–and, consequently, an organized Argentinean Jewish community begins to develop.
The first traditional Argentinean Jewish wedding is held in Buenos Aires 58 years later in 1868, and the first Argentinean synagogue is inaugurated there in 1875.
Many Russian Jewish émigrés establish themselves in Argentina through the international organizational efforts of the JCA (see 1891 CE entry Jewish Colonization Association – the JCA). Many of these Jews acquired land through the JCA and established small agricultural colonies (“comunas”) in the interior of the country, especially in the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Rios.
In May 2008 there were approximately 200,000 Jews in Argentina, down from 300,000 in the early 1960s. In particular, severe economic problems post–1990 in Argentina drove many to emigrate.
Most of Argentina’s Jews live in Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Rosario. Argentina’s Jewish population is similar in size to that of Brazil. The Argentinean Jewish population is 80 percent Ashkenazi (almost Russian/Northern European extraction). Argentinean law allows the Jews two days of vacation on Rosh Hashanah–Yom Kippur and on the first two and the last two days of Passover under legal cover.
[The 1990 and 1994 bombings are covered later – in that time era of the TimeLine.]