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Constitutional Documents of the Kehila Ashkenazi in Mexico by Alicia Gojman de Backal

Constitutional Documents of the Kehila Ashkenazi in Mexico by Alicia Gojman de Backal

October 20, 1996
The Ashkenazijews arrived in Mexico at the beginning of the twentieth century. Being few in number, they prayed in the same small place as Jews of Sephardi descent. Yet differences between both groups appeared almost immediately because of the different styles of prayer service. These differences forced the Ashkenazi Jews to leave and search for a place of their own. This event can be considered as the initiation of the Kehild Ashkenazi in Mexico, which occurred in 1922. This study presents five early documents in Spanish related to this founding and its development through the following seventy years.
Constitutional Documents of Two Sephardic Communities in Latin America (Argentina and Cuba)

Constitutional Documents of Two Sephardic Communities in Latin America (Argentina and Cuba)

October 20, 1996
This is a comparative analysis of the constitutional documents of the Unidn Israelita Chevet Ahim of Havana and the Sociedad Comunidad Israelita Sefaradi de Buenos Aires. Both were founded in 1914 by Jews from Turkey coming from a similar background, where the Jewish community was structured as a centralized body and protected by the state. The constitutional documents of these two communities reflect their similar aspirations to revive the pattern of organization of their community of origin, but which were achieved through different patterns of historical development. While Chevet Ahim was founded from its very beginning as a comprehensive communal organization, the Sephardic organization in Buenos Aires began with a large number of small institutions limited in their scope.
Halakhic Interpretation from a Constitutional Perspective

Halakhic Interpretation from a Constitutional Perspective

April 20, 1996
The breakdown of traditional Jewish society and belief has led to the need to find new common ground for halakhic interpretation if the Jewish people's halakhic framework is to be in any respect preserved in any reasonable manner. One possible way in which that might be done is by applying the canons of constitutional interpretation developed for modern constitutions, allowing for the differences between the comprehensive character of the Torah as constitution and the more limited character of modern frames of government.