MONTEVIDEO

MONTEVIDEO, capital of Uruguay with a population of 1,200,000, and a Jewish population of 23,500 in 2005 (90.78% of the Jewish population of the country). Some 13,000 former Uruguayan Jews live in Israel. The community was established before World War I by immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The main representative body is the Comite Central Israelita (Jewish Central Committee), constituted of four kehillot: Jewish community of Montevideo (Ashkenazi), the Sephardi community, the New Jewish Congregation (German-speaking) and the Hungarian Jewish society. All of them together embrace the majority of the Jews except those of Communist ideology and affiliations. Another main body is the Zionist Organization of Uruguay (OSU), the roof organization and central authority of the local Zionist movement, its political factions, women organizations, and youth movements as well as both national funds – Keren Kayemet and Keren Hayesod–Hamagbit. For more details see uruguay . (Nahum Schutz (2nd ed.)