Economic crisis sends Argentines to Communal Seders
BUENOS AIRES, March 12 (JTA) -- For several
years, Jewish institutions in Argentina have hosted
small communal seders for those unable to afford the
celebration at home.
This Passover, the number of families in need of a communal
seder Has grown -- as Argentine Jews, like other members
of this beleaguered South American country, suffer from
the effects of an ongoing economic crisis.
The number of Jews on welfare doubled
in the past year -- up to some 18,000 out of a total
number of 200,000, according to Nora Blaistein, director
of social programs at Tzedaka, a Jewish social services
organization.
Enter Tzedaka and the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee. The two groups are sponsoring communal seders
for the second night of Passover -- March 28.
With a variety of institutions -- synagogues,
welfare centers, old-age centers -- hosting families
across Argentina, organizers expect to gather at least
10,000 participants, mostly in Buenos Aires.
This is the first year that the JDC has felt the need to coordinate Argentine
communal seders.
"This is a community that is in a serious state of depression. Many many people
have lost their jobs; people are on the verge of losing their apartments," Steven
Schwager, JDC's chief operating officer, says, speaking in New York. "The idea
of these seders is to bring normalcy back into these people's lives and give
them hope for the future, something they don't have at the moment." Each host
institution will provide about 30 volunteers, including singers and people to
run the seders.
"We plan to respect all differences, to have everyone comfortable -- those who
have more secular celebrations and those who are more observant," says Monica
Cullucar, a JDC official in Argentina. For many of the volunteers, helping with
the seders is a responsibility they take seriously. "There are too many families
needing food and community support who won't have the strength to prepare for
Passover", said Lidia Azubel, a 55-year-old women and the president of the Bet-El
Jewish community center. "And as a Jewish community I take this as an obligation.
It is not charity, it is justice." Joseph Thalheimer agrees. "I see Pesach as
my favorite Jewish celebration, a moment to be with family or loved-ones. I
know there are now many Jews without the mood for Passover joy. That is why
I want to help in this specific program," says Thalheimer, a 19-year-old from
Baltimore who is working as an intern at the Hebraica Jewish community center.
By Florencia Arbiser
