After concluding an intense week at the Tel Aviv school, the group looked forward to celebrating Shabbat together.  We officially began Shabbat by Nathaniel and Nicole leading us in a group activity.  Throughout the discussion we shared our own individual backgrounds on Judaism and expressed our own goals for after we leave Buenos Aires.

On Friday night we were pleased to celebrate Shabbat in Buenos Aires at a conservative (although we’d call it reform) synagogue called NCI-Emanuel.  The service was highly unique, and to some of us, it felt more like a broadway musical than a Synagogue service – it was filled with singing and dancing, and the temple even had a 5-piece band to provide the music.   We especially enjoyed the unique Buenos Aires tradition of embracing our families with love.  In fact, while we were in Buenos Aires, we felt like we were in a family.  Our experience at the Synagogue proves that Jewish individuals can feel at home anywhere in the world.

After the services, the hospitality of the Buenos Aires Jewish Community continued as we were invited to Shabbat dinner at the Moishe House.  The Moishe House was developed to promote Jewish activities within the young Jewish community in Buenos Aires.  One of our members, Jacob, went over to the Moishe House a few hours before dinner to use his cooking skills to help prepare the dinner.  Jake says, “when I got to the Moishe House, I was shown to the kitchen by Axel. Shortly thereafter, his guests started entering one by one, greeted him and me with a kiss on the cheek, and then in Spanish asked Axel, ‘who on earth is cooking in your kitchen?’”

Needless to say, the dinner was delicious, and we enjoyed getting to know our Argentine peers during and after dinner!

From August 22-29, 2010, 11 alumni of Cornell University will volunteer with the Jewish community of Argentina.