Next Year in Argentina
Encyclopedia
Next Year in Argentina is a 2005 documentary
about diaspora
Jews
, who have either decided to remain in Argentina
or move to Israel
. Jorge Gurvich and Shlomo Slutzky, Argentine-Israeli filmmakers, travel back to Argentina—exploring questions of identity and the meaning of a homeland as they speak with friends and family who have stayed behind.
have been chanting through two thousand years of exile
. Yet nearly 60 years after the founding of the Jewish State
, some who’ve emigrated to the Holy Land still long for the home they left behind — even if home meant poverty and persecution, as it did for many Argentine Jews.
“I always raise the subject of my being Jewish upfront . . . for me it’s like my mark . . . it’s my pride” says one director’s brother. When people ask why he doesn’t move to Israel
, he responds: “Argentina is the best country in the world.”
Argentina has a long history of anti-Semitism
and political unrest, which came to a head in the early ‘90s when attacks on its Israeli embassy and Jewish community center left 116 dead, most of them Jews. For many Jews, Israel was the only way out, which was also the case during Argentina’s recent economic crisis. But now, more than ten years after the attacks, and with the country’s economy on the rebound, Argentina’s Jewish community is staying put.
Directors Jorge Gurvich and Shlomo Slutzky grew up in Argentina, and made aliyah as adults. They have built families and careers in Israel but still visit Argentina frequently—perhaps out of a desire to stay in touch with friends and family, but also because, on some essential level, Argentina is still their home. While Shlomo and Jorge continue to straddle two worlds, some of their friends have returned to Argentina after making aliyah. And many, like Gurvich’s brother, refuse to even consider immigrating to Israel.
Many see aliyah as an unwise tradeoff: while Argentine Jews exchange anti-Semitic slurs in the shadow of the attacks, life in Israel demands the far more immediate and permanent sacrifices of a country that is perpetually at war. Israelis believe that “in order to be Jewish you need to live in Israel, to sacrifice yourself and to give up your children for the defense of the country,” says Laura, whose husband was killed in the community center attack. Laura resents the Israeli perception of Diaspora Jews that “makes us . . . feel as if we’re not Jewish.” The truth, she says, is that “I don’t have to live in Israel in order to be a Jew.”
While the vast majority of those who have immigrated to Israel may not return, some are still plagued by self-doubt and continue to question their decision years — even decades — after moving to Israel, especially in the wake of the intifada and Israel’s economic recession.
But for Gurvich, any need for Jewish identification is satisfied in Israel where he “is not preoccupied with my Jewish identity — it seems natural to me.” And yet, he is drawn back to Argentina, and continues to regard this country as his home.
“I have family in Israel, I’m an Israeli filmmaker, but my heart is still here, in faraway Argentina, and this tears me apart,” he reveals.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, who have either decided to remain in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
or move to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Jorge Gurvich and Shlomo Slutzky, Argentine-Israeli filmmakers, travel back to Argentina—exploring questions of identity and the meaning of a homeland as they speak with friends and family who have stayed behind.
Summary
“Next year in Jerusalem,” goes the prayer that JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
have been chanting through two thousand years of exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
. Yet nearly 60 years after the founding of the Jewish State
Jewish state
A homeland for the Jewish people was an idea that rose to the fore in the 19th century in the wake of growing anti-Semitism and Jewish assimilation. Jewish emancipation in Europe paved the way for two ideological solutions to the Jewish Question: cultural assimilation, as envisaged by Moses...
, some who’ve emigrated to the Holy Land still long for the home they left behind — even if home meant poverty and persecution, as it did for many Argentine Jews.
“I always raise the subject of my being Jewish upfront . . . for me it’s like my mark . . . it’s my pride” says one director’s brother. When people ask why he doesn’t move to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, he responds: “Argentina is the best country in the world.”
Argentina has a long history of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and political unrest, which came to a head in the early ‘90s when attacks on its Israeli embassy and Jewish community center left 116 dead, most of them Jews. For many Jews, Israel was the only way out, which was also the case during Argentina’s recent economic crisis. But now, more than ten years after the attacks, and with the country’s economy on the rebound, Argentina’s Jewish community is staying put.
Directors Jorge Gurvich and Shlomo Slutzky grew up in Argentina, and made aliyah as adults. They have built families and careers in Israel but still visit Argentina frequently—perhaps out of a desire to stay in touch with friends and family, but also because, on some essential level, Argentina is still their home. While Shlomo and Jorge continue to straddle two worlds, some of their friends have returned to Argentina after making aliyah. And many, like Gurvich’s brother, refuse to even consider immigrating to Israel.
Many see aliyah as an unwise tradeoff: while Argentine Jews exchange anti-Semitic slurs in the shadow of the attacks, life in Israel demands the far more immediate and permanent sacrifices of a country that is perpetually at war. Israelis believe that “in order to be Jewish you need to live in Israel, to sacrifice yourself and to give up your children for the defense of the country,” says Laura, whose husband was killed in the community center attack. Laura resents the Israeli perception of Diaspora Jews that “makes us . . . feel as if we’re not Jewish.” The truth, she says, is that “I don’t have to live in Israel in order to be a Jew.”
While the vast majority of those who have immigrated to Israel may not return, some are still plagued by self-doubt and continue to question their decision years — even decades — after moving to Israel, especially in the wake of the intifada and Israel’s economic recession.
But for Gurvich, any need for Jewish identification is satisfied in Israel where he “is not preoccupied with my Jewish identity — it seems natural to me.” And yet, he is drawn back to Argentina, and continues to regard this country as his home.
“I have family in Israel, I’m an Israeli filmmaker, but my heart is still here, in faraway Argentina, and this tears me apart,” he reveals.
See also
Other documentaries about World Jewry:- In Search of HappinessIn Search of HappinessIn Search of Happiness is a 2005 Russian documentary film that poetically follows the lives of Boris and Masha Rak, Soviet Jews who in 1934 moved to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast created by the order of Joseph Stalin in Russian Far East...
- Jews of Iran
- From Swastika to Jim CrowFrom Swastika to Jim CrowFrom Swastika to Jim Crow is a 2000 documentary that explores the similarities between Nazism in Germany and racism in the American south . In 1939, the Nazi government expelled Jewish scholars from German universities...
- ReconstructionReconstruction (film)Reconstruction is a 2001 documentary made by Irene Lusztig that investigates the Ioanid Gang bank heist committed in 1959 in Communist Romania. The film focuses on Monica Sevianu, Lusztig's grandmother, and the only female involved in the heist....