Argentina to have Jewish president for a day

For the first time, Argentina will have a Jewish president—at least temporarily.

Beatriz Rojkes, the provisional president of the Argentinean Senate, will be in charge of the government for a day-and-a-half beginning Wednesday because President Christina Fernandez and Vice President Amado Boudou are traveling out of the country.

On Wednesday, Fernandez will fly to Angola on a business trip. On Tuesday night, Boudou traveled to Switzerland to accept a prize for Argentina at the International Telecommunication Union.

The provisional president of the Senate is the No. 3 position in the government and second in the line of succession.

Rojkes was elected to the Senate in 2009 to represent the northern province of Tucuman. Two years later she was appointed by Fernandez as provisional president of the Senate. She became the first Jewish lawmaker and the first woman to hold the position.

Rojkes is married to Jose Alperovich, the governor of Tucuman, who was the first Jewish person in Argentina to be elected a governor and to be sworn in on a Jewish Bible.