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Rosh Hashana in Argentina Helps Nelia "Focus On the Positive"Nelia’s earrings shone brilliantly in the candlelight, matching her sparkling green eyes. She had applied makeup and straightened her long blonde hair in honor of this much-anticipated community Rosh Hashanah celebration. "I feel grateful for being here, surrounded by affection," said Nelia, 46, whose salary at a shoe repair shop in Buenos Aires barely affords her the room she shares with her elderly mother, Ellen. "Without this gathering, we would be at home without proper dinner foods," she says. For the thousands of Jews in Argentina still reeling from the country’s economic implosion, Beyachad communal holiday celebrations, supported by JDC, are a source of comfort and camaraderie, while also providing traditional meals that are otherwise unaffordable for many formerly middleclass families. Like so many others, Nelia’s life was turned on its head when the bridal boutique where she worked for 22 years had to close down and she defaulted on the mortgage of the home that had belonged to her family for decades. Sitting around the holiday table with 300 community members at a school in the Villa Crespo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Nelia talked with Sofia, 70, and the two exchanged memories of celebrating Rosh Hashana years ago, when finances were better. "We are enjoying so much our conversation – deep and involved," offered Nelia. "We feel we have company and do not have to be by ourselves." Nelia has grown familiar with the feeling of abandonment. Her father made aliyah to Israel two decades ago and she has never received any news from him. Some years later, Luis –her only brother – also left Argentina. "He calls us often," Nelia says, reassuringly. "Luis was glad to hear we were going to be in a community celebration and not alone," said Nelia. At the same time, Nelia’s cousins, with whom she used to share Jewish celebrations throughout her childhood, "vanished" as her economical situation worsened. "I guess my cousins were too worried I would ask them for help. I never did. But they vanished anyway," she admits, her shame palpable. Today, Nelia’s meager income is supplemented with a supermarket subsidy and other help from a JDC-supported Social Assistance Center, in collaboration with local organizations. Hers and her mom’s once substantial savings were all but eradicated in the crisis of December 2001. Toasting the new year with 300 fellow Jewish community members at the fourth annual Rosh Hashana Beyachad, Nelia and her new friend Sofia were focusing on the positive, heartened by each other’s company. "I recall holidays of my childhood spent in Mar del Plata," says the young woman, reminiscing also about the profitable business that her father used to own. But she says she is slowly adjusting to the changing times, and welcomes the extended family she has created through community events. "We are all sharing apples and honey and a rabbi’s sermon, together! This is something wonderful!" October 2005 |
