The Phoenix Jewish news., 1961-03-31

called, the Sport Center, is the
most influential in the city. This
center contains a series of mag
nifcent buildings which, in my esti-
nation, is unique in the t "
Jewish world. In size, in beauty,
in service, this center reflects the
magnitude of Mexican Jewry aud
their sense for community service.
The beauty of this center is fam
tastic and breath-taking. 1t con-
tains all facilities for sport activi-
ties for young and old. It houses
a library with many thousands of
books, reading rooms, meeting
rooms, larger and smaller audi
toriums, social halls for social
functions; and the buildings are
built functionally and esthetically
furnished for the purpose of pub
lie use. 1 was told that on Sundays
about 10000 people take advantage
of the facilities of this center. 1t is
the pride of Mexican Jewry and
rightfully so, as their center teSti-
fies for the community minded
ness of Mexican Jewry.
This sense of community re-
spOnsibility is also mirrOred in
the generosity of Mexican jew
ry. Philanthropy is on the top.
They support all Jewish en-
deavors. 1t is haven for fund
raiSerS. Mexican Jews find a
JOY in giving. Their support for
Israel per capita is one of the
highest in the Jewish world.
Israeli representatives, both for
fund raising as well as for cultural
purposes, love to come to Mexico
City because they know that they
will be received warmly and that
they will be greeted with an at
tentive ear and an open hand on
the part of Mexican Jewry.
1T is FOR ALL a rewarding ex-
perience to visit the Jewish COM
munity of Mexico City because they
know that they will enjoy the hos
pitality of this wonderful commun-
ity.
But with all these monumental
institutions, both educational and
recreational, it was disturbing
factor to see the lack of facilities
to meet the religious needs of the
community. The Central Syna-
gogue, Niclehey Yisrael, which in
itself is small in size, is in the
section inaccessible to Jews. The
whole area where this synagogue
is located is in part of the city
from which Jews have moved away
a long time ago. In the n w
sections, comparable to the size
of the Jewish community, t h e y
have only small and insignificant
Houses of Prayer, on the old style
sof "Yiddish Shtetl," lacking dig
nifty, beauty and proper facilities.
THE LARGEST of these is in
Polanco, very thickly populated
Jewish section, in which approx
mately 200 people can be housed.
On the. high holidays when every
Jew desires to pray in a syna-
gogue, I was told that thousands
of people remain standing outside
the building who can only take
glimpse from without, but cannot
participate in the prayer service
itself.
This situation and many h e r
reasons prompted some leaders in
the community to plan the estab-
lishment of a modern congregation,
with the aim to build synagogue
that may house a few thousand
people in order to meet the needs
of their religious services, not only
for the high holidays but through
the entire year. There is no queS-
ton in my mind that Mexico City
is overdue in such an endeavor.
The conservative movement,
which is finding its way into the
life of Mexican Jewry, is determin-
ed to fill this vacuum and it is
hoped that it will meet with great
success. At present there is small
but influential group in the COM
munity, devoted men and women,
who are more than eager to eS-
tablish a conservative congrega-
ton for the Spanish YiddiSh speak
ing community. With preserver-
ance, patience and proper plan
ming, this group will ultimately re-
ceive the support of a large seq
ment of the community. Although
there is already small conServa-
tive synagogue for the English
speaking Jews, which is fairly well
organized, its scope is limited as it
cannot serve the larger Jewish
community.
MY VISIT to Mexico City was
a rewarding experience as I feel
that with my presence have