“I am Jewish, Sephardic, “Turkish”, “Syrian” and proud to be so. But I am
not religious, nor I am linked with community institutions”. Pamela,
Interviewed on April 24th, 2021.
1Even though the academic approach to the study of Jews of Syrian origin has become increasingly encompassing, the tendency to simplify the analysis of identity remains, invisibilizing some of the individual and collective processes experienced. The predominant academic works in the field point to these collectives as being the bearers of crystalized identities that respond to Orientalist constructions, sustaining and supporting their suppositions by the self-representations of those who remain linked to the traditional ethnic associations. In attempting to strengthen their current identity as orthodox, authors reconstruct community history as the "singular" experience of those who maintained orthodoxy at different historical times and national contexts. All of these lead to de-memorizing and silencing other simultaneous identifications which were constructed beyond the spaces of the main community centers.
- 1 According to AISA (Sephardi Jewish Association of Argentina), a representative entity of the Jews o (...)
2The present study is centered on the analysis of a heterogeneous but also majority group of Jews of Syrian origin in Buenos Aires. Despite the lack of official data to estimate the number of those on the sidelines of the community spaces of Jews of Syrian origin, according to the records of the community entities themselves, their members would be under 30% of the estimated population of that origin1.
- 2 R. Rein and J. Lesser, “Nuevas aproximaciones…”, pp. 11-30.
- 3 Sepharadic/Sephardim (pl.): The term has led to different approaches. In Argentina, it refers to th (...)
3In other words, we are facing a phenomenon that could be called "ethnic disaffiliation"2 which covers the distancing or the disassociation of the new generations from the central Aleppan or Damascene institutions, from their synagogues, schools, and recreational spaces, as well as religious observation according to orthodox parameters. Highlighting that the actors do not see themselves as represented in the identifying projects coming from the organizations. However, this disaffiliation did not necessarily imply weakening or rejection as Sephardic3 and Middle Eastern Jews, or not joining other representative institutions of the Jewish collective in Buenos Aires.
4We will define as “orthodox” those who, as well as reclaiming the interpretative monopoly of the religious and ethnic heritage of Jews of Syrian origin, practice and practiced the control of the main community centers. And as “disaffiliated", all those who in some way questioned the legitimacy of the beliefs and practices maintained by the orthodoxy, sustained varied and different alternatives for conceiving their cultural traditions.
- 4 V. Lecaros, “Estudios de Recorridos Religiosos…”, p. 10.
- 5 V. Lecaros, “Estudios de Recorridos Religiosos…”, p. 3.
- 6 D. Setton, “Entre La Sociabilidad y La Politización…”, p. 54.
5Part of European literature on disaffiliation considers it as "a state without a way out or with such exceptional ways out that they are not studied as a social phenomenon"4. Nevertheless, in the cases studied the limits of disaffiliation are vaguer and the processes are not always linear. In this sense, Lecaros's perspective is more appropriate considering disaffiliation as "a definitive or temporary stage which unfolds through life", and which does not occur arbitrarily. At the same time, this stage can be gone through more than once within a person's life journey. For this reason, disaffiliation does not imply the end of what Lecaros calls the "religious adventure" of the subject5. To this we can add Setton's perspective6, to whom disaffiliation is not necessarily a complete process, suggesting that there is no such thing as "an unequivocal dichotomy between affiliation and non-affiliation
- 7 K. Butler, “Defining Diaspora…”, pp. 193-194.
6Likewise, following the debates and re-elaboration of notions amid the concepts of “diaspora” and “formation of ethnic communities”, contributions made by Kim Butler7 related to the time-history and multi-generational dimensions of the Diasporas were relevant to this work. From this perspective, it follows that to avoid the essentialization of the identifying features of the diasporic groups one must bear in mind that identities cannot be considered static and precise, emphasizing that they can differ through generational renewal and in turn, develop dissimilar habits producing different ways of perceiving identities and loyalties. In this sense, it will be emphasized that the processes have undergone by the new generations raised in a bicultural framework: communitarian and national, resulted in different ways of engaging with their ancestor’s homeland and legacy, as well as diverse forms of conceiving their identity as “Argentines” and “Jews” with Syrian origins.
7That is to say, we will analyze the processes undergone by the second and third generations of Argentine Jews born between the forties and eighties in the 20th century. Most of them were educated in Argentina, in public or private schools and universities. Those who were born in the 1940s and 1950s were educated in times of military dictatorships while those born in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s were raised in times of democratic transition and legitimization of cultural diversities.
- 8 There are different theories in this regard. For discussion on the concepts of ethnicity and Latin (...)
- 9 E. Meccia, “Una ventana al mundo…”, p. 26.
- 10 R. Atkinson and J. Flint, “Accessing Hidden and Hard-to-Reach Populations…”, pp. 1-2.
8This work is within the framework of debates on the notions of ethnicity8, disaffiliation, and diasporas, and is based on the documentary analysis of varied sources such as the documentation available from community entities, ethnic digital and national press, social media, and autobiographies. Likewise, more than ninety semi-structured interviews were carried out placing this study within the biographical method which attempts to highlight the presence of individuals in social life9. “Snowball” sampling10 was used for the interviews, beginning with contacts already established in previous works to reach new contacts in two time periods, between two different time frames: from March 2008 to December 2010 and between December 2020 and June 2021.
- 11 These variables have been analyzed in other works on disaffiliation and deinstitutionalization with (...)
9To understand how the protagonists see themselves and how they reconstructed their own identity as Middle Eastern Jews, the interrelation of different factors will be taken into account: upbringing and the ethnic and/or religious origin of parents, university education, marriage, religious observance, and preservation of Sephardic traditions11. All this will be analyzed in the framework of different historical contexts and the times in which our interviewees were being educated and socializing.
- 12 On the Syrian-Lebanese immigration to Argentina: H. Noufouri, Sirios, libaneses y argentinos: fragm (...)
- 13 Ashkenazi (pl. Ashkenazim) Jews from Ashkenaz (Germany) whose main communities developed in Eastern (...)
10The Jewish immigrants of the Ottoman Empire, as well as their fellow countrymen of other religions (Muslims and Christians), arrived in Argentina in the late 19th century and later, from the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon. They were identified indifferently under the demonym "Turks". Despite their differences, their global identification as "Turks" blurred the lines of their regional, religious and ethnic diversities12. Such a term, so common in Argentine society even today, was internalized by the Middle Eastern Jews themselves as a descriptive category of their origins which differentiates them from Ashkenazi Jews13 but which could acquire positive, neutral, or negative connotations depending on the case.
- 14 Mizrahi / Oriental Jews: Broadly speaking, the term refers to the Jewish communities that originate (...)
- 15 See her classic text: E. Shohat, “The Invention of Mizrahim…”. Among others, see for instance: P. M (...)
11In turn, Mizrahim or Oriental Jews is a term14 unused in Buenos Aires, neither by the Sephardic communities themselves nor by the rest of the Jewish community. If we follow Ella Shohat's definition15 of Mizrahim as an identity marker that emphasizes the effects of the Zionist / Eurocentrist / Ashkenazi narratives on the construction of Middle Eastern Jews in Israel, the concept holds little heuristic value in analyzing Jews of the Middle East in Argentina. In any case, the predominant notions of Mizrahim in Israel and the notion of Sephardic Jews from the Arab world in Argentina share a similar burden: that of "Orientalization". Often these Jews have been looked at through an essentialist lens that emphasizes Western apologetic attitudes, persisting Eurocentrist prejudices, and a significant hostility towards Arab people and their culture.
- 16 S. Brauner, “La emigración masiva de los judíos del mundo árabe…”.
12Another of the categories which was initially used in Argentina to call Jews coming from the Middle East is “Arab Jews”, a term that highlighted their common language and culture, shared with their Christians and Muslims. However, the term stopped being used in Buenos Aires after the Arab-Israeli conflict and the painful massive emigration of Jews from the Arab world16.
- 17 Haquetía: Spanish Arabic Jewish dialect, phonetically related to Andalusian and Castilian. During t (...)
13It should be pointed out that the Jews in Argentina are mainly of Ashkenazi origin, coming particularly from the communities which flourished in Eastern Europe. Sephardic Jews are a minority. From the Arab world, the majority are those of Syrian origin, Arabic speakers, and coming from the cities of Damascus and Aleppo. The smallest group is those of Moroccan origin, coming from Tetuan and Tangiers and whose common language was haketia17 and/or Spanish.
- 18 M. Bejarano, “Los sefaradíes en Argentina…”, p. 145.
14Although there is no official data to quantify the number of Jews of the Arab world who settled in Argentina, according to the estimates made by the Israeli statistician, Sergio Della Pergola, in the mid-eighties, there were around 22,000 members, representing approximately 65% of Sephardim and more than 10% of the Jewish community in the country18.
- 19 S. Brauner, Ortodoxia religiosa….
- 20 S. Brauner and S. Schammah, “Más allá de las ‘fronteras’ comunitarias…”. S. Schammah Gesser and S. (...)
15Syrian Jews, Aleppines, and Damascenes are often characterized as part of the most observant and traditionalist sectors, as men of “strong faith” who recreated their identity by preserving religion and ethnic traditions as the main organizing principles in their lives19. In any case, although they maintain vigorous, well-organized communities, it should be highlighted that since the mid-fifties and particularly since the sixties, a process of disassociation has occurred. Some subjects have taken distance from orthodoxy due to disagreement with the religious rules established by its leadership. Thus, they either integrated into other Jewish non-orthodox spaces or scattered among the rest of Argentine society20.
- 21 E. Aizenberg and M. Bejarano, Contemporary Sephardic Identity…. M. Bejarano, “Sephardic Communities (...)
16The studies on these orthodox currents and Sephardim, in general, are limited. The academic and community production is limited compared with the wide bibliography on Judaism in Argentina, mostly around Ashkenazim. Indeed, the image of the Jews in Argentina was constructed from identifying features attributed to Jews of European origin. In any case, in recent years the subject has generated greater academic interest21. Nevertheless, the broad spectrum of life stories that contradict the rooted assumptions on the supposed homogeneity of Jews of Syrian origin and their collective adhesion to orthodox religious rules has not been broadly analyzed.
17The Syrians inserted themselves into the labor market as peddlers, merchants, industrialists, and textile importers. They started family companies and/or with fellow countrymen. Their possibilities of climbing the social ladder broadened through the growing development of the textile industry in the thirties and the posterior Peronist policies which gave support to the national industry and home market. In this framework, big family companies arose as well as medium and small entrepreneurs, devoted to industry and the wholesale trade. While they continued their commercial and industrial activities, some of them promoted their children’s education for the sake of social ascent.
18At the same time, since the arrival of Rabbi I. Chehebar from Aleppo in 1953, the Syrians and their Argentine descendants began to experience a strong process of revitalization of their religious practices, heading toward the development of a more closed community with clear criteria of inclusion and exclusion. It was a movement that strengthened orthodox religious standards but, it also showed itself to be expulsive, causing numerous members to distance, and disconnect from the organizations under the orthodox hegemony.
- 22 Among others we could mention: Ezra Teubal, Alberto Cababie, David Beraja, Rafael Sucari, Daniel Ca (...)
19While some families went through a “disaffiliation” process and began to support the foundation of non-orthodox temples and schools22, others tried to establish strongly defined community limits opposing an environment perceived as too secular.
20The family environment had some influence in the disaffiliation process. While for some belonging to orthodox families, disaffiliating impacted negatively in their family and community bonds, experiencing situations of isolation and rupture, for others the process of disaffiliating was somehow a family decision, for example, parents that encouraged secular education for their children rather than orthodox education. That is to say that, while some experienced some mourning, for others was a more natural process.
21At the end of the fifties and sixties, a period of crisis arose in Argentina affecting old traditions and predominating conservative ideas in the family, education, and the patterns of social life. The increasing access to public university education was concomitant with the implosion of new tendencies.
- 23 S. Pujol, “Rebeldes y modernos…”.
22Young people began to question the traditional hierarchy of power by demanding a revision of political, economic, social, and cultural life. They began to constitute an autonomous social force and gained influence on the domestic political scene23.
23But how has the climate of the time affected the new generations of Argentines of Syrian origin?
24From our fieldwork, we could observe the presence of certain common patterns that acted as catalysts and gave rise to the disaffiliation of young people from community organizations and to the adoption of positions that expressed their dissatisfaction with orthodox beliefs and practices. Among these patterns the following stand out: families’ social ascent, access to secular education, membership of liberal Jewish currents, left-wing Zionist youth movements, the youth political forces of the Peronist or Guevarist left, and marriages with Jews of different origins or exogamic.
25High school education and secular university: a path to disaffiliation
The first generation of Argentinian Jews of Syrian origin became professionals in the forties and fifties. However, few families sent their sons to study at university. Professionals generally continued to be linked to the communities, working in their schools, clinics, or clubs.
26The “You must be a Doctor” speech began to spread later both in economically successful families, as well as others belonging to the middle sectors, either orthodox or traditionalist, but not very strict in their religious practices. These families considered the education of their descendants as one of the paths toward social prestige and ascent.
27Their children, born between the forties and fifties, studied in public or private elementary and high schools, and national and foreign universities. Many of them became professionals such as lawyers, doctors, dentists, economists, accountants, psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, architects, pharmacists, writers, dramatists, actors, artists, movie directors, and so on.
28These new cohorts would gradually acquire a profile that would differentiate them from the previous generations. And in this framework, it is considered that it was the secular education that widened these young Argentines' horizons; it exposed them to the values of the time, to develop new connections and social bonds outside their family environments and community boundaries. Therefore, they would develop personal ways of understanding Jewish and Syrian identity, and the features they possessed that would differentiate them from Orthodox Jews affiliated with community organizations.
- 24 Interview, April 11, 2021.
- 25 Chabad Lubavitch: The Hasidic movement will be distinguished by its fervor and mysticism and by its (...)
29Florinda24 is one of our interviewees. She was born in 1955 and is today a recognized Lacanian psychoanalyst. Her parents were from Aleppo and met each other in Buenos Aires. In Aleppo, her mother's family was linked to Zionist groups. Her father’s relatives were businesspeople. Her parents believed she needed to study at university. She studied Psychology. Her siblings are still linked to Judaism in different ways, but none of them are in the space of the Syrian community; her brothers are associated with Chabad Lubavitch25, and her sister is to the Cabala.
30She devoted herself to psychoanalysis and is a member of the Freudian School of Buenos Aires. As well as practicing her profession she currently lectures on psychoanalysis and the Torah. How do you define yourself today? “As an atheist Jew who loves Israel”.
- 26 Interview, April 1st, 2021.
31Elsa26 was born in 1951. Her maternal and paternal families were from Damascus. They lived in Flores (Buenos Aires’ neighborhood), in an area with a high density of Damascene Jews. She studied in secular public and private schools. Her father was a businessman but he had two professional brothers. After her father's death, Elsa began to work and studied Economic Science. She married an Ashkenazi engineer in 1974. In those years she identified herself as Jewish, very "liberal" and a non-believer. She had four children, none of which received a Jewish education. Her son was not circumcised. She disagreed with this practice as she considers it a “backward”, cruel ritual. Nevertheless, when they lived in Salta (a province in the North of Argentina), at a time when the teaching of Catholicism was established, she and her husband protested against this rule. So much so that when classes of the Catholic religion were given, their children left the classroom and "wandered" around the patios. Currently, their children recognize themselves as Jews but are married or in relationships with partners of Catholic origin.
- 27 Interview, April 13, 2021.
32Emmanuel27 was born in 1944 in a Jewish family. His maternal family was of Ashkenazi origin, and his father´s from Damascus. Today he is a recognized psychoanalyst, university professor, and member of the Freudian School of Buenos Aires.
33The family lived in neighborhoods such as Barracas and Flores, with a high concentration of Damascene Jews. His grandfather from Damascus believed his sons needed to study at university. His father graduated as a doctor and opened his consulting room very near Damascene institutions; he was one of the community leaders. At home, certain traditions were kept but they were not very religious.
34His first marriage was to an Ashkenazi woman, but then he married his current wife who is not Jewish. Nevertheless, as Emmanuel says, she is a woman who “has Judaized a lot”. Their children feel Jewish. For this reason, he holds that far from “assimilation”, one can follow Jewish traditions in mixed marriages too.
35In this framework, it can be emphasized that secular education, particularly, university, is one of the factors that can explain the processes of gradual secularization and the individual way in which identities developed. In these cases, religious practices were hybridized and reference to the State of Israel as a provider of identity and link among Jews is not absent.
- 28 D. Fainstein, “Secularización, Profecía …”.
36Disaffiliation and association with other religious and political currents
The belonging and participation of young people in Jewish social spaces outside orthodox frameworks before involvement in national politics reveal that their loyalties and preferences were quite fleeting or could change quickly. Generally, they swung between supporting the most modern religious currents such as those led by Rabbi Marshall Meyer28 and the integration of left-wing Zionist youth movements.
37In this context, it should be pointed out that the Rabbi, on introducing a more liberal way of experiencing Judaism in Argentina from the end of the fifties, also became a religious representative source and an alternative for those who did not identify with the policies implemented by the orthodox leadership in the central community institutions. For them, it became a space for the Judaic, both socially and culturally. However, according to our interviewees, their permanence in these circles was quite fleeting.
38Florinda points out that in her house they were not very religious but they lived “as if they were in Aleppo”. They used to go to the main Aleppan temple. But as orthodoxy became stronger, they went towards Bet-El, the synagogue led by Marshall Meyer.
- 29 Interview, April, 13th, 2021.
- 30 Kosher/Casher: suitable for consumption according to Jewish dietary precepts.
39Dora29 is another of our interviewees of Aleppine family. They were traditionalists yet did not keep kosher30. They used to go to an orthodox temple but she took a distance from the central organizations and approached Bet-El. First, she married an Ashkenazi man, then a Gentile, and finally, a Jewish doctor of Damascene origin who had also participated in the activities in Bet-El. She does not deny her Judaism but defines herself as an atheist attracted to Buddhism.
- 31 A. Brodsky, “Argentine Sephardi Youth…”.
40In the sixties and seventies, more than a few young people of Syrian origin joined the left-wing Zionist movements31, organizations that were defined as Zionist, socialist, and secular but which did not encourage political involvement of its members in Argentina. It is no coincidence then that some of these young people influenced by the climate of the time began to commit themselves to the local left. Finally, some of the members of these groups emigrated to Israel, others joined the different currents that predominated in Argentine politics or they dissociated themselves from militancy.
- 32 Interview, September 2009.
- 33 Hashomer Hatzair: Young Guardian. A leftist Zionist youth movement.
41The “Turk, Carlos”32, a member of Hashomer Hatzair33, traveled to Israel in 1971, returned to Argentina, and began the Peronist Youth. Today he is a businessman and is not linked to community organizations.
- 34 Kibutz: agricultural and cooperative settlement. They settled in historic Palestine at the beginnin (...)
42Emmanuel joined a left-wing Zionist group in his twenties, Anilevich Youth. He traveled to Israel and lived on a kibbutz34 for a while. On his return, he joined a left-wing Marxist group linked to the Peronist Youth. In 1976, faced with the last dictatorship suffered by Argentina, he was exiled.
- 35 S. Menache, “Frente a la desaparición…”.
43Néstor Salvador Moaded was a member of left-wing Zionist movements and then the Guevarist Youth. In May 1976, heavily armed men broke into his house, taking him away. In an attempt to find their son, his family turned to the State of Israel and community representatives. Today he is one of the “disappeared” (Desaparecidos)35.
44The political affiliations of those who joined left-wing national movements were diverse, including those who stayed in Argentina as well as those who had to go into exile or who are currently disappeared.
- 36 Interview, September 18, 2009. J. Said, “El espacio para la memoria …”.
45Noemi Cohen, Judith Said36, or Ricardo Saiegh, exiled and Peronists; David Laniado Moaded, dead in 1975, was a member of the Revolutionary Communist League; César Alberto Antebi, disappeared, from the Revolutionary Popular Army; or Eduardo Said, Alberto Said, and Celia Hanono Sacca, currently disappeared, members of the Peronist left.
46The same orthodox community authorities, in the 60s and 70s, seemed to have perceived education as a threat to traditional values, as one of the factors which undermined the religious observance of their members’ children. One of the minutes of the Sephardic Congregation, the central organization of the Aleppine community, describes this situation in the Annual Memory of September 1977, held during the repressive policies implemented by the military dictatorship, in the following terms:
- 37 Sephardic Congregation, Memory 1976, September, 10, 1977.
The Argentine reality itself, tragically marked by pain and destruction, has confirmed the importance of a solid formation to the skeptics….we consider that the experience referred to which has caused so much damage to the country with its consequences of families driven apart, shortened lives and a generalized insecurity will take many parents to make a firmer and more decided commitment to the making up of the personality of their children and the conviction that a mere scientific education in university classrooms cannot supply neither substitute the guidance and emergent values of a religious education37.
- 38 Interview, March 1st, 2009.
- 39 Interview, October, 1st, 2008.
47After the analysis of diverse life stories studied here, leading to different ways of disaffiliation, it can be emphasized that these processes were not necessarily definitive. They are journeys that the actors went through at different stages of their lives and are not inevitably permanent. So much so, although for some, distancing from community organizations has been definitive, for others it was temporary. Such is the case of Alcira38, coming from Aleppan and Damascene's family. In her youth, she joined a Peronist guerrilla organization and after to Chabad Lubavitch or that of Enrique39, he comes from an Aleppan family, militant in the Peronist Youth movement in the sixties and seventies, married to a non-Jewish woman but later re-linked to the Aleppan orthodoxy.
- 40 F. Mallimaci, J. Cruz Esquivel and V. Giménez Belíveau, “What do Argentine people believe in?.”, p. (...)
48The last military dictatorship marks a turning point in Argentine history. The processes gone through since then have opened the way towards the construction of a more stable democratic order and more pluralistic society. Elections became a routine and any alternative proposal considered a serious threat in domestic politics, coup d’état or revolutionary proposal, disappeared. In the religious environment, although the Catholic majority remained, a process of diversification began to be developed, along with a deep process of detachment from the institutional framework of the religious sphere, where cultural Catholicism (not dogmatic) co-existed with ideas of individual freedom and choice40.
49In the 90s, important changes in legislation and state structure would occur, in particular through the 1994 Constitutional Reform. The clause which established the need for the president and vice-president to be Catholic was abolished. In the 21st century, laws that award equal rights and access to public services to foreigners were passed.
50One of the laws that will have repercussions on the life stories of some of the individuals studied here, is the Law of Civil Marriage (2010) which legalizes marriage between persons of the same sex, providing gay couples with the same rights as heterosexual ones. Although the recognition and broadening of citizens’ and minority rights, as well as religious pluralism had advanced, the stigmatizing stereotype of Jews and other sectors of the population is still present.
51The generations born in the 60s, 70s and 80s grew and lived their adult lives in a scenario that advanced towards the integration of multiple cultural, sexual, identifying, and religious expressions. This reality, so multifaceted, would have a correlation in the life stories of young Argentines of Syrian origin whose lives embodied one or several of the manifestations of the plurality of the time, moving away from orthodox practices or any other form of strict ritualization, looking for their own and unique connection with spirituality.
52The integration of intercultural elements is evident in the artistic work of Martin Churba, a textile artist and entrepreneur. Of Damascene origin, he was born in the 70s. He defines himself as innovative and creative and recognizes himself as part of the "Turkish people" (the turcada). Even so, his identity is built the same as his designs, on the melting-pot of multifaceted elements.
- 41 D. Ramos, “Martín Churba …”.
53The internationalization of his business has made him a connoisseur of very diverse cultures, from Argentine indigenous to Muslim and Middle Eastern cultures. His work reflects this interest in cultural diversity, taking the characteristics of the Argentine countryside, and its most typical symbols to Japan, for example41.
- 42 N. Schejtman, “Argentina está de moda…”.
54Also multifaceted as well as eccentric is the case of Alan Faena. Grandson of Damascene immigrants, also linked to the textile industry through a company founded by his paternal grandfather. On his mother´s side, his grandfather was a rabbi and used to officiate in the Damascene community. He created a successful clothing brand and organized multitudinous parades which claimed for that which is national/native. The last parade of his brand included metaphors of football, cow hoofs, boleadoras (traditional element of Argentine gaucho culture), the National Anthem, and the national flag42.
55If we refer specifically to the spiritual life of these generations, we see that a personal construction predominates that can be nurtured from the most varied elements such as religions and practices of the Middle East, but also shamanism and the practices of indigenous peoples. Disaffiliation, in this case, does not mean a lack of faith, but a personal faith with different degrees of tension with institutionalized practices.
- 43 Clarín, “El Universo de Alan Faena …".
- 44 Brando, “Ideas que se convierten en millones …”.
56Alan Faena, without disowning his Syrian and Jewish origins43, has turned to, and favored, other orthodox Jewish currents of Ashkenazi origin. In any case, he has made public that: “He reads Krishnamurti. He investigates shamanism. And he knows Osho’s lessons”44.
- 45 Interview, April 6th, 2021.
57Another way of living Jewish identity away from Orthodoxy is Melina’s45. She is a psychologist and dancer. She created a work method that mixes dance, martial arts, and experiences of shamanic origin. She recognizes and values her identity as Jewish and her Syrian family origins which have also been reflected in some of her work. She married a Muslim but her daughter recognizes herself as Jewish. Nevertheless, in her statements that refer to the spiritual character of her work or her beliefs, she is not explicit about her Jewish Sephardic origins. Her discourse, therefore, acquires a universal character with which many people, independently of their religion or faith, could feel identified.
58The case of Rocio is different. She comes from a Damascene family and was born in the 80s. She experiences her religion within Jewish practices and traditions but in a reform community of Ashkenazi origin. She was interested in fully participating in community life, and forming a Jewish family, but as a homosexual, this was not possible in the Syrian community institutions. She was finally able to marry her partner, a woman of Catholic origins who converted to Judaism, in a reform temple. In time, she and her family were able to integrate and take part in religious Jewish life outside the central Syrian community spaces.
59Following the concerns of these young people who wished to keep their traditions but at the same time felt they did not have a place in Jewish community life, Gay Jewish Argentines (JAG, Judios Argentinos Gays) was created in 2004; it is an association founded by and for those who did not find a place of support in the traditional Jewish community spaces or who had gone through experiences of exclusion, but who identified culturally or religiously with Jewishness.
- 46 The World Congress, “Entrevista a Gustavo Michanie …”.
60According to an interview that took place in 2011, Gustavo Michanie, also from an Aleppane family, at that time president and current vice-president of JAG, the organization “was a bridge between LGTBIQ people who did not feel ‘understood or heard’ by the rest of the Jewish Community”46.
- 47 D. Setton, “Entre La Sociabilidad y La Politización…”, pp. 6-7.
61The case of Jewish gays also reflects that not always is disaffiliation complete and even less, defining. We could rather think of it as a complex multifaceted process in which each actor constructs his identity amid tension between affiliation and disaffiliation47.
62Apart from the wide diversity of experiences and ways of being and of giving significance to their origins, some elements are kept, transmitted, valued, and reinterpreted by the main characters of these stories. Their lives and their works have been colored by their identity markers as Argentines and Jews with Syrian roots, as well as by the influence of contexts in which they have socialized. All of them have distanced themselves from the dominant beliefs and practices of the Syrian communities, some integrating other Jewish spaces, and others dissociating themselves completely.
63This work has traced some of the many trajectories of the second and third generations of Argentine Jews of Middle Eastern ascendancy, their ways of socialization, disaffiliation from the Syrian communities, or linking with other non-orthodox Jewish organizations. The few life stories included here can be understood as a reflection of the more than ninety interviews from the fieldwork. We focused on how their identities and activities were developed in the historical time they lived in, and the processes they were going through in the community spaces. These life stories enable the observation of the porosity of community borders of the ethnic institutions that have an average of members that do not exceed the 30% of the estimated population of that origin.
64It is clear that numerous Argentine citizens with Syrian roots do not identify with nor do they feel represented by the predominating beliefs and practices in the community organizations. For this reason, it has been attempted to show the mosaic of identities of different generations mostly ignored in the studies about Argentines and Jews with Syrian ancestors. These diverse stories are a multi-colored reflection of those who still recognize themselves as “Turks” and Sephardic, even when they have taken a distance from orthodoxy or who interpret it in their way or differently from what predominates in the Syrian community spaces.
65This approach has enabled us to examine the persisting and dynamic ways in which identities can be developed in the framework of generational renewal in collectives of migratory origin, and the place that Argentineness and ethnicity have occupied in their descendants in diverse contexts. Thus, the experiences analyzed show the alternative ways in which national identities could be affected by the cultural traditions of the protagonists themselves.
- 48 R. Rein y J. Lesser, “Nuevas aproximaciones…”, p. 14
- 49 C. Petrini, “Es fácil matar a una mujer"; Esefarad, “Liliana Mizrahi, escritora argentina y sefarad (...)
66This work reinforces Rein and Lesser’s approach48, which highlights the multiple and fluid character of identities although the importance of one feature or another can vary according to the context. To provide an example, Liliana Mizrahi, a well-known Argentine writer, on a Sephardic website, emphasizes her identity as a Jew and Sephardic, while in others, as one of the pioneers in approaching women´s problematic issues and gender violence49.
67In summarizing, disaffiliated, like other Jews, and other religious or ethnic collectives, prioritized individual freedom and choice in their ways of interpreting and/or practicing their identities in a society where the legitimacy of cultural diversities has been installed as “politically correct”.