Jewish Footsteps Through Peruvian History: Part III
If you’ve kept up with parts I and II, you’ve seen that the German, Sephardi, and Ashkenazi Jews in Lima cherished their individual customs and languages, each establishing their own community organizations which honored their differences. But one thing united them beyond all others: Zionism. In 1926, the Organizacion Sionista del Peru was founded by Sassone Sarfaty and Dr. Haim Alcabes, linked with Keren Kayemet LeIsrael and Keren Hayesod. The youth group called Circulo Cultural de Jovenes Israelitas encouraged support of the Zionist group and by 1931 in Lima there was a bi-weekly Jewish publication called La Voz Israelita that went out to the entire Jewish community and shared Zionist inspiration. In 1946, the Peruvian chapter of Hanoar Hatzioni was established, which remains vibrantly active today and recently honored the family of the young Peruvian Dr. Daniel Levy z’’l who had made Aliyah and was murdered on October 7th, 2023 in Israel.
In 1945, under the leadership of the cardiologist Dr. Marcos Roitman, the Organizacion Sionista del Peru aimed to mobilize the opinions of the Peruvian politicians, intellectuals, and public at large in favor of creating the Jewish State. They held a conference attended by the Vice President of Peru Jose Galvez Barrenechea which proved monumental. On November 29th, 1947, Peru voted in favor of the partition plan which established the modern state of Israel, in large part due to the ceaseless efforts of the Jewish community. My father Dr. Marcos Chertman attended the medical school Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia with Jose (Pepito) Galvez, the grandson of Vice President Jose Galvez Barrenechea. Dr. Galvez inherited a cherished coin etched with a drawing of Masada and the words “We Shall Remain Free Men.” It was a gift once given to his grandfather in gratitude, and now a symbol rich with memory that he holds close to his heart to this day.
The same Dr. Roitman who had led the lobbying efforts became the Jewish Agency’s representative in Peru and later became the Consul of Israel. Later, Tuvia Arazi was named as the first Ambassador of Israel in Peru in 1958 when diplomatic relations between Peru and Israel were formalized. But prior to that in 1952, Menachem Begin, then a member of the Knesset, gave an unexpected conference at the Ashkenazi synagogue. While en route to Brazil, which boasted a much larger Jewish community, Begin’s plane stopped in Lima for refueling. Providentially, technical failures forced the plane to remain in Lima for repairs, and that was how the iconic man who would later become the prime minister of Israel was welcomed by the tiny Jewish community of Peru.
Jewish women were also instrumental in the strong Zionist commitment of the Peruvian Jewish community. Mrs. Teresa de Topf founded and became president of the Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO) Peru, and Charna de Goldenberg founded and became president of the Pioneer Women Organization. And women continue to be leaders in the Jewish community today. As mentioned in Part II, Mrs. Tuti (Fortuna) Levy de Atun is the president of the only Jewish school, Leon Pinelo.
In 1956, Bnai Brith of Peru was founded as well as Club Hebraica, the cultural, social, and athletic association that resembles the American concept of a Jewish Community Center. Hebraica has become an essential part of the community where teenagers meet weekly for events, adults gather for meetings, Jewish weddings are conducted, and athletes can represent Peru in Israel for the annual Maccabi Games. From 2002-2004 Peru took more than 200 people to the Maccabi games in Chile. Our close family friend Jimmy (Jaime) Atun began his presidency of Hebraica at that time. Under his leadership, a portion of the large grounds of Hebraica was leased out, and with that income Hebraica was able to be remodeled into the beautiful, state of the art facility it is today. For the last 8 years he has been president of the Sephardi community and is currently president of the entire Asociacion Judia del Peru. In 2024, he travelled to Israel as the Peruvian representative to the Maccabi games and both of his daughters moved to Israel.
The Jewish community reached its peak in Peru in the 1960s with about 6,000 active members. However, when General Velasco Alvarado overthrew the government in a coup and became a socialist dictator from 1968-1980, Jews faced economic uncertainty and began leaving in droves to the USA, other Latin American countries, Europe, and Israel. The dictatorship imposed martial law and nationalized the banks, railroads, public utilities, farms, and mines, effectively stealing the private property of an untold number of citizens. Then from the 1980s to the 1990s the Maoist terrorist group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and another terrorist group called the Revolutionary Movement Túpac Amaru took control of various parts of the country, and murdered about 40,000 Peruvians. It is no wonder that the majority of Jews who emigrated from Peru under these disastrous conditions to countries like the USA, today find themselves staunchly opposed to anything that smells of socialism. Finally, in the 1990s President Alberto Fujimori undertook severe measures including targeted assassinations and restructuring of the judiciary to liberate Peru from the shackles of terrorism and changed the direction of the country. During the violence and uncertainty over those decades however, the Jewish community had already dwindled from 6,000 down to about 2,500.
Amidst that chaos, in 1987 Beit Chabad of Lima was established. Currently there are 4 synagogues in Lima: 1870 (Masorti), Sharón (Ashkenazi), Beit Chabad, and Bet Haknesset Rabi Abraham Benhamu (Sephardi). Since the early 2000’s the AJP has been publishing a monthly newsletter called El Boletin distributed free of charge to all members of the Jewish community. In the 193rd issue published in 2016, our longtime family friend Benami Grobman explained how he established the new Hasbara Committee of the AJP with the stated goals of uniting all the Jewish organizations in their efforts to advocate on behalf of Israel on a national level, combatting anti-Semitism, and improving the image of Israel in Peru. As its president, Mr. Grobman gathered the expertise of individuals experienced in human relations, journalism, and communication to put together informative talks on Islamist terrorism given to the Peruvian police force, organized talks on Iran’s influence in Latin America, and conducted an interfaith model Passover Seder with various government officials and religious leaders. Prior to that, Mr. Grobman had been president of Bnai Brith, Vice President of the AJP, and counts himself as a descendant of the Twerski family of the famed rabbinic dynasty starting with Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twerski of Chernobyl in the 1700s. Benami’s father had come to Lima in 1928 from Novoselitz, now in modern-day Ukraine. Mr. Grobman’s beloved wife Jessica Rjavinsky is the granddaughter of the Hleap family, originally of Russian descent. The Hleap’s ran a Jewish boarding house in Lima between the 1920s and 1930s which helped house the newly arrived Jews.
The above is but a brief overview of some of the extraordinary people that helped shape the Jewish community in Lima. Though I gathered most of this information from my research of various texts listed under the Works Cited in Part I, the true blessing has been hearing history come alive through my personal conversations with several of these individuals. Although smaller in number, the history of the Jewish communities in other Peruvian cities is just as fascinating, and I hope you will join me in the next chapter as we venture outside of the capital. In Part IV, we will visit Arequipa, the city where my grandparents established their families and saved refugees.