Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., June 16, 2008 Sivan 13, 5768 | | Israel Time: 00:36 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Guillermo Borger addressing AMIA delegates in Buenos Aires on Friday. (AP) Last update - 12:27 13/06/2008 New Argentine Jewish leader denies favoring the Orthodox By The Associated Press Tags: Buenos Aires, Gillermo Borger  The first Orthodox man elected to head Argentina's largest Jewish organization took office Thursday amid an angry debate over religious and cultural identity. Guillermo Borger tried to dispel fears that he would favor Orthodox Jews and their beliefs during his three-year tenure as president of the 22,000-member Argentine Israeli Mutual Association, known as AMIA. "AMIA is, and will be, the representative of all Jews, without exclusion and with a spirit of dialogue," Borger said in a speech Thursday night. Advertisement Borger is the group's first Orthodox president in its 114-year history. On Saturday, Buenos Aires' leading newspaper Clarin ignited a controversy when it quoted Borger as saying that "genuine Jews are those who lead a life based on everything that is dictated in the Torah, our sacred book." "It's a paradox that people call themselves Jews if they don't practice the religion," Borger added, according to the newspaper. Borger, a 59-year-old businessman, denied having made the remarks in a communique he sent to the nation's Jewish community. "Clarin stands by its story. What we published is what he said," Clarin editor-in-chief Julio Blank told The Associated Press. Argentina's 250,000-person Jewish community was divided Thursday between Borger's backers and those who worry his alleged comments will divide the AMIA. "We respect Orthodox Jews' way of life and we want them to respect us too," said Agustin Ulanovsky, a 22-year-old law student who joined about 200 people protesting Borger's statements Thursday at his inauguration. "We are all Jews!" they shouted, booing at the mention of Borger's name and drowning out remarks during the opening ceremony, which was televised on a large screen to accommodate an overflow crowd. Orthodox Judaism requires adherents to live strictly as outlined in the Torah, the Jewish holy book, while Conservative and Reform Judaism permit relatively more lax interpretations of the Torah's 613 laws. A majority of Argentine Jews follow Conservative and Reform streams of the faith. "Even if Borger never made the disputed comments, damage has been done," said engineer and community leader Mario Goijman, who called Borger's alleged words fundamentalist. "Borger's statements unfortunately establish a base for discrimination," Goijman said. Terrorist acts have thrust Argentina's Jewish community, the largest in Latin America, onto the national stage twice since 1992. That year, a bomb flattened the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29. Two years later, an explosives-packed van exploded outside AMIA's seven-story building, killing 85 people and wounding 200 more. The center has since been rebuilt Bookmark to del.icio.us   Snoop Dogg in Israel American rapper Snoop Dogg slated to perform in Ramat Gan. Late date Scientists revive 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.   1.   A Genuine Jew Is One Born Of A Jewish Mother 09:19  |  Yishai Kohen 13/06/08   2.   Who is a jew 10:45  |  A.M. 13/06/08   3.   Being Jewish is a process not a state 10:52  |  A thinking Jew 13/06/08   4.   If the only Jews were Orthodox.... 11:15  |  Awake 13/06/08   5.   Awake go back into hibernation 11:30  |  Jew-girl 13/06/08   6.   Awake misses the point. 11:34  |  Another Jew 13/06/08   7.   A.M it is past your bedtime. 11:37  |  Jewboy 13/06/08   8.   #2 13:38  |  Keops 13/06/08   9.   Comments representative of Orthodox attitude towards others. 14:04  |  DkS 13/06/08   10.   Comments representative of Orthodox attitude towards others. 14:05  |  DkS 13/06/08   11.   to dks 10 14:43  |  eli 13/06/08   12.   to 10 14:44  |  eli 13/06/08   13.   Argentina`s Jews 15:54  |  Yubano1948 13/06/08   14.   Borger 16:48  |  Dean Wormer 13/06/08   15.   WHY IS HE BEING CENSORED? 16:52  |  BILL HANDEL 13/06/08   16.   The Jewish Name Intimidates the Non-Jews 19:56  |  Persianlily 13/06/08   17.   Ortodox Jews are our main problem, thanks God we have Israel, 20:41  |  alejandro 13/06/08   18.   Alehandro 22:05  |  Pat 13/06/08   19.   orthodox are extremist and intolerant 21:16  |  Marcelo 14/06/08   20.   to Path, the reform or consevartive weddings are even better!!! 21:21  |  alhandro 14/06/08   21.   intolerance is more than a two way street. 09:11  |  A young Jew 15/06/08   22.   Argentine Jewry and Torah 10:27  |  Manuel 15/06/08   23.   Mi Yehudi? - yishai kohen 16:56  |  yirmiyahu 15/06/08   24.   #23 and the vanishing Jews 23:23  |  just a Jew 15/06/08   25.   Manuel, if you are correct then no wonder they disapeared. 23:25  |  Another Jew 15/06/08

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