The Jewish Community in Costa Rica:
A Peaceful Community in a Peaceful Land
Daniel J. Elazar
Costa Rica may well be Israel's best friend among the states of
the world, unswerving in its friendship since 1948 and the only
state to maintain its embassy in Jerusalem. A green and pleasant
land, approximately twice the size of Israel, Costa Rica lies
some ten degrees above the equator, between the Pacific Ocean and
the Carribean Sea, rising from tropical beaches through rain
forests to sometime-now dusted volcanic peaks. Located between
Nicaragua and Panama, two turbulent dictatorships of the left and
the right, Costa Rica is the great democracy of Central America
and perhaps the greatest democracy in all Latin America. This
year Costa Rica is celebrating one hundred years of free
elections, 1889 - 1989.
Costa Ricans pride themselves on three things in particular:
their democracy, their strong commitment to education, and their
lack of a standing army. They could also pride themselves on
their efforts to preserve their natural wonders and their
tolerance of the minorities in the midst, including the Jewish
minority. A Catholic country, officially as well as
demographically, since the 1930's, several thousand Jews, almost
half from the same two villages in Poland, have found a home in
Costa Rica. They have built a prosperous aand closely knit
Jewish community.
While one wave of Sephardic Jews lived in Costa Rica as
Marranos in the 16th and 17th centuries and another as merchants
in the 19th, the present Jewish community dates from before World
War II and is primarily of Eastern European origin, nearly half
from two villages in Poland. They were apparently from within
the Hasidic ambit since they use the Hasidic ritual Nusach
Sephard in their services. When they came to Costa Rica they
became known as "Polacos," (perhaps for the same reason as in
Mexico where the Jews chose that term because they feared to be
identified as "Judeos" or "Israelitas"), a term which had some
derogatory connotations. There is some anti-Semitism, though it
is not serious.
Costa Rican non-Jews have as part of their national myth the
notion that the original Spanish population in Costa Rica
included many Sephardic Jews, which is one of the reasons they
use to explain why Costa Rica is exceptional in Latin America.
Those Sephardim were fleeing the Inquisition. They were Marranos
and simply assimilated. Again, this partly explains the
extensive nominal Catholicism in the country, according to the
local Costa Ricans. They also say that people who have animal
surnames betray their Marrano origin, for they did not want to
take real "Catholic" names.
The common estimate of the size of the Jewish community is
2,000 souls, but many suggest that there are another 1,000
"hidden" Jews, including American retirees who have settled in
Costa Rica.
The principal institutions of the community are the Instituto
Jaim Weizmann, a comprehensive school from kindergarten through
secondary school, with 350 students. Just about all Jewish
children attend primary school. Most stay on for secondary
school, although a few are taken out and sent to the American
school presumably to better prepare for entrance into American
universities. Essentially none go to the Costa Rican public
schools which teach Catholic religion. The school is organized
on a very high level with a relatively intensive Jewish education
program.
Like much of the diaspora, the community is nominally
Orthodox by choice. Thus the school teaches Orthodox Judaism and
is served by the Torah Education Department of the WZO. There
are religious services every morning and until two or three years
ago attendance at Shabbat services was compulsory. There is a
certain amount of social pressure to attend and some 20-30
students do so weekly. They also have their own High Holiday
services.
The present principal of the school is a Jewish woman. She
succeeded a string of non-Jewish principals. We did not meet her
since she was in Mexico attending a conference of principals of
Jewish schools in Latin America. She is reputed to be very good.
We did meet with two of the morim shlichim -- Shimon and Carmella
Lugasi from Kiryat Gat. He teaches in the high school, she in
the lower elementary grades. Both seem to be excellent teachers.
My wife Harriet observed them teaching in the school (I could
not enter the building because of steps) and was very impressed.
She also sat in on teachers meetings there and collected material
which they had prepared in Hebrew for use in the school. She
reports that they work to develop a basic Hebrew vocabulary of
300 words in the young students and then build on that in
subsequent learning. She was very impressed with the entire
program that she saw.
The Lugasis themselves are very impressive and enthusiastic
people. The Lugasis are completing three years and will be going
back this summer. They seem to be extremely important as
energizers of the school. There is one teacher in the school who
is a local girl, a product of the school, who was subsequently
trained in Israel at Machon Gold and is now back teaching. The
school committee may be the most important Jewish governing body
in the country. It certainly seems to be treated as such.
The established synagogue is the Orthodox synagogue. All the
permanent resident Costa Rican Jews are members of it, even
though their Orthodoxy is quite nominal. The rabbi is a young
man from Chile who studied in Israel at the Beth Midrash HaTorah
(BMT) and then at Aish Hatorah from which he has his smicha.
There is also a Reform group, B'nai Israel, which meets Friday
nights at 7:30 and advertises itself in the Tico Times, the Costa
Rican English-language newspaper. It seems to cater primarily to
Americans Jews who have retired to Costa Rica, of which there are
an unknown number estimated in the hundreds. There is also a
community center, Centro Israelita to which most Jews belong.
The community also has a kosher butcher shop, two shochetim,
one of whom is retired, and a delicatessen run by Orthodox Jews
that carries kosher products. Thus it is possible to get the
basics in Costa Rica to maintain a Jewish life. The community
does want to maintain its Orthodox linkage, with many keeping
kashrut at home and then doing what they please outside.
There is some problem of intermarriage, with occasional
conversions. Usually the prospective converts are sent to Miami
or to Israel where they are taught and then converted. They are
given some initial training by the teacher-emissary in Costa
Rica.
Some
estimate that there are 300 Israelis living permanently
in Costa Rica. Other estimates are 40-50 Israeli families. These
include some Israelis who have married Costa Rican Jewish girls
and have settled there either to enter the family business or to
establish businesses financed by the girl's family, as is
customary in the country. There are other Israelis who simply
wandered through and found this was a good place to make a living
so they settled down. There are still others who came with the
various Israeli projects in Costa Rica. Tahal has water
projects, there are agricultural projects of various kinds, and
others as well. So Israelis come through on a temporary basis
all the time. Occasionally some stay. It is generally agreed
that business is good for Jews, that they can make money doing
almost anything, and that Costa Rica is a very comfortable place
so it is quite attractive.
