“Hanukkah is when we celebrate the power of spirituality to overcome the physical, and that is the story of the Jewish people in exile,” said Rabbi Eliahu Hamra, head of the AMIA Communities Committee in Argentina. To bolster this power, AMIA, a Jewish communal organization in Buenos Aires, conducted a series of events over Hanukkah this year for the small Jewish communities spread throughout the country's provinces, helped in several instances by Chabad in Argentina. The organization's Communities Committee organized a series of celebrations in 30 Jewish communities in Argentina's provinces, including large cities such as Cordoba, Rosario, and Salta, and further afield as well, in which several hundred people participated. Among the activities put on by AMIA were several concerts by Jewish bands, as well as helping arrange communal candle lighting ceremonies, organizing the participation of government officials in such ceremonies, and putting on other cultural activities during the holiday. The organization also provided dozens of hanukkiot to families in the provincial cities and sent rabbis to these communities to address and assist them during the holiday. Although Buenos Aires hosts the largest Jewish community in Argentina by far with 159,000 Jews, AMIA has nevertheless put a focus on providing religious and cultural events for the other approximately 20,000 Jews in the rest of the country. “In these festivities everyone joins together with their join hanukkiah to illuminate and highlight spirituality above any material situation, which is what sustains Jewish communities” said Hamra. “It is an honor that we can assist and include all the Jewish communities in Argentina. It gives us great momentum to continue supporting and strengthening the communities of the country.” Hamra said AMIA helps provide these communities with funds for educational and cultural events throughout the calendar year, as well as assisting with religious services over Jewish holidays.
