"Long live the King Penguin" or "The King Penguin and I" Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands 1/27/26 Day 24

 

In this isolated and windswept archipelago of the Falkland Islands at the tip of the Southern Ocean, we spent the day marching with king penguins with their newly hatched chicks, gentle gentoos, and burrowing magellanic penguins.  We wondered in awe and tears as we watched these majestic birds stand together against the harsh elements and hungry Turkey vultures waiting on their wings.  In numbers there is safety.  

During the two hour 4X4 convoy ride over the peat moss, our driver, Toni, shared how we drive together just in case one vehicle gets stuck--the others can help them out with a tow rope.  Similarly if one gets sick or has a tragedy, everyone comes together to help out with a charity event.  We need in the one another.  Truly birds of a feather flock together!

Moving to Montevideo, Uruguay 1/24/26 Day 21

 

Uruguay as the Switzerland of South America?  You bet!  Whether it was 97% of energy derived from renewables, a progressive social welfare state with free health care and education, low crime, clean streets, and since 1919 -- the separation of church and state where Christmas is "Family Day" and Easter Week is "Tourism Week"  No wonder the third largest Jewish community in South America is thriving with Jews making up about one per cent of the population and are mostly secular like the general population.  Instead of Catholicism, the thirty thousand Jews are cultural Zionists belonging to a myriad of youth movements which foster deep connections with Israel.

The "Meeting of Peoples" (or El Abrazo de los Pueblos) is a sculpture in the old Jewish neighborhood in Montevideo created by artist Nora Kimelman who cried when her monument was faced on October 10th 2023 by leftist anarchists in support of Palestine.  The sculpture represents the embrace between the Uruguayan people and Jewish immigrants, highlighting themes of integration and community.  It is part of the broader, rich Jewish cultural landscape in Montevideo, often explored alongside other landmarks like the Memorial al Holocausto del Pueblo Judio (Holocaust Memorial of the Jewish People) located in Punta Carretas n the Rambla overlooking the River Platte.

Ellie Wiesel wrote that we must move beyond sadness to hope.  I hope I never have to move as a refugee as my ancestors did from Eastern Europe, but if I did have to move from North America, I'm moving to Montevideo!

All you need is love 1/23/26 Day 19 Buenos Aries

Heart rendering.  The twin sites of Buenos Aries suicide truck bombings by Hezbollah in 1990s: the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing, killing 29, and the devastating 1994 AMIA Jewish Community Center bombing, killing 85 and injuring over 300, making it the deadliest terror attack in Argentine history.  Now I understand in my gut the obsession with security at South American Jewish institutions. 

And all this on the Australian National day of Mourning commemorating the 15 victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack. The Prime Minister’s office has named the commemoration: Light will win – a gathering of unity and remembrance. There will be a nationwide minute of silence at 7:01 PM. Australia commemorates the terrible day of 14 December, the first night of Hanukkah, while knowing that antisemitism is not new and unlikely to go away.  The recent burning of the oldest synagogue in Mississippi in Jackson is another reminder that hate against Jews grows beyond words to actions. 

I wish all you need was love is enough to end these antisemitic horrors.

The Mano Menorah in Punta del Este, Uruguay 1/21/26 Day 18

Most famously Mario Irarrázabal's "La Mano" (The Hand) (19820 on Brava Beach in Punta del Este, Uruguay, depict a giant hand emerging from sand or earth, symbolizing human vulnerability, connection to nature, and the power of the sea.  Five fingers pointing up from the sand are indeed a powerful symbol, but nothing compared to the eight candles (plus the shamash servant) pointing up to illuminate the darkness at the darkest time of the year.  Taken together, we need all hands on deck to bring light into the world with one candle lighting another realizing the miracle of creating additional light without diminishing the impact of each individual.  Let there be light!

The Emperor's Bar Mitsva from Petropolis to San Francisco 1/18/26 Day 15

 Literally a breath of fresh air as we took a day tour from hot and humid  Rio to the lush and cool mountains 800 meters above sea level to visit Petropolis, the only European capital of an empire outside of Europe, the summertime home and capital of Portuguese emperor Dom Pedro II who reigned form 1831 to 1889.  While visiting his former palace, now the Imperial Museum, we saw his calligraphy in various languages including Hebrew.  On his world travels, he loved to visit synagogues, just like we do (see below at the Sinagoga Israelita Brasileira 1949) to have an aliya and read Torah.  According to the San Francisco Chronicle April 29, 1876,  Dom Pedro read selections from Genesis perfectly to the congregation on his American visit in 1876.  He was truly an example of a righteous gentile and inspiration for me to continue to welcome both Jews and non Jews into our Synagogue at Sea, Judaic excursions in Latin America with Turismo Judaico, and my well attended Jewish Geography series lectures.  Truly we need magnanimous leaders in this challenging times today!

Rock of Israel Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue Recife, Brazil 1/15/26 Day 12

1654.  The date etched into my American Jewish History pantheon as the year when 23 souls fled the Portuguese Inquisition retaking of Recife Brazil as the Dutch surrendered and ended up in New Amsterdam.  I awaited our Jewish tour with baited breath to see where these Jews came from and was not disappointed by visiting the oldest first synagogue in the Americas.  I learned that Recife earned its name from the rock hard coral reef that embraces the harbor.  The synagogue's name is Zur Israel the Rock of Israel, a reference form our faith that God is always with us (cf Psalm 19:15 and the prelude to the Amida prayer).  Rock hard perseverance of bnai anusim (conversos/New Christians) continues to inspire me three and a half centuries after its founding.

Indigenous genocide: Climate change is no COP30 out Belem, Brazil 1/12/26 Day 9

 After watching movie filmed in decaying colonial Belem, "Where the River Runs Black" (1986) about an orphaned boy who was raised in the Amazon jungle is brought back to civilization by a priest who knows his late father, I had tears welling up.  Belem our first port of call in Brazil just past the equator straddles the brown waters of the mighty Amazon empties into the Atlantic where two hours of flow meets the annual water needs of NYC.  Gritty but real.  The Opera house, Teatro da Paz, built by the rubber barons in 1874.  The oldest and largest market in the Americas, Mercado Ver-O-Peso, and he tranquil Mangal Das Garcas with its giant lily leaves.  The majestic Belem Cathedral complete with a lily white nativity scene gushing colonial racism.  And the chai light: the Amazon Museum by the Estacio das Docas of the revitalized waterfront with huge pictures, searing sounds and powerful stories from indigenous leaders and shamans lamenting genocide brought on by illegal logging and soy farmers destroying their parched forest where climate change is forsaking the regular rains that nourish the forest and their communities.

Angel Blessings at Harrison's Cave 1/8/26 Day 4

According to our guide Harrison's Cave is the 8th wonder of the world; now I'm not certain if that is true, but it is certainly one of the seven natural wonders of Barbados!  When we donned our cave Kippot AKA hard hats and entered the tram tunnel we felt cool drops of cave condensation that we learned were "Angel Blessings"  Millions of years of tiny calcium drops eat away at the limestone to form a gorgeous cave cathedral complete with waterfalls.  For the rest of our journey through the Amazon and beyond, I'll call the tropical rains, a term they richly deserve, Angel Blessings!