by Sherry Levy-Reiner

I was gratified to read the constructive comments about my previous blog, "Progressive Judaism: the Un-'official' Alternative," January 7, 2010.  I hope that the dialogue sparks action. In 2006, my husband and I spent two months in South Africa shortly after the "Chief Rabbi" refused to participate in a memorial service for Yitzhak Rabin either because - we heard variously - a Reform rabbi was participating and/or a girl's chorus was singing. This issue obviously is very much alive and not just troubling but debilitating.

Now we have just returned from three weeks in Argentina, where the state does not support religion.  While the Jewish community of course has many different kinds of problems and issues, in Buenos Aires - largely as a result of its history - it is not controlled by the Orthodox.  The oldest congregation in the country, La Congregación Israelita de la República Argentina, is affiliated with the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

Not only is its grand building in all the guidebooks, but the congregation has spun off many other congregations. In the late 1950s, Conservative Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer injected new spirit into the entire community.  In addition to revitalizing his own congregation, he established a seminary that prepares community leaders - rabbis, cantors, educators - for all of Central and South America.  A social justice activist who worked against the "Dirty War" and tried to save many of the Disappeared, Meyer influenced the founding of other progressive congregations in suburban Buenos Aires.  (Some also may recognize his name as the guiding spirit and spiritual leader of B'nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side of New York, today's thriving "BJ.")

The Shabbat prayerbook of La Congregación Israelita carries the logo of the WUPJ, and its Shabbat Service includes Debbie Friedman's arrangement of "Mi Shebeirach," as well as many other liturgical settings we all know and love.  Its members are leaders in the social service agencies and other communal organizations in Buenos Aires. Its rabbis are recognized and accepted as are the rabbis of other Progressive congregations that belong to the WUPJ. The congregation co-exists alongside several well-established Orthodox congregations, some of which follow Sephardic ritual, and a large number of Chabad centers scattered through the Jewish neighborhoods of Buenos Aires and the agricultural communities of Argentina. 

Progressive Judaism is definitely on the map in Argentina. It is an enlightening alternative to the European "model."

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