Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the abetment of a number of individuals and institutions. The support of Argentina’s National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET, as per its acronym in Spanish) allowed me to pursue my doctorate and write my dissertation, of which this book is an abbreviated version. Its Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences allowed me to work fruitfully all these years.
Raanan Rein, editor of Brill’s Jewish Latin America series, has been one of the colleagues who supported my work from the beginning. It was him who encouraged me to publish my work beyond the local field and the Spanish speaking community. I must also express my gratefulness for the work of another colleague and friend, David Foster (University of Arizona), who translated the book, as well as to my brother, Lisandro Kahan and to Beryl Belsky, who read and edited the English translation.
In a similar way, I would like to acknowledge the generous and much appreciated of my work made by Estelle Tarica (Berkeley University), Mariza Corrales (University of La Habana), Marta Topel (University of São Paulo) and David Sheinin (Trent University), as they were the members of the Latin American Jewish Studies Association’s committee for the Prize for Best Doctorate Dissertation in Latin American Jewish Studies, which was awarded to me at the University of Texas at Austin in June 2013.
During my academic formation I have been very fortunate to be able to count on the support and the friendship of a group of researchers who in different ways collaborated with my research’s development. Judith Bosker provided me with the possibility of accessing the libraries of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM, by its acronym in Spanish). Raanan Rein (University of Tel Aviv), Leonardo Senkman (University of Jerusalem), Adriana Brodsky (St. Mary’s College), Federico Finchelstein (New School for Social Research), Natasha Zaretsky (New York University and Rutger University), Nela Navarro (Rutgers University), Daniela Gleizer (UNAM), and Yael Simán (Anahuac University), provided me with very stimulating and though provoking commentaries. The works of Enzo Traverso (Université de Picardie Jules Verne and Cornell University) and Bruno Groppo (Centre de Histoire Sociale du XXeme siécle - París I) have been mandatory references for me, and I consulted with them personally at different phases during my research.
In the same way, the meetings with my Argentinean colleagues of the Nucleus for Jewish Studies at the Institute for Economic and Social Development (NEJ/IDES, as per its acronym in Spanish), allowed me to recognize the complexity of my “object of study”, and on many occasions share a space where I could present my research with the peace of mind of knowing that those who were listening perfectly knew what and who I was talking about. I believe that the work we have done with my friend and colleague Alejandro Dujovne in the coordination of the NEJ/IDES has achieved the goal of getting broader recognition for our field of study at the local level.
I would also like to acknowledge the consideration granted to me at different times and for a variety of reasons by other researchers: Emilio Crenzel, Patricia Funes, Elizabeth Jelin, Marina Franco, Hugo Vezzetti, Susana Skura, Patricia Flier, Bea Gurwitz, Mollie Lewis and Germán Soprano. I have attempted to keep in mind their comments for this re-writing. Even if I believe I obstinately persisted in many of my own judgments.
My research also counted with the collaboration of workers from different archives, documentation centers and libraries. I am, therefore, also in debt to those who received me and attended my requests at the Mark Turkow Documentation Center (AMIA), the Center for Social Studies (DAIA), Latin American Rabbinic Seminary’s Library, the Idisher Wissenschaftlicher Organisatzio’s Archive, the Library of Congress (Argentina), the Newspaper Section of Argentina’s National Library and also to Santiago Kovadloff, for allowing access to documents at the American Jewish Committee. I would also like to recognize those who granted me the opportunity of personally interviewing them: Daniel Muchnik, Gerardo Yomal, Yaacov Rubel, Beatríz Gurevich, Juan Gurevich, Marisa Braylan and Ricardo Feierstein.
Finally, it is important for me to acknowledge those who were my dissertation advisors: Daniel Lvovich and Andrés Bisso. To them I should dedicate a separate acknowledgement section as well as the book itself, in order to express how grateful I am for all they have done in order to make my research possible.