The celebration of Rosh Hashanah in Montevideo had a very significant impact in the general population of Uruguay, thanks to the initiative of B’nai B’rith in this country.
Alfredo Neuburger, B’nai B’rith International’s director for South America, reported that three special programs on the significance of Jewish New Year have been aired by three of the four television stations, on the evening of September 14, the afternoon of Sunday the 15th, immediately prior to the start of Rosh Hashanah and on Tuesday the 17th, upon the conclusion of the two-day celebration.
The programs included a presentation by Vito Atijas, acting president of the Uruguayan district of B’nai B’rith, and Eduardo Kohn, executive director; greetings by the Israeli Ambassador in Uruguay, Dr. Manajem Carmi, and films showing Jewish life in Israel and the diaspora.
After describing briefly B’nai B’rith’s history and philosophy, Atijas indicated that “our organization, the oldest and largest Jewish service movement, is proud to present to the Uruguayan people images of the Jewish nation throughout the world.” Atijas concluded by wishing “that we in B’nai B’rith commit our effort to help build a world of peace for all humanity.”
The combined audience of the three programs was close to two million people throughout the country, which is the equivalent of over 80 percent of the total population.
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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.