Jewish Teenagers from Argentina to Meet Counter-parts in U.S.

Thirty-five Jewish teenagers from Argentina will come to the U.S. to make connections with their counterparts in Jewish community centers in small, intermediate and large communities from Feb. 17-27, under the auspices of the Jewish Welfare Board as part of the JWB’s continuing effort to strengthen the ties between Jews around the globe and enhance the sense of Jewish peoplehood. Interested primarily in the similarities and differences between Jewish life here and in Latin America, the Argentinian young people will concentrate on talking with American teenagers at the centers they visit, exchanging ideas, experiences and suggestions.

The Argentinians, age 16 to 18, are members of a special Youth Leadership Group of the Macabi Club (equivalent to a North American JCC) in Buenos Aires. The group is composed of 25 boys and 10 girls, all outstanding youth leaders who are participating in the Macabi Club’s intensive training program which is designed to develop future community leaders. The visit is a direct outgrowth of JWB’s Fact-Finding Mission to Latin America, which took place last March. That mission was designed to familiarize North American JCC leaders with the achievements and problems of their southern Jewish neighbors.

Members of the mission met with this Youth Leadership Group from the Macabi Club and suggested that the group visit the United States. The Argentinians’ stopover in America comes at the end of their month-long visit to Israel. The project is being coordinated by the World Service Committee of JWB, Morton L. Mandel is chairman of the Committee, and Emanuel Berlatsky is JWB’s U.S. Consultant to the Committee.