Tips for Jewish Travelers

Buenos Aires is one of the world's greatest Jewish centers, with an estimated Jewish population of more than 250,000. The historical foci of the community are the neighborhoods of Once and Abasto. They developed in the beginning of the 20th century after immigration of both Ashkenazi Jews fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe and Sephardic Jews who emigrated after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. After World War II, Argentina welcomed Eastern European Jewish refugees (while also allowing the entry of former Nazis). While the Jewish community has dispersed somewhat to the suburbs, replaced here by other immigrant groups, Abasto and Once are still home to kosher restaurants, Jewish businesses, and synagogues. The Abasto Shopping Center food court also has the only kosher McDonald's in the world outside of Israel.

In 1992, there was a bomb attack on Buenos Aires's Israeli Embassy, killing 29 people, and in 1994, an attack on the Jewish community group Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) killed 85 people. However, in spite of these attacks, most Argentine Jews feel little discrimination. Argentines of all faiths responded to the attacks with massive candlelight vigils. Visit AMIA's website at www.amia.org.ar for more information as well as the Museo Judio.