Oaxaca has everything: beautiful scenery, delicious food, and a party (with parades, fireworks and more) pretty much every night. Yet after three weeks here, I think I’ve discovered the one thing it lacks.
Jews.
A few days after I got here, an elderly gentleman stopped me on the street. “¿Usted eres Judio?” In broken Spanish, I explained as best I could that yes, I am indeed Jewish, and that I’m in Oaxaca learning Spanish at the Instituto Cultural. He attempted to engage me in some kind of conversation about Mexican anti-Semitism (which I’m sure is a fascinating topic) and was probably very disappointed with my lackluster and inappropriate responses: “¡Que bueno!” is basically my fallback any time I don’t understand what someone is saying.
Since then, I’ve seen him several times–I think he must live pretty near to my host family. Aside from him and a few other students at the Instituto, however, there literally don’t seem to be any Jews in Oaxaca. I spent at least thirty minutes one Friday engrossed in online research, trying to find a synagogue, Chabad house, or any kind of minyan. Nope. The only vaguely promising thing I found was a brief informal history of Oaxacan Jewry, written by another Canadian Jew who made aliyah to Oaxaca to open a bed-and-breakfast. The gist is that there were Jews before, but not anymore. So it goes.
If any of you readers are in Oaxaca (and are Jewish) give me a shout-out, and we’ll drink mezcal and daven!
