One of Argentina’s first shuls, originally inaugurated in 1907, was reclaimed after 20 years of being overrun with squatters.
The shul is located in the La Boca area of Buenos Aires, where the first Jewish immigrants from Europe originally settled.
After the death of the rabbi that cared for the building, the property was taken over by a group known for loud raves that turned it into an underground “cultural center” known as The House of the Stars, in reference to the existing Stars of David. Anti-Semitic epithets and Nazi symbols were found painted on its walls.
City police and security cleared the building of squatters this week following orders from the Justice Ministry and a lawsuit filed by a shliach working in the La Boca area. Rabbi Shneor Mizrahi, had worked to empty the shul without a fight by talking with the squatters in an attempt to convince them to vacate.
