Yom Kippur in Cochabamba

This is just a quick post for those of you who might be interested to hear about Jewish life in Bolivia.

I went to the synagogue (the only synagogue) in Cochabamba for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - the building was beautiful.There was a guard outside the synagogue, which I figured would happen - Jews are not particularly welcomed in Bolivia (though I understand it´s the same in many other countries too).

When we got inside, a lot of people would greet us (us being my friends on my program who are Jewish, and a friend I met who´s living in Bolivia for the year. Awesome guy.) - good evening, shanah tovah, etc... However, the interactions did not really extend beyond that. Everyone just went to their seats, talking with their family or close friends with whom they came.

The service for Rosh Hashanah lasted about an hour - for Kol Nidrei, it was two hours. There were no more than 55 people there, and at least 60% of the people were above 60 years of age. A man I met from Peru who´s studying medicine here (one of the few below 60) said that most of the young generation has moved to other countries, where they practice Judaism in larger communities. A lot of people were talking to each other during the service - the Rabbi had to hush them a bit. They sang the prayers pretty softly as well - a little above a mumble.

The Rabbi is from Buenos Aires, and comes to this synagogue once a year for the high holidays - otherwise, the congregation runs Shabbat by itself. Also, I was told that usually between 12-15 people go for Shabbat. The Rabbi´s singing is best characterized as Baroque - lots of ornamentation (probably more than necessary). He would try to get the community to be more lively during the service, but he didn´t try very hard. I didn´t understand much of his sermon, unfortunately (Spanish!), so I can´t say much about that.

Overall, it seemed like there was simply a "lack of" - of energy, for sure, but also presence in general. When I return from my 10-day trip, maybe I´ll have the opportunity to check out weekly Shabbat services and see the difference.