Last night I went to Jane’s for Shabbat dinner (the Sabbath dinner on Friday nights) and stayed over to go to the JCC with Ada in the morning. At both the dinner and the community center I was rather surprised that the Jewish traditions are just as they are in the States. Also, the Jews I have seen in Mexico look just like the Jews I know in the U.S. For some reason it’s strange to me to observe others living so similarly in another part of the world, with language being the major difference. At dinner language affect the traditions as the blessings were recited in Hebrew. The language difference was the dividing factor between our two communities. I was in my own world scrutinizing the parents and children and was snapped back to reality once I overheard them speaking in Spanish.
Even though I have already spent time with the Jewish communities in Cuba and Puerto Rico, I am so intrigued that the Jewish communities around the world are so similar. The biggest difference between the Shabbat dinner with Jane and Ada’s families and my own is the start time. In Chicago if we start after 6:15 that seems late and we usually call it a night by 8:30. In Mexico, we probably started around 8:30 or 9:00 and disbanded between 11 and 12. The pre-dinner entertainment was top-notch with Ariela and Dani, Ada’s 4 1/2 year old twins, putting on shows featuring yoga moves and others using imaginary marionettes, all the while demanding silence from the audience members. The family was very considerate at dinner, making sure I understood the conversations. Moishe, Jane’s husband, entertained us with jokes, repeating one for me hoping the language barrier was why I hadn’t. I met another cousin, Ofelia, and her husband Abraham. Abraham is an actor and is now on a children’s show weekday afternoons at 4:00. Ofelia and Abraham reminded me a bit of my parents – Abraham talked of the “diet” he is on, Ofelia insisted he needs more exercise, and they “fought” over the keys, both thinking they should be the one to drive home. I thoroughly enjoyed their company and hospitality and so appreciated the delicious home-cooked meal. The food was succulent, beginning with an extremely tasty chicken noodle soup then the juicy chicken and finally a rich carrot cake for dessert.
