Constitutional Documents of Two Sephardic Communities in Latin America (Argentina and Cuba)

This is a comparative analysis of the constitutional documents of the Unidn Israelita Chevet Ahim of Havana and the Sociedad Comunidad Israelita Sefaradi de Buenos Aires. Both were founded in 1914 by Jews from Turkey coming from a similar background, where the Jewish community was structured as a centralized body and protected by the state. The constitutional documents of these two communities reflect their similar aspirations to revive the pattern of organization of their community of origin, but which were achieved through different patterns of historical development. While Chevet Ahim was founded from its very beginning as a comprehensive communal organization, the Sephardic organization in Buenos Aires began with a large number of small institutions limited in their scope.