After the United States, Argentina and Canada are home to two of the largest Jewish communities in the Americas. While there are multiple parallels between the two communities in terms of culture and history, Jewish life in Canada and Argentina also varies. It has been influenced by larger national changes that have moulded communities, neighbourhoods, ideologies, identities and more.
These differences reflect the diversity of Jewish communities globally. Perhaps most importantly, Jewish experience reflects the political, social and economic evolution of each country throughout the 20th century. York University professor David S.
Koffman and I recently co-edited the book, Promised Lands North and South: Jewish Canada and Jewish Argentina in Conversation , which is the first to comparatively explore Jewish communities in the two countries, Argentina and Canada. Read more: Young, Canadian and Jewish: The shift from religious to cultural identity Jewish immigration to both countries happened at roughly the same time — colonial-era waves around the turn of the 18th century of Sephardi Jews from Spain, the Middle East and North Africa; much larger waves of Ashkenazi European Jews from the 1880s to the 1920s; and smaller waves of post-Second World War migrants from the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere. Our book explores how Jews “became” Argentine or Canadian based on how they joined national work forces, claimed neighbourhood and political identities, responded to dis.