.


Plesur, Milton. Jewish Life in Twentieth Century America: Chal- 

lenge and Accommodation, Chicago Ill.: Nelson-Hall, Inc., 1982. 

23 5 pages, $19.95 cloth, $9.95 paperback. 

As the twentieth century rapidly reaches its end, scholars are begin- 

ning to take a long hard look at the experience of Jews in America dur- 

ing the past century. The study of this period will most certainly 

include an analysis of the "facts" of American Jewish history and the 

reciprocal influence of Jews on the development of American life and 

the effect of this country's majority culture on its Jewish population. 

Milton Plesur, author of a new volume entitled Jewish Life in Twenti- 

eth Century America, has recognized the need for the latter. He writes 

that "challenge and accommodation are the twin themes of Jewish life 

in this country: the challenge of protecting traditional values while ac- 

commodating the exigencies of life in the new world.'' Dr. Plesur's 

book is one of the first attempts to explain this phenomenon of twenti- 

eth-century American Jewish life to the high school or beginning col- 

lege student. From a conceptual standpoint, Plesur's text is a 

pioneering effort, yet from an educational viewpoint, the book falls 

short. 

When a secondary school teacher/college professor makes a deci- 

sion to adopt a textbook for a course, the book must be carefully ana- 

lyzed, accurately and in detail. The resulting analysis provides the 

basis for making sound judgments about the text's quality and appro- 

priateness for a particular instructional situation. With a book such as 

Jewish Life in Twentieth Century America, one needs to be aware of 

three general educational areas: the physical properties of the book, 

the content area of the book, and the instructional properties of the 

book. 

Knowledge about the physical properties of a textbook is obviously 

an important factor in its curriculum adoption. No one would wish to 

purchase a text where quality was in doubt. From the aspect of aes- 

thetic appeal, Jewish Life in Twentieth Century America is unusually 

plain. The typeface is uninteresting and on the large side, which sug- 

gests an appeal to a more immature reader. The pages are filled with

Book Reviews 257 

long, unbroken paragraphs of the facts-and-figures variety. Particu- 

larly disappointing is the section of photographs. Few in number, the 

photographs are mostly of individuals, and the majority of these are 

from the entertainment industry. This kind of textbook should be en- 

hanced with more visuals of Jewish life in America from the teeming 

Lower East Side to youngsters celebrating the Shabbat at a present- 

day Jewish summer camp. 

A key dimension of a textbook as part of a curriculum is the con- 

tent: the facts, concepts, generalizations, skills, and attitudes to be 

conveyed. The introduction to lewish Life in Twentieth Century 

America is quite helpful, as it includes a brief but adequate overview of 

the sequence and scope of the text. Dr. Plesur also explicitly states the 

theme of the book, which is "how the American-Jewish profile 

emerged." Yet one would hope that a book for high school or early 

college years would treat the readerllearner with more intellectual re- 

spect. This text is strictly a "knowing and recalling" book. Plesur 

could have given us an upper-level book which used, for example, the 

inquiry approach-where students are encouraged to use the content 

as a springboard for making their own discoveries about twentieth- 

century Jewish life in America. 

Finally, one must analyze the instructional properties of the book. 

This is a difficult task, for it requires a judgment about comprehensi- 

bility, motivational techniques, and other aspects of instructional 

properties that affect learning. It is in this overall area that Dr. Plesur's 

volume is most deficient as a textbook. 

Assessment devices, measures of student learning outcomes, are 

quite important in a curriculum. To measure a student's progress 

while the student is learning the curriculum content or when the stu- 

dent has reached the final level of learning is imperative to an instruc- 

tional design. If Dr. Plesur had included such a device, the 

administrator, teacher, and student would have a clear idea of what 

the author hoped would be the learning outcome for the individual 

utilizing this textbook. 

The motivational properties of Jewish Life in Twentieth Century 

America, those elements particularly designed to attract and maintain 

the learner's attention, are weak. The book contains few surprises, 

questions, or techniques that would excite and arouse the student's in- 

terest. It would have been useful if this text were an aid for guiding stu-


dents through situations encountered in the "real" world. Instead, the 

student is presented with a myriad of facts about Jewish life in this cen- 

tury in encyclopedic or reference-book fashion. 

Jewish Life in Twentieth Century America does include two very 

strong sections. There is no doubt that the annotated bibliography will 

be invaluable to the teacher or student. This section is overflowing 

with hints and clues to further a more in-depth study covering a tre- 

mendous number of areas related to modern Jewish life in America. 

The usefulness of a name index and subject index is also notewor- 

thy. This is especially so, given the general reference nature of this 

book. 

Milton Plesur has done a great service to the field of Judaic studies 

by writing one of the first high school or college textbooks on an as- 

pect of the American Jewish experience. Yet the book cries out for ac- 

companying materials, the most important of which would be a 

teacher's guide containing such necessary sections as suggested ques- 

tions, activities for the class or individual student, and even appropri- 

ate films, tapes, and records that would enliven and expand the scope 

of this textbook. Without these, the student who reads this text will 

have many facts at his disposal but little idea of their contemporary 

relevance or their historical meaning. 

-Samuel K. Joseph 

Samuel K. Joseph is Assistant Professor of Religious Education at the 

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, 

Ohio. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles on Jewish edu- 

cation.

Brief Notices 

Best, Gary Dean. To Free a People: AmericanJewish Leaders and the Jewish Problem in Eastern 

Europe, 1890-1914. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 198 2. xi, 240 pp. $27.50 

Ever since Senator J. William Fulbright "exposed" the American Jewish lobby as "the most 

powerful and efficient foreign policy lobby in American politics," it has been the source of 

concern and controversy for a good part of non-Jewish America. The media have hyperbo- 

lized its importance and influence, at the same time conveniently forgetting to point out that 

America is a nation of political lobbies and lobbyists. 

While many American Jews first knew of the existence of such a group of Jewish interests 

only during the recent AWACS discussions, Jewish lobbying efforts to influence American 

foreign policy were in no sense a sudden creation of the Arkansas senator. 

Indeed, the very existence of a Jewish lobby can be traced back to 1840, when the tiny 

American Jewish community of the time, in its first-ever act as a self-conscious ethnic entity, 

asked of the American government that it intercede on behalf of Syrian Jews caught up in the 

midst of a blood-libel accusation. A number of other individual causes cklkbres during the 

years following the "Damascus Affair" brought out the American Jewish community in pro- 

test. 

But it was not until the beginning of a sustained and vicious series of oppressive acts against 

Jews by the governments of Russia and Rumania in the 1880's that Jewish leaders in America 

pushed the State Department to respond to their persecutions. Led by such distinguished 

American Jews as Jacob Schiff, Simon Wolf, and Oscar S. Straus, together with other impor- 

tant members of the Jewish community, American Jewry sought to induce the government to 

protest to the East European authorities. Gary Best's volume on the early history of the Amer- 

ican Jewish lobby is also the story of the changes affecting United States foreign policy at a 

time when international human rights became an important concern of the American nation- 

al interest. 

Dinnerstein, Leonard. America and the Survivors of the Holocaust. New York: Columbia Uni- 

versity Press, 1982. xiv, 409 pp. $19.95 

Leonard Dinnerstein's fine book is a shocking account of a veritable Dark Age in the histo- 

ry of America's humanitarian efforts on behalf of the displaced and stateless of our world. 

The author paints a vivid portrait of a callous American military forcing Jewish concentra- 

tion-camp survivors to live and eat with their former captors, DPs from the Baltic nations 

who volunteered their services to the Nazi regime. Dinnerstein also describes the personal at- 

titudes of certain American military officers towards Jewish displaced persons, attitudes 

which ranged from contempt to hatred, to the feelings expressed by General George Patton, 

who viewed the unfortunate victims of Hitler's "final solution" as less than human, as "ani- 

mals." 

But Dinnerstein is not finished. He then chronicles the history of efforts by American or- 

ganizations, Jewish and non-Jewish, to allow the thousands of Jewish refugees stranded in 

Germany, the nation that set out to destroy them, to find a new beginning in the United States 

of America. Again, one is shocked by the anti-Jewish atmosphere of the period, by the deter- 

mined efforts of certain groups in America to keep out the Jewish DPs. One is also shocked by 

the role of certain national political leaders in supporting the aims of these groups by setting 

out to pass what were in effect anti-Jewish immigration laws.


One is indeed disturbed by all of this but not surprised. For the years between 1919 and the 

early 1950's stand out as perhaps the most vicious period in the still unwritten history of 

American anti-Semitism. And so to the names of such well-known Jew-haters as Henry Ford, 

Father Coughlin, and Breckinridge Long, we are now able to add those of Senators Pat Mc- 

Carran and William Chapman Revercomb and that of Richard Arens. 

Finally, one can assume that Dinnerstein's rather limited view of official American military 

and political anti-Semitism reveals only the tip of a very large and very ugly iceberg. 

Eisenberg, Azriel, Edited by. Eyewitnesses to AmericanJewish History, Part Four: The American 

Jew 1915-1969. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1982. xiv, 206 pp. 

This is the fourth volume of one of the outstanding documentary series on American Jewish 

history available to younger religious and secondary school students. In this particular vol- 

ume, Dr. Eisenberg presents the actual writings of those American Jews active in helping to 

form a united community no longer divided between East European and German identities. 

Karp, Abraham J. To Give Life: The UJA in the Shaping ofthe American Jewish Community. 

New York: Schocken Books, 1981. xii, 205 pp. $12.95. 

The United Jewish Appeal was formed in 1939 through the mutual efforts of the Joint Dis- 

tribution Committee and the United Palestine Appeal. Since that time it has raised billions for 

philanthropic purposes, with much of its funding directed to Israel. Professor Karp's admira- 

ble, if somewhat brief, account of the internal history of the shaping of the UJA's philosophy 

and organizational structure as well as the conflicts which are a part of any successful venture 

is highlighted by his contention that the UJA has brought a sense of unity to American Jewish 

philanthropic efforts. 

Moore, Deborah Dash. B'naiB'rith and the Challenge ofEthnic Leadership. Albany, N.Y.: State 

University of New York Press, 1981. x, 288 pp. $18.95 

An organizational history, especially when it has the rather suspicious term "commis- 

sioned" attached to it, is immediately a cause for prejudgmental skepticism on the part of the 

trained historian. Fortunately for B'nai B'rith, the organization which is the subject of De- 

borah Dash Moore's history, the author of this commissioned history is beyond any suspi- 

cion. Moore, the author of an excellent book on second-generation New York Jews, has 

written an organizational history which should serve as a paradigm for future histories of 

American Jewish groups. 

Moore's volume is solid history in the finest sense. Although she has written the story of 

this important American Jewish organization founded in 1843 from the viewpoint of its dis- 

tinguished leadership, Moore has not excluded the rank and file. Indeed, the most controver- 

sial aspect of her book is the use of the phrase "secular synagogue" to demonstrate the earliest 

function of B'nai B'rith as an option to the inchoate and unformed religious community of the 

time. Is B'nai B'rith to be recognized as the forerunner of America's "civil Judaism" and the 

first effective organization to seek a merger of the Jewish and American identities? Moore's 

analysis of B'nai B'rith's recipe for longevity and success-an ability to remain relevant in the 

face of changing community needs-is an accurate and perceptive one. No doubt B'nai B'rith 

has invoked some part of its "recipe for success" in commissioning a first-rate historian to 

write its history. 

Plaut, W. Gunther. Unfinished Business: An Autobiography. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 

Publishers, 1981. x, 374 pp. $19.95

Brief Notices 261 

Rabbi Plaut's autobiography might well be subtitled "From Berlin to Cincinnati to St. Paul 

to Toronto." These cities have been the major stopping points in a rabbinic career that has 

spanned four decades. Plaut was one of the group of Jewish students who were literally res- 

cued from the hands of the Nazis by the well-known efforts of the Hebrew Union College in 

Cincinnati to bring them to America from the Hochschule fuer die Wissenschaft des Juden- 

tums in Berlin. His achievements in Germany, America, and Canada have been enormous: a 

doctorate in law from Berlin University; over a dozen scholarly books on subjects ranging 

from commentaries on the Torah to American Jewish history to the history of Reform Juda- 

ism; the presidency of the Canadian Jewish Congress; and, finally, a role as a major spokes- 

person for American and Candian Jewries. W. Gunther Plaut's autobiography is really the 

history of the Jewish experience in the twentieth century. 

Schultz, Joseph P., Edited by. Mid-America's Promise: A Profile of Kansas City Jewry. Kansas 

City, Mo.: Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City and American Jewish His- 

torical Society, 1982. xvii, 405 pp. $25.00 

The Kansas City Jewish community has counted among its members a number of national- 

ly prominent figures. Names such as Jacob Billikopf, Rabbi Simon Glazer, and President Har- 

ry Truman's business partner and confidant, Eddie Jacobson, are but a few of the 

well-known. This multi-author approach toward writing the history of that community is a 

most promising one. Indeed, it is, on the micro-historical level, exactly the kind of approach 

needed to do justice to the history of the national American Jewish experience. Unfortunate- 

ly, the essays contributed to this volume are of a highly uneven quality, and this detracts 

greatly from an otherwise innovative approach to the writing of community history. 

Singerman, Robert, Compiled by. Anti-Semitic Propaganda: An Annotated Bibliography and 

Research Guide. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1982. xxxvii, 448 pp. $60.00 

Robert Singerman has further solidified his reputation as a major Judaica bibliographer. In 

this important and highly useful annotated bibliography, consisting of nearly 2,000 items on 

modern anti-Semitism, he has provided researchers with the most thorough and comprehen- 

sive reference guide available in the English-speaking world on the development of modern 

anti-Semitism. The volume is enhanced by a most perceptive essay entitled "Index of Hatred 

1871-1981," written by Colin Holmes, a leading authority on the history of British anti- 

Semitism. 

Slavin, Stephen L., and Pradt, Mary A. The Einstein Syndrome: Corporate Anti-Semitism in 

America Today. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1982. 187 pp. $ZO.~Q; 

$9.50 (pb) 

The authors argue that corporate anti-Semitism exists in America today, a thesis that is not 

new. Yet, while the board room is recognized as the last bastion of formal American anti- 

Semitism, most of the national Jewish defense organizations have assured the American Jew- 

ish community that such anti-Jewish discrimination is on the decline. Slavin and Pradt do not 

agree. They find the following chain of events very much in operation today: (I) few major 

corporations recruit at colleges with large Jewish enrollments; (2) most major corporations 

hire relatively few Jews, given the availability of Jewish college graduates; (3) virtually all of 

the Jews hired are placed in "Jewish jobs," especially in jobs where abstract and scientific 

thinking are necessary. This sequence of events represents the "Einstein Syndrome" and the 

shape of American corporate anti-Semitism.


Spanjaard, Barry. Don't Fence Me In! An American Teenager in the Holocaust. Saugus, Calif.: B 

& B Publishing (POB 165, 91350). viii, 206 pp. $9.00 

Barry Spanjaard was two years old when his parents left Manhattan and America, the city 

and country of his birth, to return to their native Holland. The Spanjaard family, as Dutch 

Jews, were caught up in the Nazi efforts to exterminate European Jewry. Barry Spanjaard's 

book recounts his life in Amsterdam under Nazi rule, his family's subsequent removal to the 

Westerbork "transit" camp, and, finally, to the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration 

camp. Despite young Spanjaard's American citizenship, the family endured intense suffering, 

and only in January of 1945 did Barry Spanjaard's citizenship status allow his family to be re- 

leased from Bergen-Belsen. He finally found his way back to America, but not before he had 

lost his father and most of his humanity. 

New Poster 

The American Jewish Archives announces the addition of a new poster 

to its multicolor series on the American Jewish experience. 

The subject of the poster is the tenth anniversary of the ordination 

of women into the American rabbinate, an event which symbolized a 

revolution in American Jewish religious life and a turning point in 

American Reform Judaism. 

The poster is available without charge for display by all organiza- 

tions interested in American Jewish history. Requests from these 

groups must be made on official stationery bearing the organization's 

name and address. Individuals may request the poster at the cost of 

$4.00 each. 

Inquiries concerning the entire poster series should be addressed to 

Ms. Wanda Reis, American Jewish Archives, 3 IOI Clifton Avenue, 

Cincinnati, Ohio 45220.

Abolitionism, 123 

Abrahams, Lionel, 25 5 

Academy of Adult Education (Brooklyn, 

N.Y.), 48 

Addams, Jane, 67 

Addler, Cyrus, 140 

Adler, Elkan Nathan, I 54 

Adler, Felix, 56, 67, 82 

Agadah, 166 

Ager, Milton, 28 

Agricultural colonies, Jewish 

Argentina, 165, 166, 172, 190, 192, tor, 

234 

U.S., 43, 116-118 

Agriculture Dept., U.S., 25 I 

Agudat Israel (Argentina), 199 

Ahavath Chesed (N.Y.C.), 81 

Ahavat Zedek (Buenos Aires), tor 

"Ain't We Got Fun" (Kahn), 12 

Alabama Child Labor Committee, 64 

Alabama Children's Aid Society, 67 

Alabama Conference of Social Work, 53, 68 

Alabama Dept. of Child Welfare, 67 

Alabama Sociological Congress, 53, 67, 68 

Alcoholism, 10 

Aleppine Jews, 193, 194, 198, 199, 202 

Alexander's Ragtime Band (film), 21 

A1 Gala (Buenos Aires), 194 

Aliyah, 174-175, 203 

"Allah's Holiday" (Friml), 14 

"All Alone" (Berlin), 23 

Allen, Fred, 25 

Allenby, Edmund, 194 

Allende, Salvador, 245 

Alsogary, Julio, 178, 181, 187 

Altmann, Alexander, I 3 2 

Alvares, Jean-Baptiste, 93 

"America, 1 Love You" (Leslie & Gottler), 

14 

America and the Survivors of the Holocaust 

(Dinnerstein), reviewed, 260 

American, Sadie, 80 

American Christian Fund for Jewish Relief, 

45 

Index 

American Committee on the Rights of 

Religious Minorities, 41 

American Council for Judaism, I 30 

American Good-Will Union, 45 

American Hebrew, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48 

American Israelite, 77 

Americanization and patriotism, 5, lo, 14, 

32, 43, 75, 103, 104, 123-124. (See 

also Assimilation and Acculturation 

American Jewish Committee, 40 

American Jewish Historical Society, 139, 

I4 3 

American Jewish history, I 19-1 21, IZZ 

communal histories, need for, 262 

curricula lk texts, 256-259, 261 

in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 119 

periodization, 119. See also names of 

periods in Universal Jewish 

Encyclopedia 

American Jewish Yearbook, 231, 235, 236 

American Pro-Falasha Committee, 126 

American Protective Association, 40 

American Red Cross, Birmingham chap., 66 

American Revolution, 99 

American Zion Commonwealth, 128 

Amsterdam, 146, 157, 263 

Anchors Aweigh (Cahn), 31 

Andrews Sisters, 3 I 

Angress, Werner, I 22 

Annie Get Your Gun (Berlin), 24 

Anti-Catholicism, 38, 40, 41, 138, 144, 147 

Anti-Defamation League, 127 

Anti-Semitic Propaganda: An Annotated 

Bibliography and Research Guide 

(Singerman), reviewed, 262 

Anti-Semitism, 5, 6, 18, 46, 59, 61, 83, 

111, 116, 128, 130, 139, 140, 174, 

181, 253, 261, 262 

in Argentina, 164, 167, 169, 172, 176, 

179-180,181,182, 183,184 

Anti-trust laws, U.S., IIO 

Anti-Tuberculosis Society (Birmingham), 65 

"Anything Goes" (Porter), I 8 

Apartheid, 254

264 American Jeu ~ish Archives 

Apollo Theatre (N.Y.C), 31 

Apostasy, 171-172, 216, 217, 218, 227 

"April in Paris" (Harburg), 22, 26 

"April Showers" (song), 11 

Arabic-speaking Jews, 194, 196, 198, 242 

Arens, Richard, 261 

Argentina 

Agricultural colonies, Jewish, 165, 166, 

172, 190, 192, 201, 234 

Anti-Semitism in, 164, 167, 169, 172, 

176, 179-180, 181, 182, 183, 184 

Ashkenazim in, 135, 191, 195, 196, 199, 

201, 202, 242 

Demographic patterns, Jewish, 234, 236, 

239, 240, 242, 243, 244, 245. See 

also Buenos Aires 

Emigration, Jewish, 174, 175, 176 

Immigration, Jewish, 166, 178, 181, 182, 

191, 192, 194, 244 

Intermarriage patterns, 168-179, 170, 

173, 184, 237, 245 

Prostitutes, Jewish, I 3 5, 178-184 

Sephardim in, 135, 190-203 passim 

Social and ~olitical atmosphere, 164, 169, 

172, 175-176, 178, 181, 183, 244 

Zionism in, 135, 174, 175, 190-203 

passim 

Argentine Zionist Congress, 192, 193 

Arlen, Harold, 7, 22, 24, 30, 32 

Armstrong, Scott, 25 2 

Asch, Sholem, 187 

Ashkenazim 

in Argentina, 135, 191, 195, 196, 199, 

201, 202, 242 

in Palestine, 197, 198, 199 

Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina, 242 

Assimilation and acculturation 

Argentina, 164, 167, 168, 170, 173, 176 

Peru, 206 

U.S., 55, 75, 80, 140, I77 See 

alsoAmericanization and patriotism 

Associated Charities (Birmingham), 65 

Astaire, Adele, 10 

Astaire, Fred, 10, 21 

As Thousands Cheer (Berlin h Hart), 23 

Athens, Ga., 126 

At Home in America: Second Generation 

New York Jews (Moore), reviewed, 

103-105 

Atkinson, Brooks, 30 

Atlanta, Ga., 128, 131 

Atonement, Day of. See Yom Kippur 

"At the Old Maids' Ball" (song), 14 

"At the Ragtime Ball" (song), 14 

"At the Yiddishe Society Ball" (song), 14, 

18 

"Au Revoir But Not Goodbye, Soldier 

Boy," (Brown h Von Tilzer), I 5 

Austro-Hungarian Empire, 83, I 23 

Autos de fi, 141, 154, 159, 162. (See also 

Inquisition 

"Autumn in New York" (Duke), 26 

Avignon, France, 92 

AWACS, 260 

Baerwald, Edward, 13 I 

Bahai, 40 

Bahia Honda, 158 

Baker, Newton D., 43, 47, I07 

Balfour Declaration, 191, 193, 194 

Balkan Jews, 193, 242 

Baltimore, Md., 89 

Band Wagon, The (Schwartz), 25 

Barmat Mitzvah, 31, 186, 218, 222 

Barsky, Sonia, I 31 

"Barney Google" (Rose 6 Conrad), 17 

Barnwell, Middleton S., 59, 62-63 

Baron, Salo W., 142 

Baruch, Bernard M., 106-1 15 

Baruch, Simon, I I 3 

Basel, Switzerland, 190 

Baumgard, Seraphina, 13 I 

Bayes, Norah, 5 

Bayonne, France, 92 

Beck, Martin, 6 

Becker, Jillian, 255 

Beckwith (Ala. Episcopal bishop), 63 

Beecher, Henry Ward, 107 

"Beggar My Neighbour" (Jacobson), 255 

"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" (Secunda 8: 

Jacobs), 3 I 

"Belle of New York, The" (Kerker), 13 

Bellow, Saul, 135 

"Be My Love" (Cahn), 32 

Benarroch, Jacobo, 198 

Benchetrit, Abraham, I92 

Bender, Rose I. (Mrs. Oscar G.), 127

Bene Kedem (Argentina), 191, 198, 199, 

200, 201 

Bene Sion (Buenos Aires), 194 

Bension, Ariel, 192, 194, 198 

Benzaquin, Isaac, 192 

Bergen-Belsen (concentration camp), 263 

Berkeley, Busby, 30 

Berlin, Irving, 5, 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 23, 

24, 26, 309 32 

Berlin, University of, 262 

Berlin College for Music, 26 

Berlin Reform Congregation, 75, 76 

Bernheim, Isaac W., 84 

Besant, Annie Wood, 40 

Best, Gary Dean, 260 

Best and the Brightest, The (Halberstam), 

114 

"Best Things in Life Are Free, The" (De 

Sylva, Brown W: Henderson), 23 

Beth-El (N.Y.C), 78 

Beth Elohim (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 48, 49 

Beth Elohim (Charleston), 126 

Bible, scientific criticism of, 3 8, 56-57 

Billikopf, Jacob, 127, 262 

Bintel Brief, A (Metzker), reviewed, 123 

Birmingham, Ala., 53, 57-58, 63, 68 

Birmingham, Stephen, I 32 

Birmingham Community Chest, 5 3 

Birth of a Nation (film), 20 

Birth rate, Jewish, 235, 237-238, 241, 244, 

247 

Bimarkch, Otto Von, 123 

Black, Hugo, 252 

Black, William, 25 5 

Blackbirds of 1928 (revue), 23, 24 

Blacks, 6, 7, 23, 31, 64, 65, 69-70 

in Haiti, 89, 93, 94 

in Latin America, 169 

Black Thursday (1929), 27, 28 

Blitzstein, Marc, 29 

Blood, William W., 79 

Blood-libel, 42, 46, 83 

Bloomer Girl (Arlen), 22 

Blynd, Fanny M., 66 

B'nai B'rith, 40, 124, 127, 261 

B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic 

Leadership (Moore), reviewed, 261 

"Body and Soul" (Dietz), 26 

Bogota, Colombia, 23 6 

Index 

Bolivia, 244 

Bolsa, La (Martel), 182 

"Bom Bombay" (song), 14 

Bondi, August M., 123 

Book of Prayers, A (Levy), 83 

Bordeaux, France, 92 

Boulanger, Nadia, 29 

Brandeis, Louis Dembitz, 127, 250-253 

BrandeislFrankfurter Connection: The 

Secret Political Activities of Two 

Supreme Court Justices, The 

(Murphy), reviewed, 250253 

Brandeis of Boston (Gal), 253 

Brandes, Joseph, I 16 

Brazil, 198, 238, 240 

Brecht, Bertold, 27 

Breslau Rabbinical Conference, 75, 76 

Brest, Alexander, I 3 I 

Brethren, The (Woodward W: Armstrong), 

252 

Bretton Woods Agreement, I I 2 

Brice, Fanny, 7, 8, 9 

Brickner, Samuel, 80 

Broadway Melody, The (Freed), 21 

Broadway musicals. See Musical theatre; 

Revues 

Brooklyn Institute for the Arts, 29 

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" 

(Harburg), 22, 28 

rot her hood Day, 49 

Brotherhood Week, 49 

Brown, John, 123 

Brown, Lew, IS, 23, 26 

Brown, Rose L., I 3 I 

Bruno, Frank J., 68 

Buchenwald (concentration camp), I 3 I 

Buenos Aires, Argentina, 168, 169 

Jewish population of, 234, 7-35> 236, 238, 

239, 240, 241, 242 

~rostitution in, 178-184 passim 

Sephardim in, 192, 193, 194, 195, 198 

Zionist activities in, 190-202 passim 

Burlesque, 7, 8, 22 

"Buy a Liberty Bond for the Baby" (Von 

Tilzer), 16 

Byrnes, James F., 108 

Cabin in the Sky (film, Harburg), 22


"Cabin in the Sky" (song, Duke), 26 

Cadiz, Spain, 159 

Cadman, Samuel, 40 

Cadman, S. Parkes, 45 

Cadoche, MoisCs, 191, zoo 

Caesar, Irving, 15, 26, 30 

Cahan, Abraham, 123, 124 

"California-Here I Come" Uolson), I I 

Calvert Association, 4 I 

Calvinists, 156 

Canadian Jewish Congress, 262 

Canadian Jewish Mosaic, The (Weinfield, 

Shaffir, & Cotler), reviewed, 125 

Canadian Jewry, 124, 125, 130, 235 

Cantor, Eddie, 7, 9, 12 

Cantors, cantorial music, 5, 11, zo 

Cap Frangais Haiti, 92 

Caracas, Venezuela, 23 6 

Cardozo family, 132 

Carigal, Haim Isaac, 98, 99 

Cartagena, Colombia, I 56, I 59 

Carvajal, Luis De, 142 

Casman, Nellie, 3 I 

Castle, Irene, 14 

Castle, Vernon, 14 

Cemeteries, 126, 127, 180, 185 

Central American Jewry, 238. See also 

names of countries. 

Central Archives for the History of the Jew- 

ish People, 129 

Central Conference of American Rabbis, 40, 

439 45,489 532 64, 79-80 

Centro Sionista Sefaradi (Argentina), 194, 

198 

Cervantes, Miguel De, 166 

Chaplaincy, military, 43, 49 

Chaplin, Saul, 3 I 

Charleston, S.C., 89, 126 

"Cheek to Cheek" (Berlin), 21 

Chemin de Buenos Aires, Le (Londres), 

179-1 80 

Chicago, 12 

Chicago Columbian Exposition, 8, 39-40 

Chicago Musical College, 8 

Chicago Sinai Congregation, 78, 82, 83, 84, 

I 26 

Child-labor laws, 64, 67 

Chilean Jewry, 198, 232, 238, 244 

Chinarro, Andres, 179 

Chofez Chayyim, IOI 

Christian and Jew (Landman), 46, 48 

Christian unity. See Ecumenism 

Churchill, Winston, I 12 

Church Peace Union, 40 

Cincinnati, 42 

Circuit Riding Rabbi project, 130 

Circumcision, 157, 186 

City College and the Jewish Poor (Gorelick), 

reviewed, 122-123 

City College of New York (CCNY), 22, 

109, 122-123 

Civilian Relief Committee (Birmingham), 66 

"Civil Judaism," 261 

Civil marriage, 239 

Civil War, 124 

Claiborne, Ark., 126 

Claridge Hotel (N.Y.C), 18 

Clarkson, Grosvenor, 108 

Clinchy, Everett R., 49 

Cohan, George M., 18 

Cohen, Benjamin V., 127 

Cohen, Mair, 193 

Cohen, Martin A., 142, 146 

Cohen, Moses M., 13 I 

Cold War, 110, 112 

Coleman, Cy, 24 

Collin, Margaret H., 13 I 

Colonial period, 89-94, 98-100 

Colorado, I 3 I 

Columbia University, 25, 29, 122 

Columbus, Christopher, 134 

Comentario (Buenos Aires), I 65 

Comitk Judia Latinoamtrica, 23 2 

Commerce Dept., U.S., 114 

Commonweal, 4 I 

Communidades Judias, 232, 235, 244 

Communidad Israelita Sefaradi (Buenos Aires), 

zoo 

Community Chest (Birmingham), 63, 66 

Comparative religion, 3 8 

Conboy, Martin, 45 

Congregaci6n Israelita Latina (Buenos Air- 

4 , 190, 192, 193, 198, zoo 

Congregation Bene Israel (Cincinnati), 126 

Congregation Bene Yeshurun (Cincinnati), 

126 

Congregation Beth Jacob (Albany, N.Y.), 

130

Congregation B'nai Israel (Davenport, 

Iowa), 126 

Congregation Children of Israel (Athens, 

Ga.), 126 

Congregation Montefiore (Las Vegas, Nev.), 

126 

Congress, U.S., House Resolution, 22, 43 

Conrad, Gus, 17 

Conservative Judaism, 104, 105 

Consistorio Rabinico (Buenos Aires), zoo, 

201 

Constitution, U.S., 37 

Conversion to Judaism, I 53, I 57, I 58-159, 

160, 216, 227, 232 

Conversos, 93, I 34 

defined, I Son1 

Conway, John S., 122 

Coots, J. Fred, 24 

Cbrdoba, Argentina, 198 

Cordobazo, 175 

Cotler, I., 125 

Coughlin, Charles E., 261 

Cowen, Philip, 43 

Cowett, Mark, 52-74 

Cradle Will Rock, The (Blitzstein), 29-30 

Creizenach, Michael, 75, 76 

Crkmieux, S. D., 117 

Crenovich, Adolfo, 193 

Criollas, I 80 

Cristiano Viejo, I 54 

Crohn, family, 13 I 

Cromie, Robert, I 32 

Crypto-Jews, 138, 140, 141, 142, 143 


Cuba, 154, 155, 169 

Cuentos criollos con judios (Schvartzman), 

172-173 

Cuevas, Mariano, 147-148 

Cuff, Robert D., 109 

Cultural pluralism, 39 

Cura~ao, 92, 154, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160, 

161 

Curtis Institute of America (Philadelphia), 

29 

Dabbah, Shaul Setton, 194, 199 

Damascene Jews, 193 

Index 267 

Damascus Affair, 260 

"Dancing in the Dark" (Schwartz & Dietz), 

25, 26 

Darwin, Charles, 56 

Davar (Buenos Aires), 165, 174 

Davenport, Iowa, 126 

Davidson, Gabriel, I 16 

Davis, George Ade, 8 

Dawes Plan, 112 

Death rate, Jewish, 235, 238-240, 244, 247 

Decca Records, 3 I 

Deism, 36, 37 

Della Pergola, Sergio, 231, 236, 239, 245, 

24 6 

De Los Rios, Alonso, 162 

Del Rio, Dolores, zo 

Democratic Party, 28, 106, 108, 112 

"Demographic Profile of Latin American 

Jewry, A" (Elkin), 23 1-249 

Demography, Jewish 

Latin America, 136, 231-247 See also 

names of countries 

U.S., 122, I23 

Depression (I~~o's), 22, 27-28, 29-30, 66 

Dessau, Germany, 26 

Destry Rides Again (Rome), 29 

De Sylva, Buddy, 23 

Deuteronomy, Book of, 161 

Deutscher, Isaac, 123 

Dickmann, Max, 165, 170 

Die Fledermaus (Strauss), 26 

Dietary laws, 157, 158, 159, 172, 218, 222 

Dietz, David and Rosalie, I 28 

Dietz, Howard, 21, 25-26, 30 

"Diga, Diga Doo" (Fields & McHugh), 23 

"Dinah" (Lewis & Young), 16 

Dinnerstein, Leonard, 260 

Displaced persons, 260 

Dixon, Mort, 28 

Djaen, Shabbetai, zoo-tor 

"Doin' the New Low Down" (Fields & 

McHugh), 23 

Dominican Order, I 59 

Donaldson, Walter, I z 

Don Guillen de Lampart (Gonzilez Obregbn), 

149 

Don Quixote (Cervantes), 166 

Don't Fence Me In! An American Teenager 

198, 199 in the Holocaust (Spanjaard), re-


viewed, 263 

"Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" (De 

Sylva, Brown & Henderson), 23 

Douglas, William O., 252 

Dowling, Victor J., 45 

"Dream of Temple" (Newfield), 59 

Drumont, Edouard, 181 

Dubin, Al, I 8 

Dubnow, S., 171 

Duchess of Chicago, The (Kalman), 13 

Duenlos de la tierra, Los (Viiias), 184 

Duffy, Francis P., 45 

Duke, Vernon, 26, 30 

Dukelsky, Vladimir, 26 

Dulles, John Foster, 108 

Eagle, Morris N., 122 

"Early Zionist Activities among Sephardim 

in Argentina" (Mirelman), 19-205 

Easter, 45, 46 

"Easter Parade, The" (Berlin), 21, 23 

East European Jews, 103, 104, 122, 123. 

See also Ashkenazim; Lithuanian 

Jews; Russian Jews 

Ecuador, 169 

Ecumenism, 36, 40, 41, 55 

Edmonds, Henry M., 53, 59, 62, 67, 68 

Edwards, Gus, 9, 21, 25 

Edwards, Leo, 9 

Eichelbaum, Samuel, 170, 183, 184 

Einhorn, Davis, 79, 83, 84 

Eichhorn, David Max, 128 

Einstein Syndrome: Corporate Anti- 

Semitism in America Today, The 

(Slavin & Pradt), reviewed, 262 

Eisenberg, Azriel, 261 

Eisenhower, Dwight, 32 

El Fatah, 175 

Elkin, Judith Laikin, 136, 137, 231-249 

El Libro Rojo (Palacio), 146 

El procedimento inquisitorial (Pallares), 14 5 

El Salvador, 245 

El Semanario Hebreo (Buenos Aires), 197 

El Sionista (Buenos Aires), 193, 197 

El Teatro Soy Yo (Tiempo), 168-170 

Ely, Richard T., 59, 60, 61 

Emancipation, Jewish, 37, 75, 76 

Emigration, Jewish 

from Latin America, 175, 244-245, 247 

from South Africa, 256 

Encyclopaedia Judaica, 49, I 19 

Enfermo la wid (Soboleosky), 17-172 

Englander, Isaac, 128 

Enigma of Felix Frankfurter, The (Hirsch), 

250, 253 

En la Semana Trrigica (Viiias), 183 

Entertainment industry. See Movie industry; 

Music industry 

Entre Rios, Argentina, 165, 166, 172, 173 

Episcopal Church of the Advent (Bir- 

mingham), 59, 62 

Epstein, Baer, 190 

Epstein, Harold, 108 

Es dificil empezar a uiuir (Verbitsky), 170 

Eskapa, Shirley, 256 

Esquibel, Jose De, 162 

"Essence of Judaism" (TV program), 128 

Ester, James, 94 

Eternal Road, The (Werfel), 27 

Ethical Culture, 38, 56, 82 

Etiquetas a 10s hombres (Verbitsky), 

173-176 

Eufaula, Ala., 126 

Ettinger, Akiva, zoo, ror 

Evolution, 56, 57, 61 

Exemplary Novels (Cervantes), 166 

Exeter Academy, 21 

Eyewitness to American Jewish History, 

Part Four: The American Jew 

1915-1969 (Eisenberg), reviewed, 

262 

Ez Hayim (Buenos Aires), 193 

Ezrat Nashim (London), 180 

Face the Music (Berlin), 30 

Fairbanks, Douglas, 23 

Fair Deal, I 14 

Fall of a Nation, The (film), zo 

Family size, Jewish, 238, 241242 

Fanny (Rome), 29 

Faunce, W. H. P., 45 

Federaci6n Sionista Argentina, 190, 191, 

19% I939 194, 198, 199, 2019 202 

Federal Council of Churches in Christ in 

America, 38, 40, 45, 65 

Goodwill Committee, 40, 41, 42, 45

Federal Theatre (WPA), 29 

Federation of Jewish Women's Organiza- 

tions (Cincinnati), 127 

Federation of Zionists, 80 

Feinberg, Abraham J., 128 

Feingold, Henry L., 122 

Feist, Leo, 16-17 

Feldman, Abraham J., 128 

Fergusson, David, 143 

Feuchtwanger, Marta, I 3 I 

Field, Carter, 108 

Fields, Dorothy, 23-24, 7.8 

Fields, Herbert, 23, 25 

Fields, Joseph, 23 

Fields, Lew, 23. See also Weber and Fields 

Fields, W. C., 9 

Fifth Land 'Conference of Argentine 

Zionists, 194 

"Fine Romance, A" (Fields), 24 

Finian's Rainbow (show), 22 

First Zionist Conference, 190 

"Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" (Lewis & 

Young), 16 

Flahooley (Harburg), zz 

"Foggy Day in London Town, A" 

(Gershwin Bros.), 21 

Folies-Bergdre, 9 

Ford, Henry, 43, 261 

"For Me and My Gal" (Leslie & Goetz), 16 

"Forty Miles from Schenectady to Troy" 

(Kerker), 13 

"4md Street" (Warren & Dubin), 18 

"Fostering True Religious Unity" (papal en- 

cyclical), 41 . 

Fox, William, 6 

Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner, The 

(Goldemberg), 206 

France juive, La (Drumont), I 8 I 

Francescas, I 80 

Francis Ferdinand, I 4 

Frank, Leo M., 128 

Frankfurter, Felix, 25-253 passim 

Frankfurter Journal, 75 

Freed, Arthur, 21 

Free Religious Association, 56 

Free Synagogue (N.Y.C.), 45, 125 

Frey, William, I 17 

Friedlander, Henry, I 22 

Friedman, Charles, 28 

Index 269 

Friends Clambake and Springtime Frolic 

(Cincinnati), I 3 2 

Friml, Rudolf, 9, 14 

Fulbright, J. William 260 

Fundamentalism, Protestant, 53, 54, 58, 64 

Gal, Allon, 253 

Galatians, Epistle to the, 161 

Galbraith, John Kenneth, 107 

Galician Jews, 3 I 

Gallagher and Shean, 7 

Galvez, Manuel, 182 

Gandhi, Mohandas, 23 

Garrick Gaieties of 1925 (revue), 25 

Gartner, Lloyd P., I 19-1 21 

Gauchos, 167, 168, 172 

gauchos judios, Los (Gerchunoff), 165-168, 

172 

Gay, John, 26-27 

Geiger, Abraham, 82 

George White Scandals (revue), 22, 23 

Georgia, 124 

Gerchunoff, Alberto, 165-168, 176 

German Jews, in U.S., 11-12, 13, 26, 44, 

55, 106, 123, 261 

Germany, 75-76, 111, 176, 262 

Gershwin, George, 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 22, 23, 

26, 27, 30 

Gershwin, Ira, 21, 26, 27, 30 

Gervasi, Frank, I 32 

Geulat Zion (Buenos Aires), 194 

Gilbert, L. Wolfe, 20 

Gilbert and Sullivan, I 3 

Gittler, Joseph B., 122 

Gladden, Washington, 59, 60, 61 

Glazer, Nathan, 5 5 

Glazer, Simon, 262 

Glickman, Nora, 13 5, 178-189 

Gloria Patri, 161 

"God Bless America" (Berlin), 3 2 

"God's Country" (Arlen & Harburg), 32 

Goetz, E. Ray, I 6 

Goldberg, David J., I 30 

Gold Diggers of 1936 (revue), 22 

Goldemberg, Isaac, I 36, 206-21 5 

Goldenson, Samuel H., 128 

Goldstein, Sidney, I 22 

Goldwyn, Samuel, 6


Goloboff, Gerardo Mario, 165 

Gonzllez Obreg6n, Luis, 149 

Goode, Alexander D., 128 

Good Friday, 130 

Gorelick, Sherry, 122 

Gottheil, Richard, I 54 

Gottler, Archie, 14 

Gottschalk, Alfred, 128, 13 2 

Graham, Otis L., I 14 

Grand'Anse, Haiti, 89 

"Grandmothers, Mothers, and Daughters; 

an Oral History Study . . . " 

(Krause), 132 

Grand Street Follies (revue), 24 

Gratz, Rebecca, I 3 2 

Great Britain, I I I, I 12 

Great Depression, 22, 27-18, 29-30, 66 

Great Society, I 14 

Greenleaf, Richard E., 149 

Griffith, Barbara, 46 

Griffith, D. W., 20 

Guanabara, Brazil, 240 

Guardias blancas, I 83 

Guatemala, 241, 243 

Gurock, Jeffrey S., 105 

Habima Haivrit (Buenos Aires), 196 

Hadassah, 127 

Hahn, Aaron, 81 

Hahn, Harold D., 128 

Haiti, 89-94 

Haitian Revolution, 89 

Halberstam, David, I 14 

Hale, Edward Everett, 60 

Hammerstein, Oscar, 11, 5, 7, 25, 26 

Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre (N. Y. C.), 

I I 

"Happy Days Are Here Again" (Yellen & 

Ager), 28 

Harburg, E. Y. "Yip", 22, 26, 28, 30, 32 

Harding, Warren G., 17, 112 

Harrigan and Hart, 7 

Harris, Charles K., 15 

Harris, Sam H., 23 

Harrison, Byron "Pat," 108 

Hart, Lorenz, 5, 21, 25, 26, 28, 30 

Hart, Moss, 23 

Hartford, Conn., I 28 

Hartog, J., 135, 153-163 

Haward University, 122, 250 

Hasidism, 175 

Haskalah, 43, 48 

Havana, Cuba, 154, 155 

Hawkins, John, 142 

Hayes, Carlton, 47 

Hayishuu Hayehudi Beartstot Habrit Me- 

reishito ad Yamainu (Gartner), re- 

viewed, I 19-121 

"Heat Wave" (Berlin), 23 

Hebra Gemilut Hassadim (Buenos Aires), 

192 

Hebrew Benevolent Congregation (Atlanta), 

76 

Hebrew Free School (San Francisco), 127 

Hebrew language, 160, 173, 195-196 

Hebrew Press, Argentina, 195 

Hebrew Relief Association (Cincinnati), 126 

Hebrew Sunday School (Philadelphia), 132 

Hebrew Union College, 42, 53, 70, 78 

Holocaust rescue work, 262 

Year-in-Israel program, 128 

Hechalutz (Argentina), 191 

Held, Anna, 9 

"Hello Central, Give Me Heaven" (Harris), 

1 5 

"Hello Central, Give Me No Man's Land" 

(Lewis, Young & Jerome), I 5 

"Hello Hawaii, How Are You" (Schwartz 

& Kalmar), 14 

Henderson, Ray, 23 

Herberg, Will, 3 5 

Herbert, Victor, 20 

Herford, Germany, 13 

Herman, Simon N., 21 8 

"Hermandad" (Schvartzman), 173 

Herring, John, 41 

Herscher, Uri, I I 6 

Herzl, Theodor, 194 

Hess, Cliff, 16 

Heyman, Joseph K., 131 

Heyman family, 131 

High Button Shoes (Cahn), 3 I 

Hilberg, Paul, I zt 

Hillel Foundation, 129 

Hirsch, Emil G., 77, 78, 82, 83, 84 

Hirsch, H. N., 250, 253 

Hirsch, Louis A., 9, 10

Hirsch, Maurice De, I 16 

Hirsch, Samuel, 76 

Hispaniola, 89 

Historia de la Iglesia en Mixico (Cuevas), 

147 

"Historiographical Problems in the Study of 

the Inquisition and the Mexican Cry- 

pto-Jews in the Seventeenth Century" 

(Hordes), 138-1 52 

History of the Jews (Dubnow), 171 

"History of the Jews, The" (Newfield), 54 

History of the Marranos, A (Roth), 141, 

146 

History of Spanish Literature (Ticknor), 

145 

Hitachdut (Argentina), 191 

Hitler, Adolf, 49, 173 

"Hit Parade" (radio program), 30 

Hochschule fuer die Wissenschaft des Ju- 

dentums (Berlin), 262 

Holdheim, Samuel, 75, 76 

Holidays, 218, 220. See also holidays, 

names of 

Holland, 143, 263 

Holman, Libby 25 

Holmes, Colin, 262 

Holocaust, 35, 111, 120, 125, 130, 131, 

140, 173, 203, 211, 260, 262, 263 

Holocaust: Ideology, Bureaucracy, and 

Genocide, The (Friedlander & 

Milton), reviewed, 122 

Holtzmann, Fanny E., 128 

Holz, Anthony D., 256 

Homonna, Hungary, 53 

Honeymoon Express, The (Schwartz), 11 

Hooray for What! (show), 32 

Hoover, Herbert, 108, 110, 114 

Hordes, Stanley, M., 134, 138-152 

Houseman, John, 29 

Hovevei Zion, 190, 191 

"How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" (Har- 

burg), 22 

"How Can You Tell an American" (Weill), 

27 

"How'd You Like to Be My Daddy" (Le- 

wis, Young, & Snyder), 15 

Howe, Irving, 6 

"How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the 

Farm" (Lewis & Young), 16 

Index 

Hugo, Victor, 50 

Humanism, secular, 36 

Hungarian Jews, 13, 53 

"I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Ba- 

by" (Fields & McHugh), 23, 24 

"Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider" (song), 11 

"1 Did Not Raise My Boy to Be a Coward" 

(song), IS 

"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" 

(song), I S 

"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier, 1'11 

Send My Daughter to Be a Nurse" 

(song), IS 

"I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five 

and Ten Cent Store" (Dixon, Rose, 

& Warren), 17, 27-28 

"1 Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" 

(Schwartz), 25 

"I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" 

(Gershwin), 23 

"I'll Lend You Everything I've Got Except 

My Wife (And I'll Make You a 

Present of Her)" (Von Tilzer), 13-14 

"Images of Man-Ancient and Modern" 

(Gottschalk), 128 

"I May Be Gone for a Long Time" (Brown 

& Von Tilzer), 15 

"I'm Gonna Pin My Medal on the Girl I 

Left Behind" (Berlin), 16 

"I'm in the Mood for Love" (Fields), 24 

Immigrants to Freedom (Brandes), 116 

Immigration, Jewish 

to Israel. See Aliyah 

to Latin American, 232, 238, 244 

Argentina, 166, 178, 181, 182, 191, 

192, I94 

Brazil, 217 

Mexico, 13 2 

to U.S., 5, 83, 84, 122, 123-124, 131, 

139, 254, 263. See also German 

Jews; Eastern European Jews; Rus- 

sian Jews 

Immigration laws, U.S., 260 

"I'm Sitting on Top of the World" (Lewis 

& Young), 16 

"I'm the Loneliest Gal in Town" (Von 

Tilzer & Brown), 23


Inca culture, 206 

Independent Presbyterian Church (Bir- 

mingham), 59, 62 

Independent Scottsboro Committee, 70 

"In Dixie Land, I Take My Stand: A Study 

of Small-City Jewry in Five South- 

eastern States" (Goldberg), 130 

inmigracibn en la literatura Argentina, La 

(Onega), 181 

inquisicidn en Hispanoamdrica (judios, pro- 

testantes y patriotas), La (Lewin), 

141 

Inquisition, I 34 I 3 8-1 50 passim, I 53, I 59 

and Protestant heretics, 141, 142 

punishments and penalties, 146, 159, 

161-162 

trial procedures, 144, 145, 161 

Inquisition Unmasked, The Puigblanch), 

145 

Inside U.S.A. (Schwartz), 25 

Institute for the Improved Instruction of 

Deaf-Mutes (N.Y.C.), 129 

Institutional Synagogue (N.Y.C.), 104 

Integration, 65 

Interdenominational Open and Established 

Church League, 40 

Interfaith Conference on Federation, 40 

Interfaith movement, 35, 39, 39, 40, 41, 44, 

49-50,719 79, 80 

in Birmingham, 53, 68 

Intermarriage, 8, 111, 128, 135, 167, 171, 

216, 245, 247 

in Argentina, 168-169, 170, 173, 184, 

237, 245,246 

racial, 93 

in SHo Paulo, 217-229 passim 

International Ladies Garment Workers 

Union, 28 

International Monetary Fund, I I 2 

Interwar period, 5, 17, 68, 103 

"Invisible Worm" (Abraham), 25 5 

"I Only Have Eyes for You" (Warren & 

Dubin), 18 

Isaac M. Wise Temple (Cincinnati), 126 

Isaacson, Jose, 165 

Isabella I, 134 

Isaiah, 57, 59, 125 

"I Should Care" (Cahn), 31 

"Is It True What They Say About Dixie" 

(Caesar), 30 

Isolationism, 252 

Israel (Buenos Aires), 196-197 

Israel, Jonathan, 149 

Israel, State of, 49, 120, 174, 175, 203, 

256, 261 

Isserles, Moses, 101 

"It Had to Be You" (Kahn), 12 

"It's Delightful to Be Married" (Held), 9 

"It's Only a Paper Moon" (Rose), 17 

"I've Got Five Dollars" (Rodgers & Hart), 

2 8 

"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" 

(Berlin), 21 

"I Won't Dance" (Kern), 30 

Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev), 197 

Jackson, Louis, 80 

Jacobs, Al, 3 2 

Jacobs, Joe, 31 

Jacobson, Dan, 25 5 

Jacobson, Eddie, 262 

Jamaica, West Indies, 126, I 58 

James, Marquis, 108 

Jazz, 13 

Jazz Singer, The (film), to Jefferson County (Ala.) Anti-Tuberculosis 

Society, 5 3, 65 

Jefferson Cou~ity (Ala.) Red Cross, 65 

Jemison, Rober, 63 

Jkrkmie, Haiti, 89, 92 

Jerez, Spain, 159, 160, 161 

Jerusalem riots (1929), 201 

Jesus, 37, 59, 60, 61, 62, 161, 166 

Jewish Agency, 168, 201 

Jewish Agricultural Utopias in America 

(Herscher), reviewed, I 16-1 18 

Jewish Colonization Association, 190, 234, 

23 5 

Jewish Daily Forward, 123 

Jewish education 

in colonial Cura~ao, I 5 8 

and intermarriage, 220, zzz 

Jewish Education Influence Degree, 222 

Jewish Encyclopedia, 49 

Jewish Endeavor Society, 104

Jewish identity, 160, 164-165, 17-176 

passim, 185, 218, 223-224, 231-232. See 

also Self-hatred, Jewish 

Jewish Institute of Religion, 45 

Jewish Legion, 190 

Jewish Life in the United States (Gittler), re- 

viewed, I 22 

Jewish Life in Twentieth Century America: 

Challenge and Accommodation (Ple- 

sur), reviewed, 257-259 

Jewish lobby, 260 

Jewish National Fund, 191 

Jewish Population of Rochester, New York 

(Monroe County), The, reviewed, 

123 

Jewish South (newspaper), 124 

Jewish Theological Seminary, 104 

Jewish Tidings (Rochester), 80, 81 

"Jewish White Slave Trade in Latin Ameri- 

can Writings, The" (Glickman), 

178-189 

Jewish youth groups, 120 

Jews: An Account of Their Experience in 

Canada (Paris), reviewed, I 24 

Jews in New Spain, The (Liebman), 146 

"Jews in the Grand'Anse Colony of Saint- 

Domingue" (Loker), 89-97 

Johnny Johnson (Weill), 27 

Joint Commission on Good-Will, 45 

Joint Distribution Committee, 261 

Jolson,Al, ~,II, 16, 17,20,169 

Jolson, Harry, 5 

Jones, Jenkin Lloyd, 62 

"Joseph, Joseph" (Casman & Steinberg), 31 

Journey, The (Litvin), reviewed, 123 

Juarez, Mexcio, I 3 2 

Judah Touro Cemetery Association (Cincin- 

nati), 127 

~udios y Gauchos: The Search for Identity 

in Argentine-Jewish Literature" (Sadow), 

164-177 

Just Passing Through (Goldemberg), 206 

Juvenile courts, 67 

Kafka, Franz, 170 

Kahan, Arcadius, 122 

Kahan, Norman, 128 

Kahn, Donald, 12 

Kahn, Gus, 12, 21 

Kahn, Roger, 13 2 

Kalechofsky, Robert and Roberta, 254-256 

Kallen, Horace, 39, 125 

Kalman, Emmerich, 13 

Kalmar, Bert, 14 

Kansas, 13 I 

Kant, Immanuel, 36, 3 8 

Kanter, Kenneth Aaron, 3-34 

Kantor, Raymond, 13 I 

Kaplan, Harry, I 29 

K~PP, Jack, 3 I 

Karmona, Jacobao, 198 

Karo, Joseph, 101 

Karp, Abraham J., 261 

Katz, David, I 3 I 

Kelley, Florence, 67 

Kelman, Yitzchak, 129 

Kelman, Zvi Yehuda, 129 

Kenesseth Israel (Philadelphia), 37, 42, 79, 

81, 83 

Kennedy, John F., 28, 113 

Kent, Frank A., 107 

Keren Hayesod, 191, 194, 198, 199, zoo, 

20 I 

Kerker, Gustave, 13 

Kern, Jerome, 5, 7, 9, 11, 17, 21, 24, 26, 

30 

Keynes, John Maynard, 109 

Kiev Conservatory of Music, 26 

Kilby, Thomas E., 69 

"Kingdom of God" ideal, 54, 57, 58, 60, 

61,62 

Kirshenbaum, Manuel, 165 

Klausner, Samuel Z., 122 

Klein, Abraham Moses, I 29 

Knickerbocker Holiday (Weill), 27 

Knights of Columbus, 41 

Koblenz, Germany, 12 

Kohler, Kaufmann, 42, 77, 78, 79, 129 

Kohut, George Alexander, 141 

Kol Nidrei, 20 

Konin Young Men's Benevolent Association 

(N.Y.C.), 127 

Kordon, Bernardo, 165 

Krause, Corinne Azen, I 3 2 

Krauskopf, Joseph, 37, 42, 77, 79, 83, 84 

Krausz, Rosa R., 13 5, 216-230 

Kraut, Benny, IZI


Krock, Arthur, 107 

Ku Klux Klan, 38, 41, 43, 68, 69 

Kupishok: The Memory Stronger (Mayer- 

sohn), I 3 I 

Kurlander Young Men's Mutual Aid Society 

(N.Y.C.), 127 

"La Belle Paree" (song), I I 

La Bolsa (Martel), 182 

Labor unions, 28, 69, 70 

Labor Zionists, 190, I91 

Ladd, Everett Carll, Jr., 122 

Ladino-speaking Jews, 193, 194, 196, 198 

La France Juive (Drumont), 181 

La Luz (Buenos Aires), 197 

La Monte, Ed, 63 

La Naci6n (Buenos Aires), 166, 18 I 

Landman, Isaac, 3 5-42 

Landman, Louis Hyamson, 42, 44 

Landsberg, Max, 80 

Lane, Burton, 24 

Lange family, 92 

Langer, Laurence, r 22 

Las Vegas, N. Mex., 126 

Lathrop, Julia, 68 

Latin American Jewish studies, 13 3-134 

Latin American Jewish Studies Association, 

136 

"Law and Ethics: A Case History" (Ros- 

tow), 132 

Lazaron, Morris, 49 

Lea, Henry Charles, 148, 149 

League of Nations, I 12, I 13, 179 

Le Chemin de Buenos Aires (Londres), 

179-180 

Lehman, Irving, 45 

Leonard, Eddie, 11 

Leslie, Edgar, 14, 16 

"Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain" 

(Cahni, 32 

"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" 

(Gershwin bros.), 21 

Levin, Mayer, 132 

Levinson, Abraham and Ida, 129 

Levitansky, Schlaime Itzhock, 13 2 

Lew Dockstader Minstrels, I I, I 5 

Lewin, Boleslao, 141, 144, 145, 147 

Lewis, Sam, 15, 16 

Levy, Jack, 6 

Levy, Jacob, 196 

Levy, J. Leonard, 83, 84 

Levy, Lou, 3 I 

Levy, Samuel De A., 196 

Liacho, Lazaro, 165, 176 

Liberalism, 123 

Libro Rojo, El (Palacia), 146 

Lieberman, Rachel, I 81 

Liebman, Seymour B., 140, 142, 145, 146 

Life Begins at 8:40 (Harburg), 22 

Life-expectancy, Jewish, 24-241, 247 

"Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (De Sylva, 

Brown, & Henderson), 23 

Liga, Dr. Herzl, 192 

"Light Dark" (Moss), 25 5 

Lindsay, Ben, 68 

Lisbon, Portugal, 160 

Lithuanian Jews, 6, 10, I I, I 3 I 

Littel, Franklin H., 122 

Little Shows (revues), 25 

Liturgy, Jewish, 81, 83, 84, 127, 128 

Litvin, Marvin, 123 

Lobbying, political, 260 

Loewe, Marcus, 6 

Loker, Zvi, 89-97 

Lomazer Young Men's Benevolent Associa- 

tion (N.Y.C.), 127 

Londres, Albert, 178, 179-180, 187 

Long, Breckinridge, 261 

Look to the Lillies (Cahn), 3 I 

Lopez, Aaron, 99 

Los duetios de la tierra (Vifias), 184 

Los gauchos judios (Gerchunoff), 165-168, 

172 

"Louisiana Hayride" (Dietz), 26 

Louisville, Ky., I 3, 84 

University of, 127 

"Lovely to Look At" (Kern), 30 

"Love Me or Leave Me" (Kahn), 12 

"Love Walked Right In" (Gershwin bros.), 

21 

Lower East Side (N.Y.C.), 17, 104, 122, 

130, 257 

Lubell, Samuel, 107, 108 

Lueger, Karl, 83 

Lutheranism, I 5 8

Luz, La (Buenos Aires), 197 

Luzzatto, Moses Hayyim, 42 

Lyma, Louis David, 92 

Lyma Fr?res, 92 

Macabeo, El (Buenos Aires), 197 

Mc Carren, Pat, 261 

Mc Cullers, Ed, I 3 I 

Mc Hugh, Jimmy, 23, 24, 28 

"Mack the Knife" (Weill), 27 

Mc Kuen, Rod, 254 

Macon, Ga., 126 

Magnes, Judah Leon, I 29 

Making of the Reparation and Economic 

Sections of the Treaty, The (Baruch), 

108 

Malachi, 3 6 

"Manhattan" (Rodgers & Hart), 25 

Margarita, Argentina, 193 

Mariel De Ibafiez, Yolande, 148 

Marks, Daisy (Mrs. Cedric H.), 131 

Marranos, 141, 146, 157 See also Crypto- 

Jews; New Christians 

Marseille, France, 179 

Marshall, George D., 107 

Marshall Plan, I 12 

Martel, Julian, 18 1-182 

Martyr: The Story of a Secret Jew and the 

Mexican Inquisition in the Sixteenth 

Century, The (Cohen), 142, 146 

Marx, David, 76 

Marx Brothers, 7, 21 

Massena, N.Y., 42, 46, 47 

Mayer, Louis B., 6 

Mayersohn, Stanley, 13 I 

"Me and My Shadow" (Rose), 17 

Mea Shearim (Jerusalem), 174 

Medina, Jose Toribio, 148, 149 

Meisel, Tovye, 238, 239 

Melting-pot ideology, 39, 125 

Mendes, Henry Pereira, 129 

Mendss-France family, 92 

Mendoza, Argentina, 198, zoo 

Mercedarian Order, 155, 159, 160 

Merchants, 92-93 

Messer, Sam, 129 

Messianism 

in Reform thought, 83, 85 

among Sephardim, 193, 195, 199 

Messing, Aaron J., 127 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20, 21 

Metzker, Isaac, 123 

Mexican Revolution (I~II), 147 

Mexico 

colonial period, 138, 14-1 50, 155 

Jewish demographic patterns, 232, 234, 

238,239, 240,244 

modern period, 147-148 

Mexico City, 236, 240 

Meyer, Eugene, 114 

Meyer, George, 17 

Micah, 125 

Mid-America's Promise: A Profile of Kansas 

City (Schultz), reviewed, 262 

Migueres, Yona, 193 

Mikvt Israel (Curaqao), 157 

Mills Publishing Co., 24 

Milton, Sybil, 122 

Milwaukee, Wis., I 3 I 

Minora (ship), 159 

Minsky, Louis, 49 

Miranda, P., 146 

Miranda family, 92 

Mirelman, Victor, 13 5, 190-205 

Mir6, Juan Maria, 18 I 

"Mr. Gallagher-Mr. Shean" (song), 9 

Mitchell, Allan, I 22 

Molina, Isaac Israel, 94 

Monastic orders, 153, 154, 155, 159, 160 

Monastir, Yugoslavia, 200 

Mond, Alfred, 201 

Monroe Doctrine, 144 

Montevideo, Uruguay, 198 236 

Montreal, Canada, 124 

Moore, Deborah Dash, 103-105, 261 

Moors, 134,145 

Morais, Sabato, 13 2 

Morgan, J. P., & CO., 109 

Morgan, Roberta, 66 

Morgenthau, Henry, 45, 11 I 

Moroccan Jews, 192, 193, 194, 196, 198, 

ZOO 

Moron, Simon Isaac Henriquez, 92 

Mortalium animos (papal encyclical), 41 

Moses, 57, 59

276 American Je !wish Archives 

Moss, Rose, 25 5 

"Mountain Greenery" (Rodgers & Hart), 

25 

Movie industry, 6, 18, 20, 21, 22 

Munger, Theodore, 61 

Murphy, Bruce Allen, 25-253 

Murphy, Edgar Gardner, 64, 68 

Murphy, Samuel D., 67 

Musical theatre, 13, 22, 26. See also names 

of shows, composers, and lyricists 

Music BOX Revue, 23 

Music industry, 3, 4, 5, 6-7, 30 

"My Blue Heaven" (Berlin), 9 

"My Buddy" (Kahn & Donaldson), 12 

"My Mammy" (Lewis, Young, & Jolson), 

I 6 

Nacha Regules (Gdlvez), 182 

Nacion, La (Buenos Aires), 166, 181 

Nadie la conocid. nunca (Eichelbaum), I 83 

Names, assimilative changes of, 5, 10, 26, 

93 

National Catholic Welfare Conference, 41 

National Child Labor Committee, 64, 67 

National Conference of Christians and 

Jews, 35,40, 42, 43, 47-48, 49 

Birmingham chapter, 53, 68 

Holocaust symposia, 122 

National Council of Jewish Women, 80, 

127 

National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, 

127 

Nazism, 27, 40, 49, 111, 122, 140, 169, 

173, 176, 260, 262, 263 

Neo-Orthodoxy, 37 

Neufeld, Lena (Klein), 53 

Neufeld, Seymon Shabsi, 53 

Neutrality Acts (U.S.), I I I 

New Amsterdam, 27 

New Christians, 134, 160 


Newcomb, George B., 109 

New Deal, 108, 114, 251 

Newfield, Morris, 52-71, 129 

New Frontier, I 14 

New Jersey, 116, I 17 

New Odessa, Oreg., 117 

Newport, R.I., 98, 99 

New Republic, 25 I 

New School for Social Research, 29 

New Spain. See Mexico, colonial period 

New York City, 5, 103-105, 261. See also 

Lower East Side 

New York "Kehillah," 129 

New York Society for Ethical Culture, 82. 

See also Ethical Culture 

New York University, 25 

Nicaragua, 245 

Nightclubs, 6 

"Night Is Filled with Music, The" (Berlin), 

21 

Nissensohn, Isaac, 198, 201, 202 

Norfolk, Va., 89 

North Carolina Association of Jewish 

Women and Jewish Men, 130 

"Notes on Medina Rico's 'Visita de Hacien- 

da' to the Inquisition of Mexico" 

(Phipps), 149 

"Nothing Could Be Finer Than to Be in 

Carolina in the Morning" (Kahn & 

Donaldson), 12 

Numbers, Book of, 78 

Numerus clausus, I zz 

Obregon, Luis Gonzalez, 149 

Ocampo, Manuel Rodriguez, 181 

Occupations and trades, 5, 22, 24, 25, 26, 

92 

0 ciclo das dguas (Scliar), 185-187 

Odessa, Russia, 23 

Offenbach, Jacques, 13 

"Oh, How That German Could Love" 

(Berlin), I 5 

Oheb Shalom (Baltimore), 82 

"Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morn- 

ing" (Berlin), 16 

Ohio State University, 129 

Oikoumenikos, 36 

Olath Tamid (Einhorn), 83 

"Old Devil Moon" (Harburg), 22 

Olitzky, Kerry M., 75-88 

Onega, Gladys, I 8 I 

Ongania, Juan Carlos, 173, 175 

"On the Sunny Side of the Street" (Fields 

and McHugh), 24, 28 

Operettas, 13, 26

Oral history, 132 

Order of St. Gregory the Great, 45 

Orpheum theatre circuit, 6 

Orthodox Jewish Orphan Home (Cincin- 

nati), I 27 

Orthodox Judaism, 37, 55, 104-105 

Ortiz, Rafael Hernbndez, 148 

"Our Hats Off to You, Mr. President" 

(song), IS 

Our Jewish Farmers and the Story of the 

Jewish Agricultural Society (David- 

son), 116 

Our Lady of Ransom, 155 

"Our Love Is Here to Staym (Gershwin 

bros.), 21 

"Our Way" (Simon), 256 

Over the Top (revue), 10 

Pacifism, 15 

Palestine, Jewish resettlement of, 43, 44, 54, 

190, 197-198, 199, 201. See also 

Aliyah; Israel, State of; Zionism 

Pallares, Eduardo, 145, 146 

Palmer, Mrs. Potter, 9 

"Papa, Won't You Dance with Me" (Cahn), 

32 

Paraguay, 244 

Paris, Erna, 124 

Paris, France, 179 

Parisian Love (Kalman), 13 

Parisian Model, The (Held), 9 

Paris Peace Conference, 43, 48, 106, 108, 

I12 

"Parliament of Religions and What Next?, 

The" (Jones), 62 

Partnerships, 93 

Passing Show (revue), 10 

Passover, 45, 46, 220 

Patriotic songs, 32 

Patriotism. See Americanization and patriot- 

ism 

Patton, George, 260 

Paul, St., 37, 161 

Payne, David S., 13 I 

Pazi, Shmuel, 201 

Pearlson, Jordon, I 3 o 

Peck, Abraham J., 132 

Index 

Peddlers, 6, 10 

"Peg 0' My Heart" (song), 9 

Pennsylvania, University of, 29 

Permanent Commission on Better Under- 

standing Between Christians and 

Jews in America, 42, 45-46, 47 

Perbn, Juan Domingo, 170 

Per6, 206 

Pesach Sheni, 78 

Petit family, 92 

Philadelphia, 94, I 17 

Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, 29 

Philanthropy, 32, 65, 111, 198, 200, 

201-202, 261 

Philips, John Herbert, 65 

Phipps, Helen, 149 

Picart, Bernard, 146 

Pimienta, Jose Diaz, 135, 153-163 

Pins and Needles (Rome & Friedman), 28, 

29 

Pirates, I 5 6, r 5 8 

Pittman, Key, 108 

Pittsburgh Platform, 38-39, 42, 54 

Pittsburgh Rabbinical Conference, 79 

Pius XI, 41 

Planters, 92 

Plaut, W. Gunther, 261, 262 

Plesur, Milton, 257-259 

Poale Zion, 190, 191 

Pogroms, 44, 166, 183 

Polaca, 178, 180, 187 

Poland, 116, 179, 186 

Polish Jews, in U.S., 9, 31, 110, I32 

"Political Philosophy of Moses Mendelsohn, 

The" (Altmann), 132 

Porter, Cole, 18, 30 

Porto Alegre, Brazil, 186 

Portuguese Jews, 92-93 

Pradt, Mary A., 262 

Preaching and Sermons. See Sermons and 

preaching 

Prechiguan, I 5 5 

Preparedness, military, I 10, r I I 

Presbytery of North Alabama, 62 

President's Commission on the Holocaust, 

128 

"Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody, A" (Berlin), 

9

278 American lewish Archives 

Priests, 153, 155, 171-172 

procedimento inquisitorial, El (Pallares), 

74 5 

Prophetic ethics, 61 

Prostitution, 13 5, 178-187 passim 

Protagonist, The (Weill), 26 

Protestant-Catholic-Jew (Herberg), 3 5 

Protestantism, 40, 53, 54, 58, 64, 143 

in colonial Curagao, I 56, 158 

and Inquisition, 141, 142 

Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 181 

Prussia, I 1-1 I I 

Psalms, Book of, I 6 I 

Pskoff, Russia, 26 

Publications of the American Jewish Histor- 

ical Society, 14-141 

Puebla de 10s Angeles, Mexico, 154, 155 

Puerto de Principe, Cuba, I 55 

Puigblanch, Antonio, 14 5 

2Que'fue la inquisicibn? (Lewin), 147 

Quid Pro Quo Club (Birmingham), 64 

Quilmes, Argentina, 242 

Quotas in higher education, 122 

Raba, roo, IOI 

"Rabbi Morris Newfield and the Social 

Gospel" (Cowett), 51-74 

Rabbis, 52, 98, 132, 167. See also names of 

rabbis 

Race, Class and Politics in Seventeenth-Cen- 

tury Mexico (Israel), 149 

Radio, 30 

Ragtime, 13 

Rainbow Division Veterans' Association, 45 

"Ramona" (Gilbert), 20 

Raphaelson, Samson, 20 

Rattner, Henrique, 23 8 

Rauschenbusch, Walter, 59, 60, 61 

Ravel, Maurice, 21 

Reconstruction Finance Cop., 108 

Reconstruction period, 106 

Red Cross Family Service Agency (Bir- 

mingham), 63 

Reflections of Southern Jewry: The Letters 

of Charles Wessolowsky (Schmier), 

124-125 reviewed 

Reform Judaism, 37, 38-39, 42, 55, 75, 83, 

85, 128, 132 

and Christianity, 37, 5 5 

German (Classical), 75, 76, 82, 83, 84, 

85 

and interfaith movement, 38, 39 

"Kingdom of God" idea, 54, 57, 58, 60, 

61, 62 

"mission" doctrine, 38, 39, 54, 55, 56 

and social gospel, 52, 70 

Sunday-Sabbath movement, 75-88 

and Zionism, 42, 43, 125, 128 

See also Central Conference of American 

Rabbis; Hebrew Union College 

"Reform Movement Faces Israel, The" 

(Gottschalk), 128 

Relativism, historical, 144 

Religious Education Association, 40 

Religious News Service, 49 

Remick and Co., 18 

Reparation Commission, I 12 

Report of the Services of the Twenty-Fifth 

Anniversary of the Introduction of 

Sunday Services in Chicago Sinai 

Congregation, 8 2 

Republican Party, 251 

Responsa, 10-102 

Revercomb, William Chapman, 261 

Revolution of 1848, 123 

Revues, 8, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29 

Rhodian Jews, 194, 198 

Richman, Julia, 130 

Richmond, Ind., 126 

Rio Cuarto, Argentina, 198 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 198, 240 

Rio de la Hacha, Venezuela, I 56, I 59 

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, 

The (Weill), 26 

Riva Palacio, Vicente, 146 

Roberts, Priscilla M., I I 5 

Robin, Leo, 21 

Robinson, Joseph T., 108 

Rochester, N.Y., 80, 123 

"Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Mel- 

ody" (Lewis &Young), 11, 16 

Rockdale Temple (Cincinnati), 126 

Rockefeller, John D., Sr., 23 

Rodef Shalom (Pittsburgh), 83, 84

Rodgers, Richard, 5, 7, 17, 21, 25, 26, 28, 

30 

Roman Catholicism, 18, 41, 45, 47, 53, 68, 

93, 130, 138, 153, 161, 164, 167. 

See also Anti-Catholicism; Inquisi- 

tion; Monastic orders; Priests 

Romberg, Sigmund, 10, 13, 17, 21, 24 

Rome, Harold, 28-29 

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 23, 28, 108, 252 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 67 

Rosario, Argentina, 198, zoo 

Rose, Billy, 5, 16, 17, 28 

Rosenau, William, 77, 82, 130 

Rosenfeld, Monroe, 3, 4 

Rosenwaike, Ira, 234, 235 

Rosenthal, Trudie (Mrs. Karl), 130 

Rosh Hashana, 128, n o 

Ross, John E., 49 

Rostow, Eugene V., 13 2 

Rotem, Mordechai, I 32 

Roth, Cecil, 141, 144, 146 

Roth, Philip, 13 5 

Rozenrnacher, Germin, 16 5 

Rubber Survey Committee, U.S., 106 

Ruby, Harry, 9 

Russia, 5, 111, 112, 116, 131, 167, 175, 

260 

Russian Jews 

in Argentina, 166, I 67 

in U.S., 5, 23, 26, 42, 44, 104, 123 

Russian Revolution, I 7, 26, I 3 I 

Sabbath, 75, 76, 77-78, 84, 85, 161, 173 

"Sadie Salome" (Berlin), 7 

Sadow, Stephen A., 135, 164-177 

Saint-Domingue, Haiti, 89-94 

St. Gregory the Great, Order of, 45 

St. Louis Jewish Voice, 81 

St. Louis Woman (musical), 22 

Salonikan Jews, 198 

Sambenito, 159 

Sandow The Great, 8-9 

Sands, Eugene L., 53, 68 

San Francisco, I 3 I 

San Juan de 10s Remedios, Cuba, I 54 

Santa Fe, Argentina, 198 

Santiago, Chile, 236 

Index 279 

Sio Paulo, Brazil, 135, 216-229 passim, 

234, 237, 238, 239, 241, 243 

"Say It With Music" (Berlin), 23 

Scheines, Gregorio, 165 

Schiff, Jacob, 260 

Schmelz, U. O., 231, 236, 239, 245, 246 

Schmier, Louis, I 24 

Schoenberg, Arnold, 29 

School Days (revue), 25 

Schools, public, 22, 25, 27, 64, 65, 67, 130 

Schoua, Moisis, 199 

Schultz, Joseph P., 262 

Schvartzman, Pedro, 172-173, 176 

Schwartz, Arthur, 24-25> 26 

Schwartz, Jean, 9, 10, 11, 14 

Schwartz, Jordan A., 106-1 I 5 

Scliar, Moacyr, 184, 185-187 

Scott, Edward W., 130 

Scottsboro Boys, 70 

Second Congregations Church (Newport, 

R.I.), 98 

Second Vatican Council, 4 I 

"Secular Synagogue," 261 

Secunda, Sholom, 3 I 

Seesaw (Fields), 24 

Sefer Moreshes Avos: The Heritage of Our 

Fathers (Kelman & Kelman), 129 

Seixas, Moses, 99 

Self-hatred, Jewish, 18, 171, 176 

Selznick Bros., 6 

Semanario Hebreo, El (Buenos Aires), 197 

Sephardim, 92, 129, 135, 19-205 passim, 

242. See also names of communities 

and groups 

"September Song" (Weill), 27 

Sermons and preaching 

in English, 8 I 

in German, 79, 81 

Feinberg, 128 

Feldman, 128 

Goldenson, I 28 

Goode, 128 

Hahn, 128 

Kaplan, 129 

Kohler, 79, I 29 

Krauskopf, 79 

Landau, 44-45 

Landman, 44-45


Levy, 84 

Marx, 76 

Newfield, 54-55, 59, I29 

Pereira, 129 

Rosenau, 130 

Wessolowsky, 13 2 

"Seven Poems" (Klein), I zg 

Seville, Spain, 154, 159, 160 

Shaare Emeth (St. Louis), 81 

Shabbat Sheni, 78 

Shaffir, William, 125 

Shankman, Arnold, I 18 

Shavuoth, 55 

Shean, Al, 7 

"Sheik of Araby, The" (Snyder & Rose), 16 

Shervient, Lithuania, 10 

Sholem Aleichem, I 87 

Shpall, Leo, I 16, I 17 

Shubert, J. J. ("JAKE"), 6, 10 

Shubert, Lee, 6, 10 

Shubert, Sam, 6, 10 

Shubert Alley, 10 

Shubert Brothers, 6, 9-10, 22 

Shubert Ziegfeld Follies, 10 

Shulman & Goldbert Public Theatre 

(N.Y.C.), 13 

"Siam" (song), 14 

Sicily Island, LA., I 1 7 

"Sick Rose, The" (Blake), 255 

Silver, Louis, 21 

Simon, Barney, 256 

Simonhoff, Harry, 130 

Sinbad (revue), I 5 

Singer, Isaac B., 187 

Singerman, Robert, 262 

"Singing in the Rain" (Freed), 21 

Siofok, Hungary, 13 

Sionista, El (Buenos Aires), 193, 197 

Slaves and slave-owning, 92, 93 

Slavin, Stephen L., 262 

Smith, Kate, 3 z 

Snyder, Ted, 16 

Soboleosky, Marcos, 17-172, 176 

Social gospel movement, 38, 52, 53, 57, 

59-63, 70, 71 

Socialism, 26, 29, 123, 174, 175 

Social justice, 125 

Sociedad Hebraica (Argentina), 168 

Soga, 146 

Sokolow, Nahum, 197, 201 

Solomon, Hannah, 80 

"Some Aspects of Intermarriage in the Jew- 

ish Community of Sgo Paulo, Brazil" 

(Krausz), 216-230 

"Somebody Loves Me" (Gershwin), 23 

"Something to Remember You By" 

(Schwartz), 25 

Somoza, Anastasio, 245 

Sonneschein, Solomon, H., 81 

"Soon" (Gershwin), 30 

Sopovich, Luisa, 165 

Sosnowski, Saul, 165 

South Africa, 254-256 

South African Jewish Voices (Kalechofsky 

& Kalechofsky), reviewed, 254-256 

South Carolina, 106 

Southern Jewish Historical Society, I 24 

South Highlands Presbyterian Church (Bir- 

mingham), 62 

Spanjaard, Barry, 263 

Speculator: Bernard M. Baruch in Washing- 

ton, The (Schwartz), reviewed, 

106-11 5 

Srednicke, Lithuania, 11 

Stars in Your Eyes (Schwartz), 25 

Steinberg, Samuel, 3 I 

Steinhardt, Laurence A., 130 

"Stench, The" (Becker), 25 5 

Stiles, Ezra, 98, 99 

Stock market, 106, 114 

Strike Up the Band (Gershwin bros.), 30 

Straus, Oscar, 47, 143-144, 260 

Straus, Roger W., 47 

Strong, Josiah, 59 

Sudilkow, Russia, 42 

Sullivan, Mark L., 107 

"Sunday-Sabbath Movement in American 

Reform Judaism: Strategy or Evolu- 

tion?, The" (Olitzky), 75-88 

"Supper Time" (Berlin), 23 

Supreme Court, U.S., 250, 251-252 

Sussman, Lance J., 3 5-5 I, 126 

"Swanee" (Gershwin & Caesar), 11, IS, 26 

Swope, Herbert Bayard, 107 

Synagogue building, used as church, 99-102 

Synagogue-center, 105

Syrian Jews, 193, 194, 196, 198, 199, 202 

Systematischer Katechismus des israelischer 

Religion (Hirsch), 76 

Szemanski, David, 6, 10 

Szichman, Mario, 184-185 

"Taking a Chance on Love" (song), 26 

Talmud, 100, 122, 166 

Tax, Sol, 122 

teatro soy yo, El (Tiempo), 168-170 

Tel Aviv University, I 19 

"Telephone Girl, The" (Kerker), 13 

Temple Anshe Amunim (Pittsfield, Mass.), 

129 

Temple Berith Kodesh (Rochester, N.Y.), 80 

Temple Beth Boruk (Richmond, Ind.), 126 

Temple B'nai Jehudah (Kansas City, Miss.), 

79 

Temple Emanuel (Davenport, Iowa), 126 

Temple Emanuel (St. Louis), 84 

Temple Emanu-El (Birmingham, Ala.), 52, 

539 541 70 

Temple Emanu-El (N.Y.C.), 125 

Temple Israel (Far Rockaway, N.Y.), 43, 44 

Temple Israel (St. Louis), 81 

Terre Haute, Ind., 127 

Thalberg, Irving, 20 

"That Old Gang of Mine" (Rose), 17 

Theater, musical, Jews in, 9 

Theatre Guild, 25 

Theosophy, 40 

"They Can't Take That Away from Me" 

(Gershwin Bros.), 21 

"They Were All Out of Step Except Jim" 

(Berlin), 16 

"This Is My Country" (Jacobs), 32 

Three Cheers for the Boys (Cahn), 31 

"Three Coins in the Fountain" (Cahn), 32 

Threepenny Opera, The (Brecht and Weill), 

26-27 

Ticknor, George, 145 

Tiempo, Cbsar, 168-170, 176 

Tifereth Israel (Cleveland), 81 

Tin Pan Alley, 3, 4, 10, 18 

Toast of New Orleans (Cahn), 3 I 

To Free a People: American Jewish Leaders 

and the Jewish Problem in Eastern 

Europe (Best), reviewed, 260 

Index 28 I 

To Give Life: The UJA in the Shaping of 

the American Jewish Community 

(Karp), reviewed, 261 

Toker, Eliahu, 165 

Toll, William, 253 

Tombstones, 126 

"Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye" (Kahn), 

11, I2 

"Torat Emet" (Messing), 127 

Toronto, 124 

Tragic Week, 183 

Treasury Dept., U.S., 106, 114 

Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A (Schwartz), 25 

Trent, Council of, I 5 3 

Trilogia de la trata de blancas (Alsogaray), 

181 

Trinidad, I 56 

Truman, Harry S., 28, 262 

Tucker, Gordon, 13 2 

Tucker, Sophie, 5, 7 

Tucumin, Argentina, 198 

Turkish Jews, 194, 196, 198, zoo 

Ullman, Samuel, 64, 65 

"Under the American Flag" (Von Tilzer), 14 

Unfinished Business (Plaut), reviewed, 

261-262 

Unitarians, 56, 60, 62 

United Jewish Appeal, 261 

United Mine Workers, 69 

United Nations, 106, 240 

United Palestine Appeal, 261 

United States trial census, (1957), 238 

Universalism, 36, 123 

Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, 48-49 

Upper West Side (N.Y.C.), 103 

Uriburu, Jose F., 181 

Urofsky, Melvin I., 125 

Uruguay, 169, 198, 241, 245 

Ussishkin, Menahem, 197 

Valentino, Rudolph, 16 

Van and Schenck, I 5 

Vaudeville, 5, 6 

Venezuela, 241 

Vera Cruz, Mex., 132, 155 

Veragues, duke of, 160


Verbitsky, Bernardo, 165, 170, 173-176 

Vetereans' Bureau (Birmingham), 66 

Victoria Theatre (N.Y.C.), 11 

Vienna, 83 

Villa Mercedes, Argentina, 193 

Viias, David, I 83-1 84 

Virgin Mary, 161, 166 

V.1.T.A.-Mexico, 147 

Voice That Spoke for Justice: The Life and 

Times of Stephen S. Wise, A 

(Urofsky), reviewed, 125 

Violets of Montmart, The (Kalman), 13 

Virgin Mary, 161, 166 

V.1.T.A.-Mexico, 147 

Vivekananda, Swami, 40 

Wallace, Henry A., 107 

Warburg, Felix M., 130 

War Industries Board, U.S., 15, 17, 106, 

108,109, IIO 

Waring, Fred, 32 

Warner Brothers, 6, 18 

Warren, Harry, 18, 28 

Warsaw, Poland, 179 

Washington, George, 37 

Washington Disarmament Treaties, I I z 

Washington Post, 114 

Watergate, 25 I 

"Way You Look Tonight, The" (Fields), 24 

Webb, Clifton, 25 

Weber and Fields, 7, 23 

Weddings, 14 

Weill, Kurt, 2627, 28, zg 

Weill, Simon, 23 5 

Weinfeld, Morton, I 25 

Weisbrot, Robert, 178 

Weitz, Martin M., 130 

Weizmann, Chaim, 129, 130, 197, 201, 202 

Welch, Samuel, 65 

Welles, Orson, 29 

Wedel, Franz, 27 

Wessolowsky, Charles, I 24, I 32 

Westerbork (concentration camp), 263 

"What Christians Ought to Know About 

Judaism" (Landman), 44-45 

"What'll I Do" (Bedin), 23 

"When Alexander Takes His Ragtime Band 

to France" (Hess & Leslie), 16 

White, George, 22 

"White and Injured" (Eskapa), 256 

"White Christmas" (Berlin), 21 

Whiteman, Paul, zo 

White slave trade. See Prostitution 

"Who is a Jew?" See Jewish identity 

Whoopee (show), 12 

"Who's Sorry Now?" (Snyder), 16 

Wilder, Alex, 8 

Wiley, Louis, 80 

Williamson, Adam, 94 

Wills, 93, 126 

Wilson, Joan Hoff, 112 

Wilson, Woodrow, 15, 106, 109, 112, 113, 

252 

Wintergarden Theatre (N.Y.C.), 11 

Wirth, Louis, 104 

Wise, Isaac M., 42, 53, 54, 70, 77, 78, 79, 

80,130 

Wise, Stephen S., 45, 125 

Wish You Were Here (show), 29 

Wissenschaft des Judentums, I 3 z 

Witmark, M., & Sons, 3 

Wizard of Oz, The (Harburg), zz 

Wolf, Simon, 260 

Women, ordination of, 132 

Woodward, Bob, 252 

Woolcott, Alexander, 7 

World Bank, I I z 

World Parliament of Religions, 40 

World's Day of Rest League, 80 

World Union of Sephardic Jews, 197, 198, 

World War I, 10, 14, 15, 16, 30, 32, 41, 

43, 69, 106, 107, 1x0, 111, 190, 252 

World War 11, 32, 49, 106, 108, 110, 111, 

112,115, 250, z~t, 260, 263 

World Zionist Organization, 128, 190, 191, 

192, 195, 198, 199,200 

Wynn, Ed, 9, 10 

Yale University, 28, 98 

Yarcho, Nahum, 167 

Yellen, Jack, 17, 28 

"Yes, Sir, That's My Baby" (song), 12 

Yeshiva College (N.Y.C.), 105 

Yiddish language, 117, 123, 167, 173, 184, 

186,191, 193, 194,196,199

influence on popular music, 5, 7, 3 I 

Yiddish press, 123, 166, 191, 195 

Yiddish theatre, 31, 185 

Yip Yip Yaphank (Berlin), 16, 32 

Yoelson, Moses, 11 

Yom Hashoah, 128 

Yom Kippur, 20, 46, 128, zzo, 236 

"You and the Night and the Music" 

(Schwam), 25 

"You Are My Lucky Star" (Freed), Z I 

Young, Joe, 15-16 

Young Israel Synagogue (N.Y.C.), 104 

Young Plan, I I z 

"You're the Cream in My Coffee" (De 

Sylva, Brown, & Henderson), 23 

"You Were Meant for Me" (Freed), 21 

Zeire Zion (Argentina), 191 

" 'Zeit Ist's': Thoughts on German Histori- 

Index 

cism, the Wissenschaft des Judentums 

and the State of American Jewish 

History" (Peck), 13 2 

Zewi Migdal (Buenos Aires), 180, 181, 182, 

186 

Ziegfeld, Florenz, 8-9, zz 

Ziegfeld Follies, 8, 9, 10, 22 

Zielonka, Martin, I 3 z 

Zionism, 111, 120, 125, 127, 129, 253 

in Argentina, 135, 174, 175, 190-203 

passim 

Reform opposition to, 42, 43, 44, 54, 125, 

130 

Sephardic opposition to, 191, 193, 195, 

198-199, zoo, zoz-203 

See also Aliyah; Israel, State of; World 

Zionist Organization 

Zionist Action Committee (Cologne), 193 

Zionist Congress, First, 190 

Zukor, Adolph, 6

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