Argentina: Host Country or Homeland?

The article profiles the Jews of Argentina in demographic, economic, and social terms, identifying the main changes and developments that took place among them in various domains and strata, from the community’s birth in the late nineteenth century until the 1960s. It shows that the Jewish ethnic and national element of the collective identity of Argentinian Jewry is undeniable. This element, however, did not prevent its Jews from leading an active Jewish life in the Diaspora and maintaining their life as an organized community, while at the same time underscoring their membership in the Argentinian nation. Most of them saw Argentina as their country and homeland and not only as the country to which they (or their parents) had chosen to migrate, as “temporary residents” in “a host country.” This element of the collective identity of the Jews in Argentina stands out just as strongly as the Jewish ethnic component.