They Drove 15 Hours to Reach Remote Jews

By COLlive reporter

While most Argentinian Jews live in Buenos Aires, there are Jews who live in many remote cities in Argentina, hundreds and thousands of kilometers from the capital.

In the last 50 years, Chabad’s connection to these Jews has been the visit of the bochurim on Merkos Shlichus in the summer, and on a few other occasions.

In the last few years, Rabbi Iosef Arie Sigaloff started the project of “Mitzva Tank” on behalf of Rabbi Tzvi Grunblatt, Head Shliach of Argentina. The project cares for thousands of Jews in remote corners, organizing Purim and Chanukah events, Minyanim on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Shavuos events, and over the past 2 years, Public Sedarim.

This year, four major events at four corners of the country were held, in the cities of Posadas and Cipoletti, which, although they had been held the past two years, this year the number of Jews who participated in them doubled. In Ceres and S. Martin de los Andes, Sedarim were held for the first time. Each of these cities is at least 15 hours’ drive from the capital.

All this was in addition to matzah bakeries that were held in many cities, and the distribution of shmura matzah and mivtza tefillin in the days before Pesach, as well as being interviewed about the holiday on the radio and other outlets.

The arrangements were made by Rabbi Sigaloff with a group of Spanish-speaking Yeshiva bochurim from Argentina, some of whom were sent by Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch in New York. Their names are Iakov Abudarham, Moishi Stoler, Sholem Teitelbaum, Shauli Polichenco, Abraham Chama, Berki Chein, Fiche Tawil, Shneur Cyper, Leivi Teitelbaum, Zalmy Chein, Mendel Blumenfeld and Ber Jaim Arkusin.

Mitzva Tank thanks Rabbi Grunblatt for his support and assistance in all of the above, as well as Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky and Rabbi Shneur Nejar of Merkos and Rabbi Levi Silberstein who is in charge of Mivtza Matza, in Argentina.