Comunidad Bet El

Congregation Bet El
Spanish: Comunidad Bet El
Religion
AffiliationConservative Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusSynagogue
StatusActive
Location
LocationBuenos Aires
CountryArgentina
Architecture
TypeSynagogue architecture
FounderRabbi Marshall Meyer
Date established1962 (as a congregation)
Groundbreaking1972
Completed1973
Website
betel.org.ar

The Comunidad Bet El is a Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

History

The congregation was founded in 1962[1]: 530  as a result of tensions within the Israelite Argentine Congregation caused by the arrival of rabbi Marshall Meyer. Meyer instituted changes to ritual practices that were broadly popular with youth but not with more conservative members of the congregation.[1]: 645  Meyer was the founding rabbi of Bet El;[2][3] having previously resigned as rabbi of the Congregación Israelita de la República Argentina, he was convinced to take the post by a group that also left that congregation to found a new one.[1]: 645 [4]

The Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, which was also founded in 1962, was built near Bet El. Many youth studied at the Seminario after their b'nai mitzvah. Bet El and the Seminario were involved in the Instituto de Diálogo Interreligioso along with Protestant and Catholic groups.[1]: 647 

In 1972, Comunidad Bet El had a 600-family membership and broke ground for the construction of a new synagogue and school complex.[5] In June 1973, it opened its new sanctuary, dedicating it to Abraham Joshua Heschel.[6] In 1974, it opened the first Jewish day school in South America and ran a Camp Ramah summer camp program.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Avni, Haim; Bokser, Judit; Bejarano, Margalit; DellaPergola, Sergio, eds. (2011). Pertenencia y alteridad [Belonging and otherness] (in Spanish). Vervuert Verlagsgesellschaft. doi:10.31819/9783954872794. ISBN 9783954872794.
  2. ^ Green, David B. (December 29, 2015). "This Day in Jewish History: 1993: Trail-blazing U.S. Rabbi Who Would Defy the Argentine Regime Dies". Haaretz. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Palmer, Joanne (January 4, 2018). "Remembering Dr. King and Rabbi Heschel". Jewish Standard. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  4. ^ Tank-Storper, Sébastien (2005). "La conversion prohibée: mariages mixtes et politiques de conversion dans le champ religieux juif argentin" [The prohibited conversion: mixed marriages and conversion politics in the Argentine Jewish religious fiel d]. Archives de sciences sociales des religions (in French). 50 (131/132): 123–142. doi:10.4000/assr.3262. ISSN 0335-5985. JSTOR 30116711.
  5. ^ Meyer, Naomi F. (1973). "Argentina". The American Jewish Year Book. 74: 325. ISSN 0065-8987. JSTOR 23605687 – via JSTOR.
  6. ^ Meyer, Naomi F. (1974). "Argentina". The American Jewish Year Book. 75: 367. ISSN 0065-8987. JSTOR 23604253 – via JSTOR.
  7. ^ Meyer, Naomi F. (1976). "Argentina". The American Jewish Year Book. 76: 270–271. ISSN 0065-8987. JSTOR 23605442 – via JSTOR.