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Latin America is home to nearly half a million Jews. JDC began working with the Jewish communities of Latin America prior to World War II, when we were seeking safe havens for and helping resettle European Jews who were fleeing the gathering Nazi storm. Following the war, we opened an office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today, it serves as our base of operations in Latin America.
Many Jewish communities in Latin America are financially self-sufficient. Thus, JDC's primary goal is to provide strategic planning and technical assistance in any area of Jewish community development. Over the years, we have assisted virtually every community in Latin America with some aspect of Jewish education, outreach or communal development.
Another way in which we assist Latin America's Jewish communities is through our specialized training programs and seminars for lay and professional Jewish leaders. We encourage regional cooperation and networking and provide a global Jewish perspective.
In times of crisis, JDC reacts immediately. Following Argentina's economic collapse, JDC responded with programs offering emergency financial assistance and technical support. When the Castro regime eased religious restrictions in Cuba late in 1991, the first call from the president of the community was to JDC.
Community Building
Some communities in Latin America need training and consultation programs, and JDC offers them constructive vehicles for decision-making, growth and change. Working with local communities, we focus on accountability, measurable results and the need for strategic planning.
We also sponsor seminars dealing with various aspects of communal life for varied groups of lay leaders and professionals. In 2003, JDC held seminars in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, El Salvador, Honduras, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba and Colombia.
Leatid
In 1988, JDC established Leatid, a training institute for lay and professional Jewish leaders. Leatid offers courses and seminars and provides in-service training for senior and junior professionals in their home communities. Programs include the institutional directors training program, the Amit training program for young communal lay leaders, and an electronic forum for Jewish institutional leadership. Leatid recently initiated one-year programs geared specifically to Central American lay leaders.
Through its Web site, JDC offers different forms of "e-learning" and resource materials to lay and professional leaders throughout Latin America. The Web site also helps to involve local leadership in regional and international issues of Jewish concern.
Thanks in part to Leatid, the new generation of lay and professional leaders emerging in Latin America will be better equipped ensure the sustainability of Jewish communal life.
Contacto
Contacto, JDC's quarterly Spanish-language newsletter, is distributed throughout Latin America and is an important source of information on communal programs and events as well as topics of interest around the Jewish world.
Latin America Data Bank
Supported by JDC and ORT, the Latin America Data Bank-Einstein Virtual Campus is a unique computer-based network that is bringing Jewish graduate students and young professionals together in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. The program enables these young adults to explore job possibilities and exchange professional information with one another via the Jewish community. Activities with Jewish content are also encouraged, and a concerted effort is made to enhance the participants' sense of communal responsibility.
Outreach
JDC has been especially active over the past few years in Central America, providing technical assistance to help the smaller communities there and in neighboring countries with informal Jewish educational programs, religious activities, camp programs for youth and families, and training and study seminars for teachers, counselors, and lay leaders. Many smaller communities require special links to larger communities in the region to overcome feelings of isolation and disassociation. For example, a small community in Guatemala sent two children to JDC's youth camp in Cuba. The experience established a continuing bond between Jewish youth in both communities.
General Assembly
With JDC's encouragement, the Jewish communities of Latin America now regularly hold a regional forum similar to the North American General Assembly, or GA. Known locally as the "Leadership Encounter," this Latin American GA promotes networking among Jewish communities.
In October 2003, the nineth "Leadership Encounter" was held in Antigua, Guatemala. The meeting gave further impetus to the strong sense of Jewish community that has been emerging in recent years throughout Latin America.
Although the economic and political climate in Latin America remains volatile, JDC continues to work to enhance Jewish community development and to promote contacts among local Jewish communities and the wider Jewish world.
