Intermountain Jewish news., 1925-12-17
Our South American
Letter
Jewish Life in Uruguay
by |. ISRAELSON

Jewish population Of the Republic of
Uruguay has been estimated ut about
two Thousand families. This number
includes both Ashkcnazim and Sep.
hardin. and they are found not only In
the capital, Monievideo, but In other
parts Of the country rs well. Accord.
Ing to approximate data, there are
about 100 Sephardlc and 600 Ashkennzl
families in the capital, and the rest
are scattered throughout the republic
At no place. excepting the capital. have
the Jews Of Uruguay been able thus
far to establish anything like solid
Jewish settlement that would he more
or less well organized and capable of
creating in course of time those insti-
tutions without which Jewish settle
mcnt is not a Jewish settlement.
As compared with the Italian, Span.
ish, brazilian. Argentinian and other
colonies in Uruguay the Jewish colony
is still in its infancy, and 1t has rs yet
none of the institutions that the others
can boast Of
Still. there can be no doubt hut that
things would have been different among
our Jews, no matter how small our
number in this country. if we had all
been homogeneous. By this | mean
to say that IL the language. manners
and customs Of the Jews in this cuun-
try had been the same fof all of them
derstanding and sympathy. the Jewish
colony of Uruguay would certainly
have presented n more cheerful and inn
prcssivc aspect.
Unfortunately. however. local lowry
is composed of too many differing
groups and classes among whom the
sharply, amounting almost to a Chinese
Wall. creating u situation that augurS
poorly for an early understanding and
cooperation of the Aegoans. The
fact that the language of the
country. which Is Spanish, is
understood by both sections Of
Jewry. makes no difference in this
mutual aloofness. The Sephardic
Jews. who in the home country used
the so-called IAdino" dialect, 1--WE.
here. call this "Spaniolsh" as dis
tinguished from real Castillan Span
ish). found it easy, of course, TO shift
quickly to the language of the coun-
-Spanish-whlch they are now
using freely.
In this respect we may point to an
analogy in Europe. When an Eastern
European jew comes To Germany 10
live there, sooner or later. willy-nilly,
drops his Yiddish and begins to use
perfectly good German at home as well
as outside. Precisely the same thing
happens to the Scphardi after he gets
here: Castilian Spanish quickly rout :
his Ladino dialect and he falls natural
ly and unconsciousy into Spanish as
it is spoken here, both ut home and in
the street
As regards the younger generation.
it is obvious, Of course, that Spanish
is the only medium of expression. Not
only the children of the Sephardim. but
those of the Ashkenazim as well, use
exclusively Spanish. and it is very
rare, indeed, to come across youngster
who knows "A word Of Yiddsh In this
respect the process of assimilation has
been perfect and complete. And yet.
the younger generation follows in the
footsteps of the older when it comes
to really intimate mingling: the chill
drcn of Sephardm are just as little
Ashkenazim as are the parents. The
Chinese Wall seems 10 have been cy-
tended also to the second generation.
Notwithstanding that the second gem
GRAFTON of either section of Jcwry in
this country is most densely ignorant
of the rudments Of Judaism, since AS
similation has made both of them good
Uruguayuns and nothing else, the Sep
hardic youth is sufficiently Kosher TO
keep aloof from the Ashkenazi youth,
who returns the compliment in the
same coin. true TO the maxim that the
apples does not fall far from the tree,
or. at the Germans would say, 'Wic
die Alien sungen, 50 piifcu die Jun
gem"
Intcrmarriagc between the two camps
is rarity. The Ashkenuzm are styled
Russians" no matter whether they
happen to be born In Germany. Ru
mania or any other country that has
nothing whatever to do with Russia
On the other hand, the Sephardim 90
by the name of Turks" even though
they come from Greece or the Aegean
Islands. These two generally inclusive
appellations of themselves are enough
to keep the wall between both groups
almost insurmpuntablc, preventing u