In La Paz, Bolivia, a Symbol of Jewish Resilience

“Here, when you talk to G-d, it’s a local call.”

That’s the common refrain of the Jews in La Paz, Bolivia, a tiny but vibrant community that is the home of the highest synagogue on earth: the Circulo Israelita de Bolivia, which has been a haven for Jewry for nearly a century — sitting at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level in the heart of the Andes mountains.

Bolivia was a place of sanctuary for Jews fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1940s, turning what was a very small community into a booming one for several decades in the post-war period.

The population of the Jewish community has dwindled in recent decades in La Paz, as many families have moved to other, larger Latin Jewish communities in places like Panama. Today, the Bolivian Jewish community now numbers fewer than 100 families, with an inspiring, intimate relationship and a devotion to Jewish tradition.

The La Paz community was in the spotlight this week as much of the community’s leadership gathered in La Paz to mourn the loss of Jacqueline Udler, a legendary UN interpreter and passionate advocate for the community in Bolivia. Udler’s mother was a prominent figure in the French Resistance in World War II — and her family has helped form the nucleus of the Bolivian Jewish community. Her brother, Ricardo, is the chairman of the local community.

Udler, who grew up in La Paz, studied at the Sorbonne and then spent her life as a bridge between the world’s top diplomats, was committed to the preservation of the community and its history — along with that of the many Holocaust survivors who journeyed there, eventually retiring to spend her last years at home in the capital.

La Paz, for its part, has become a significant pole of Jewish consciousness worldwide- despite the size of its community and its relative remoteness. For decades, Israeli backpackers have made Bolivia their first big trip after leaving their IDF service — being warmly welcomed by the community there, and leaving an everlasting imprint. There is a dynamic Jewish energy there, a union of those who have remained and those who are visiting, even if just for a few days, all strangers in a strange land, a concept that is essential to the Jewish tradition.

More importantly, La Paz is a symbol of the Jewish people’s enduring resilience, of the ability to prosper and contribute and survive, even in the most foreign environments. Sent in refuge to the harsh, rocky environs of the Andes, they prospered, wove themselves into the community and thrived, never losing their identity or their Jewish soul.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit this community – and its synagogue — several times, and I can say that it is, in a word, remarkable. It is a place worthy of pilgrimage for all those seeking to feel a bright spark of the Jewish flame.

Maybe it’s the altitude, or the closeness of the people here, but you truly encounter an extra sense of the divine there; you can feel the passion, the emotion. Somehow, you really do feel closer to G-d.

After all, if you want to get in touch, it’s only a local call.