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19 Iyar 5759 - May 5, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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UTJ Achievement in Buenos Aires Elections

by S. Fried

The United Torah Judaism list of the large Ashkenazic community of Buenos Aires, Argentina received 20% of the votes in the community elections making it the second largest party, an accomplishment which will influence the entire community in the forthcoming years.

Buenos Aires has a Jewish community comprised of both Sephardic and Ashkenazic members. There are 200,000 people in the community altogether, 50,000 of whom are registered as members and pay dues. The Ashkenazic sector is the largest and the dominant one.

The Reform, had a sizable representation in the previous elections, and used their position to undermine the basic Jewish matters of personal status such as divorce, marriage, and burial.

This time, the Reform did not even run in the elections, to the great satisfaction of the chareidi community.

A source in the community told Yated Ne'eman that the decrease in the influence of the Reform movement is the result of the collapse of the Beniholm Bank. Jewish businessmen and activists tried to save this bank due to their fear of antisemitic reactions, and thereby indirectly caused the collapse of the largest Jewish bank, called the Mayo Bank. The Reform in Argentina are held responsible for these developments.

The final tally of the votes showed that the Labor party (including the Argentinean branch of Meretz) received 48% of all the votes; UTJ received 20%; the Independent Zionist list 10%; Likud 10%, and the Religious Party, 9%.

The UTJ campaign was conducted under the guidance of HaRav Shmuel Arye Levine, in accordance with directives received from the gedolei haTorah in Eretz Yisroel. With the new council, the faithful Jewish community of Argentina hopes to be able to preserve Jewish traditions and halacha in all areas of communal responsibility.


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