I was born in Argentina, a country with a Jewish population of 180,000. I used to go to a Jewish school and on weekends I would go to a Jewish club. My summers were usually spent at Jewish camp and my whole life was based around Judaism. All my friends were Jewish and I probably only knew 10 people who weren’t Jewish. Judaism has always been a big part of my life considering that my dad is a Rabbi, my mom is a Morah, my uncle is a Rabbi, and my grandma is a Rikuddim Morah. In 2020, my family made the decision to move to El Salvador to work in the Jewish community here. At that moment, I thought that my biggest worry was starting a new life in another country, but now I have realized that my biggest challenge is continuing my Jewish life.

When I got to El Salvador, the first thing the locals told me was that they had a very small Jewish community. I did not think much about it until they said that only 120 Jewish people lived here. I was so confused, and I thought that there was no way. I went from going to a school with 50 Jewish classmates to being the only Jewish student in my school. In my Jewish after-school program, there were only 7 other teens with me. People's reaction to me being Jewish was weird sometimes. I would hear things like “Oh, so you don’t believe in Jesus?” or “I’ve never met a Jew before! Wow!” Having this big of a change, I distanced myself from my Judaism and I got totally lost.

Not only was being Jewish a challenge, but my family is Shomer Shabbat and keeps kosher, meaning that, while my friends were going out on Fridays, I was having Shabbat dinner at my house. When we would go out, we always had to go somewhere with a vegetarian menu so I could eat. Most people don’t understand my religion, and some of my friends still struggle with understanding why I can’t have a piece of their hamburger or why I can’t hang out on Friday nights. Something that felt so simple and understandable for me, became a load on my back of having to explain this stuff to everyone I met. Because of that, I started changing the definitions a little bit, kosher turned into vegetarian, Shabbat turned into family dinners, and being Jewish turned into silence.

4 years later, I can say that I love my community. I love how everyone knows everyone. I love explaining to my friends who aren’t Jewish things about judaism. I love my Jewish friends who have become my best friends and understand me better than anyone. I love how close we feel to everyone in Shabbat. I love teaching kids everything I know about Judaism and inspiring them to connect with their identities. I have never been so proud of my Jewish identity as I am now. Now I know that I will always be Jewish, it doesn't matter where I live.