Over the last 15 years the religious landscape in Santiago, Chile, has undergone a true transformation. This is largely due to the establishment of NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth) within Chile — the first chapter outside of North America and Israel.
Santiago is home to Chile’s 13,000 out of 15,000 Jews. The ba’al teshuva community is alive and well here, along with a successful Orthodox day school. Ten out of Chile’s 11 synagogues are located in Santiago.
One of the best things about a thriving Jewish community? Readily available kosher food and terrific kosher restaurants. As the Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli said, “Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship.”
One grocery store that I am looking forward to checking out is the Kosher Market, which is located in the neighborhood of Quinchamali. The Kosher Market is a meat and pareve facility and is under the supervision of Rabbi Yitzjak Shaked. It is said to be very reasonably priced, too.
Quinchamali is also a great place to find beautiful hand-painted pottery. Local artists sell a variety of objects that are made from the black clay found in this area. While in the Quinchamali I look forward to also visiting the Orthodox synagogue Hafetz Hayim. This congregation holds daily services, Friday evening services, Shabbat morning services, and even welcomes tourist visits.
A restaurant that I simply cannot wait to try is Via Lactea. It has a delicious array of choices on the menu from Asian and Chinese cuisine to Italian fare. Of course with Italian fare comes one of my favorites, pizza. Via Lactea is a dairy and pareve facility, and received a rating of 5 out of 5 stars by Shamash. The restaurant is located in the Santiago metro area, which also hosts a great number of tourist attractions.
One of the things that makes Santiago such a great vacation spot is the diversity of its attractions and attributes. Santiago is filled with rich vegetation as well as orchards and wineries. Beautiful parks are situated at the foot of the Andes ridge. At the same time, the city is brimming with chic neoclassical architecture and modern high-rise apartments.
Santiago is home to a whopping population of more than six million people, many of whom get around on the city’s convenient and elaborate underground metro system. Because of its diversity, Santiago offers a great vacation for everyone to the skiing fanatic to the museum hopper to the sightseer and, of course, the vacationer who just wants to lay back and relax.
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