Tuesday May 26th, 2015
Buenos Aires is a city built on immigration from mainly European countries and Jewish people added a lot of diversity to the initial culture of Buenos Aires. We initially started our tour at AMIA which is the Jewish Federation of Argentina. AMIA provides several services to its members including job opportunities, legal issues, and travel to Israel. AMIA was a target of a terrorist attack that killed 85 people and damaged the building extensively. Today, AMIA is under extensive security and a passport is required in most cases for tourists. These were some of the artifacts that survived the blast and are still on display today.
The next stop on the tour was the Abasto. Years ago, the Abasto used to be an old farmers market. Over the years it went out of use and was empty. It was recently renovated and today it is a mall with several American brands such as Wendy’s and Burger King.
There are over 95 synagogues in Buenos Aires and the next stop on the tour was the oldest synagogue in Buenos Aires. The synagogues was first started in 1897 by Russian Jews but it wasn’t completed until 1932. The architecture of this synagogue was just like that of a Catholic Church.
The synagogue also had a museum that included items that immigrants had brought over from their homelands. After we got to the hotel we had a conversation with a Guest Professor that talked with us about about various topics concerning Argentina. The viewpoint from a professor that wasn’t from the United States was interesting to hear and really gave a different feel to the topic rather than the news that I have seen beforehand in America.
To finish the day we had a group dinner at El Pasaje Resto. El Pasaje Resto is a Jewish restaurant and the meal was kosher and predominantly vegetarian. It was interesting to see a different style of dinner because up until now it had been predominantly meat. The meal tied the entire day together and really showed the impact of a specific culture on Buenos Aires.