A group of 130 Latin American Jewish students who have never identified themselves with Jewish affairs has indicated here that they still possess a Jewish consciousness and would like to become better, more knowledgeable Jews.
The students, from eight universities in Venezuela and Colombia, participated in a seminar on Jewish problems organized by the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation of Venezuela. A survey showed that more than three-quarters of them would not marry a non-Jew and that almost all would like to spend some time in Israel.
The youngsters described themselves as “Jews by inertia.” They said they had little knowledge of Jewish religious practices and rarely participated in Jewish programs for social action in their communities. The Argentine-Jewish author, Mario Szichman, one of the speakers at the seminar, characterized Latin American Jewry as part of the “establishment” willing to tolerate even dictatorships so long as it is left in peace.
But according to Rabbi Isidoro Aizenberg, director of the Venezuelan Hillel Foundation, more and more Jewish youth are seeking knowledge of Judaism and identification with it.
The seminar touched on the problems of Jewish identification and involvement in the social revolution in South America. The Venezuelan Hillel Foundation was the first in Latin America, established two years ago. Another was founded recently in Sao Paulo. Brazil.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
