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2 Braided Lives A great many strands compose Jewish community in Brazil, and in São Paulo in particular. The most obvious strands are those derived from the dozens of different countries of origin and their concomitant cultural distinctions in language and practice. The distinctions of generation marked by distance from immigration also add complexity to the intertwined community. The histories of Brazil and the city of São Paulo further thicken the particular blending that distinguishes this Jewish community. The history of how Jews from several continents found a home and created a community in a metropolis in South America is evident throughout the community. They were able to seize a moment of economic development , and in the main they rose above their impoverished and marginalized origins, as well as the abject poverty of the vast majority of Brazil’s population, to attain a degree of social and economic comfort that the immigrant generation could hardly have imagined. Their economic success and the way in which the community formed key institutions that bridged internal differences have much to do with the way that race and ethnicity are conceived of in Brazil. 36 ◆ Kosher Feijoada It is not my intent to give a full account of all of these intertwined histories , but rather to draw out the ways in which these historical trajectories are evidenced in the lives of Jews who now reside in the city of São Paulo, to effectively give an account of “the presence of the past,” in Ruth Behar’s words (1985), the ways in which the past is in evidence in the constitution of the community. Gefilte Fish The scene described by Rosa sounded like the setup to a joke: “Four elderly Jewish women were sitting around a table eating gefilte fish . . .” As it turned out, Rosa had observed the incident at the Lar Golda Meir, the Golda Meir Home for the Elderly, in the Vila Mariana neighborhood of São Paulo. Rosa frequently visited the Lar to lead workshops. She took me with her once, a couple of years before I began full-time field research, a visit that left me sad. Without subsequent invitations I never returned to the Lar, hesitant to ask someone to take me, unwilling to go on my own, and not wanting to feel like a voyeur. It seemed particularly unfair to meet people only at the dénouement of their lives, after the loss of youth, family, work, independence, health, and well-being. During my visit with Rosa, I admired the pleasant surroundings, excellent facilities, and lovely green grounds as we passed before the glazed stares of elderly women and men, their worn bodies slumped in wheelchairs and unable to wave a greeting or crinkle the corners of their eyes in recognition as Rosa, who seemed to know everyone, gaily moved past as she took me on a whirlwind tour. These were not the active and contentious elders of the center described by Barbara Myerhoff in Number Our Days (1978), feisty elders who still had their wits about them. These elders could not participate in the activities organized for the Third Age at Jewish institutions around the city, where elderly members of the community could participate in theater classes, Israeli folk dancing, afternoon musical performances, and lectures on topics of special interest for the elderly. There were activities and classes offered at the Lar as well, but not everyone was able to attend , and efforts often had to be considerably scaled down to accommodate the residents’ physical restrictions and health problems. The ramps and wide doorways, the drone of television, the food trays with covered Braided Lives ◆ 37 plates lining the hallways, and the hospital smell were all reminders of the institutional setting. After our fast-paced tour, Rosa took me up to one of the rooms, where we visited with a nearly bed-bound friend of hers. As I tried to overcome the feeling of being an invader, Rosa introduced me to Sadie, who was propped up with pillows in her bed; I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, aware of both her whiskers and her soft, tissue-thin skin as our cheeks touched. One of the things for which the Lar is frequently praised is that residents live in apartmentlike rooms. Though the spaces are small, their institutional qualities can be softened by the residents’ personal belongings . As Rosa and Sadie caught up on events since they had last seen one another, I...

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