Trek From Rio to Points South Renews Spirit

It was a wonderful University Synagogue tour--one of the best ever--to Rio de Janeiro, Iguassu Falls, Buenos Aires and Patagonia. We met our fellow Jews in synagogues, on boats, in the streets and in hotel lobbies and restaurants. And at the end of the earth, at a glacier in Patagonia, we even met a young man from Irvine whose volunteer soccer coach was on our trip.

In the Rio suburb of Barra de Tijuca, we spent Shabbat with Rabbi Nilton Bonder, who is deeply warm, spiritual and charismatic. The rabbi spoke to

us about Jewish life in Brazil, and his successful and continuing outreach work in a community that has so much competition from world-renowned beaches, wonderful weather and affluence.

Crypto-Jews were among Brazil’s founders. Having fled the Inquisition, these “secret Jews” were forced to hide from church authorities who even pursued them from Spain to the New World of South America.

Twenty-three members of this persecuted Jewish community eventually went north and founded New Amsterdam, which became New York. Brazilians are proudly aware of their Jewish roots, and we were most impressed by the minimal amount of racial and religious prejudice in this very multicultural and multiracial society.

We left Brazil (Jewish population: 150,000) for Iguassu Falls (five Jewish families) on the border of Brazil and Argentina. The 275 waterfalls were breathtaking. We sang the Hebrew poem “Eli Eli” (“I pray that these things never end--the rush of the waters”) as well as the prayer for incredible moments, the shehecheyanu, for it truly was a religious experience.

Then it was off to Buenos Aires, which is full of life--day and night. The city has more psychoanalysts per capita than any in the world, a natural consequence of the introspective and intellectual character of its people and culture.

We shared a delightful Shabbat at Dor Jadash (New Generation) synagogue. In the Jewish Villa Crespo neighborhood, nicknamed Villa Kreplach (kreplach are dumplings filled with meat, onions, and spices), we were warmly welcomed by an impressive cantor, playful musicians, a talented choir and a thoughtful rabbi who asked me to speak from the pulpit about our synagogue and our travels.

At the U.S. Embassy, we were told about the 15,000 to 30,000 desaparecidos, people who disappeared during the “Dirty War” from 1975 to 1982. During that frightening time, many Argentines were followed by the secret police and some were interrogated, jailed or murdered by a right-wing Peronist dictatorship. Those days are over, but everyone is aware that many of the murderers have been pardoned and live freely in Buenos Aires.

One of the most memorable experiences of our trip occurred across from the Casa Rosada, the seat of government, where we marched and circled the plaza with the parents and friends of many desaparecidos. Each Thursday for 25 years, the loved ones of the victims have gathered to remind their country of the evils of fascism and the need to reveal the whole truth about what was done to each of their children.

When we gathered to recite “Mourners’ Kaddish,” a Jewish couple, wearing a picture of their 29-year-old daughter, stopped and politely said, “We won’t say kaddish for our children until the government tells us that they are dead and how they died.”

Many of these protesters also gather once a month with others at a Jewish community center to memorialize the 86 victims of the 1994 bombing there and the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy. This year, a trial will finally be held to determine the perpetrators of the Jewish center bombing.

We were granted a rare visit to the security-conscious, now rebuilt, Jewish community center, where archivist Anita Weinstein spoke movingly to us. A striking sculpture by the Israeli artist Yaakov Agam serves as a memorial to those who were slain, with its themes of destruction and redemption depicted by the biblical flood and a colorful rainbow.

We concluded our tour close to the South Pole, in one of the windiest places on the planet, Patagonia. We were awed and overwhelmed by the immensity of enormous icebergs like the Upsala Glacier, three times the size of Buenos Aires. By boat and on foot, we stood still, waiting for the dramatic thunder of crashing ice. Our patience was rewarded as we watched and heard the ice crack. It was so stark and otherworldly. Once again, nature triumphed, reminding us of how spiritually powerful it is in all of its pristine majesty.

In a few weeks, Jews all over the world will celebrate Passover with its twin themes of freedom and nature’s rebirth. As we sit at our Seder tables, retelling the biblical Exodus story of the liberation from Egypt and celebrating spring’s reappearance, we will add some stories this year--of South American Jews and non-Jews who are once again free, and of natural wonders whose spiritual gifts are eternal.

Arnold Rachlis is the rabbi of University Synagogue, a Reconstructionist congregation in Irvine.

On Faith is a forum for Orange County clergy and others to offer their views on religious topics of general interest. Submissions, which will be published at the discretion of The Times and are subject to editing, should be delivered to Orange County religion page editor William Lobdell.