Jewish- Hispanic Relations: Long Overdue!

I recall, as a child, overhearing very derogatory and racist remarks about Latino Americans where everyone below the border was referred to as “a Mexican” or as “cheap labor.” Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to do work in Central and South American countries such as Argentina, Guatemala, and El Salvador and  had the chance to spend time in Panama, Mexico, and Belize. I learned a lot about these cultures and gained a much deeper appreciation for Latino Americans in my home American community and where they have come from. I also learned a deeper narrative of why and how so many have immigrated to the U.S.

Jews and Latino Americans live parallel lives, yet do not mingle (according to a recent survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee [AJC]).“Latinos see Jews as part of the white establishment, not as immigrants,” said AJC’s Latino and Latin American Institute director, Dina Siegel Vann. “We need to convey to them that we share a history of immigration.”

Jews and Hispanics should work together, for both communities share many values, such as a desire to “>recent American Jewish Committee survey indicated that while many Hispanics did not know Jews, many had favorable views toward Jews:

• 78 percent believe Jews have a commitment to family life
• Two-thirds believe that Jews have a strong religious faith
• 61 percent believe that American Jews make a strong cultural contribution
• 53 percent believe that Jews support civil rights

There is a lot of room for growth in our relationship with the Latino community. “>about 10 to 15 percent had some extent of Jewish DNA. Many Hispanics named Alvarez, Rivera, Lopez, and Mendez have found that they may have Sephardic Jewish ancestors. In Chicago, the Alliance for Jews and Latinos celebrates these common roots annually.

Of course, there are obstacles. In 2011, “>a majority of American Jews approved of the Arizona law designed to combat illegal immigration, which was perceived by many as a racist attack on all Hispanics. Some fringe Jewish factions have taken a hard stance on a group they offensively refer to as “illegal aliens.” They, of course, forget that very significant numbers of Jews have entered America illegally over the last two hundred years. The narrative, that all Jews came to the U.S. legally, has been shown to be completely false. Many Jews facing persecution fudged their passports and many Israelis and Jewish immigrants today are still in the U.S. illegally.

We are overdue in cultivating a strong Jewish-Hispanic relationship. Over the last 50 years, we’ve done a good job at Jewish-black relations and Jewish-Christian relations. Due to tensions in the Middle East, many have begun more Jewish-Muslim relations. But in addition to our neglect of Jewish-Asian relations, we must tend to Jewish-Hispanic relations.

“>Uri L'Tzedek, the Senior Rabbi at Kehilath Israel, and is the author of ““>one of the top 50 rabbis in America!”