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Israel/Overseas: Argentina

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Relief and aliyah are answers for
Argentina's distressed Jewish population

In a matter of days in December 2001, and in the months that followed, 40,000 middle class Argentinean Jews were plunged into poverty by an
economic collapse that created a state of crisis throughout Argentina. Bank accounts and credit cards were frozen, the peso was devalued, small businesses failed, and anti-government protesters, some of them violent, filled the streets of Buenos Aires.

Until the news hit the headlines, North American Jews were, for the most part, unaware that Buenos Aires was home to the largest, most Jewishly know-ledgeable and educated Jewish community in South America. 
 

Armando, Maria and Pablo Schmelz made aliyah from Argentina last spring. Armando, like thousands of other middle-class Argentinean Jews, lost his job this year as a sales director at a plastics manufacturing company. The savings Armando and his wife had carefully accumulated in two accounts—one for their 15-year-old son Pablo's education, the other a cushion in case of emergency—were unavailable to them, with only 125 pesos a month allowed for withdrawal since the crisis unfolded in December 2001. Soon after that,  they met with representatives from the Jewish Agency and decided to move to Israel.
     A package of special benefits in addition to the usual subsidies and grants for olim are helping to compensate people like Armando and Maria for property they have to leave behind or can't sell because of the economic collapse. Pablo Schmelz left for Israel in April and is studying in Gilboa; his parents left in June and are living not far away in Migdal Ha'emek. "This country is astonishing and wonderful," Armando wrote, soon after his arrival in Israel. "Solidarity is the word I can best apply to our first week in Israel. Everyone who knew about our arrival welcomed us and wished us the best."

But as the story of Argentina's financial meltdown and its effect on the country's Jews began to emerge, UJC and the Federations of North America responded quickly. 

Following a fact-finding mission to Buenos Aires, UJC's Israel/Overseas Pillar formed the UJC Argentina Task Force. The task force's initial report detailed a crisis so shocking and pervasive—70 percent of those seeking aid had belonged to the middle class until recently, when they lost their jobs and income—that an emergency fund-raising campaign was launched to provide relief and to support aliyah. UJC, on behalf of the federations, committed $5 million for humanitarian relief and $35 million to support aliyah for Argentineans who chose to move to Israel. In addition to the work funded by the campaign, UJC's partners, the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Jewish Agency for Israel, are involved in helping Argentinean Jews revitalize their troubled religious, communal, and educational institutions.

JDC has worked on the ground in Buenos Aires along with local organizations like the Tzedakah Foundation, distributing food and vouchers, clothing, and rent subsidies to 28,000 people currently in its caseload (expected to rise to 35,000 or more next year). At 40 social assistance centers, serving about 200 families each, JDC provides free meals, legal assistance, medication, and job training and placement. Argentinean Jews like Etelvina Zaietz, a 62-year-old widow who is trying to support herself and her 19-year-old daughter by selling vegetables, survive thanks to food vouchers they receive from JDC. 

The Jewish Agency has responded to the surge of interest in aliyah, providing information and processing applications on an emergency basis. Over 12,000 interviews were conducted and about 6,000 people made aliyah in 2002. Now, thanks to the efforts of the Government of Israel, UJC and the Jewish Agency, thousands of Argentinean Jews who felt they had no future in their own country have a chance to start over in Israel.

Annual Report table of contents:

Mobilizing Our Jewish Values | Annual Campaign | 9/11 Fund | Israel Emergency Campaign  Missions | Israel Overseas: Argentina | Planned Giving and Endowments | Renaissance and Renewal Alliance | Human Services And Social Policy | FedWeb |  How UJC Works