The Jewish Community in Brazil

By: Nadav Anner

Today, January 1, 2003, Luiz Inacio da Silva (Lula) assumed the Presidency in Brazil. After winning a landslide election on October 27, 2002, da Silva will serve as Brazil's first leftist president, marking a major change in the political set-up of the country. This document will address the new political reality in Brazil and its influence on the Jewish community.

The Jewish Community

Approximately 120,000 Jews live in Brazil, out of some 175 million Brazilian citizens. The majority live in San Paolo (60,000), Rio De Janeiro (40,000) and Porto Alegre (10,000). The remainder reside in cities throughout Brazil.

Brazil's Jewish Community is actually a loose federation of local, independent communities. The “Confederacao Israelita do Brazil” (CONIB) consists of approximately 200 Jewish organizations and focuses mainly on educational and cultural issues. Local communities address separately welfare and social matters.

There is no chief rabbinate in Brazil, thus, each congregation stands on its own. Though all Jewish religious movements are represented in Brazil, most of Brazil's Jews are secular. Many actively take part in Jewish social events at schools and universities, hospitals and homes for the aged, sports clubs and youth organizations, and newspapers and cultural facilities.

Jews are active in all walks of life in Brazil, participating in the economic, social, cultural and even the political spheres, both on national and municipal levels.

Economically, Jews in the greater cities are generally considered to be upper middle class, while a smaller number are labeled wealthy. Many of Brazil's Jews have been affected by the country's economic problems, particularly those in the lower income strata.

On October 27^th 2002, the second round of Brazil's presidential elections resulted in a landslide victory (62 percent) for Luiz Inacio da Silva head of the left-wing Workers Party (PT) who received 46 percent of the votes during the first round. The former centrist coalition won a majority in congress together with local state governors.

Although the Brazilian president wields considerable power, Congress has ample power to frustrate presidential policy. Despite that the PT will be the largest party in a fragmented multi-party Congress, it cannot rely solely on the traditional support of the more radical leftist parties. The new President will have to form a working political coalition with at least one of the former centrist ruling parties.

President da Silva’s election rhetoric and populist announcements caused some concerns among political and economic circles, both inside and outside Brazil, which await the revealing of his future intentions and his government nominations.

Three main issues will be of great concern in the near future for the Brazilian political echelon and public, as well as international and regional organizations and countries:

• Stabilizing Brazil’s Economy: The new government will have to devise an economic policy that will assure international investors the safety of their investments and enable the IMF to grant Brazil a pending $30 billion loan. It will also have to address overwhelming internal debt and racing inflation.
• Tackling Internal Problems: President da Silva will have to reconcile divergences between his election promises and hard economic and social facts. He will have to address growing unemployment and poverty, hunger and homelessness, together with budget cuts and increased taxation. He will also have to cope with a growing crime rate and public corruption, together with undertaking substantive administrative reforms.
• Shaping Brazil’s Character: Brazil emerged as a democracy after years of military rule. The new President ran on a platform promising to “transform representative democracy into participative democracy.”

 

During the two months between his election and his formal assumption of the Presidency, the President succeeded in surprising both his boldest critiques and his leftist followers:

• He nominated for economic cabinet positions prominent public figures, including industrialists, financial and banking magnates and former public officials, together with popular figures like the singer-composer Gilberto Gil.
• His statements, and those of his advisors, have reflected a withdrawal from pre-election leftist rhetoric and a move towards a more realistic assessment of Brazil’s economic and social issues.

These developments earned President da Silva the respect of Brazil’s former administration. They also earned him respect outside Brazil. The President's economic nominees raised expectations in global economic circles, including the I.M.F., increasing Brazil’s economic optimism. In addition, he met with U.S. President George W. Bush before officially assuming the presidency.

The Jewish community is proud to be part of a multi-racial, culturally-diverse democratic society and takes an active role in Brazilian life. Thus, the Jewish community reflects general Brazilian concerns, particularly regarding the economic and social climates. As a small, organized minority, however, it has special concerns:

• The community is still worried that the economic crisis will cause an ongoing process of impoverishment in the lower strata of Jewish society, and propel wealthy Jews, who serve as the pillars of the community, both economically and socially, to leave Brazil. Community activists tend to confront the economic difficulties by enhancing professional community welfare operations and their growing financing demands.
• In a multi-cultural and multi-racial society, great importance is attached to preserving and enhancing group identity. Thus, the Jewish community is concerned about the high rates of out marriage (60%) and assimilation, and deals with them by strengthening Jewish education and Jewish communal activities.
• The Jewish community is openly Zionist, but its attitude towards Israel and its policies is critical. Anti-Israel expressions by a central elected official of the newly elected PT party, however, drew angry protests from community leaders. Anti-Semitic incidents and expressions occur infrequently in Brazil and are dealt with by the relevant government authorities.

 

The Jewish community in Brazil is a large and lively community that struggles with external and internal difficulties, some of which are common to all Brazilians and others which are community-specific.

The Community realizes that at least part of the solution is safeguarding and strengthening its unique identity, while maintaining and fostering intricate ties with its surroundings.

Strengthening federation bodies that unite Brazil's diffuse Jewish communal organizations is required to cope with community-specific difficulties that continue to impact on Jewish identity and affiliation and other escalating political and economic problems.

* These numbers are provided by Jewish sources. Based on the 2000 census results, the U.S Department of State determines that “Approximately 100,000 citizens identify themselves as Jewish, there are…45,000 Jews in Rio de Janeiro and…29,000 In Sao Paolo. Many other cities have smaller communities.” (International Religious Freedom Report 2002)

This article belongs to the following subjects:

• Jews Around the World