When I moved to Cali, Colombia in 2003 to follow my businessman boyfriend, it was one of the most violent cities in Latin America, besieged by drug cartels. I felt lost, angry and out of place. Growing up in a conservative Jewish family in New York City, I sought out the Jewish community in Cali, which took me in. Jews are a tiny minority in Colombia; it is estimated that only 4,000 live in a country of 50 million inhabitants, the religious majority of which is Catholic, with a growing contingent of evangelical Christians.
More recently, I have been surprised to find a growing community in Cali of so-called emerging – “emerging Jews,” primarily evangelicals who have abandoned their earlier religious doctrines to practice strict Orthodox Judaism. Although none of them were born Jewish, many had been exposed to Judaism as part of their Christian faith, through the life of Jesus, who was a Jew. They have come to see Judaism as the only true religion, many told me. My photography project focused on hundreds of people who established their own communities of converts outside of traditional Jewish communities.
Benjamin Acosta, center right, leads a Torah study group.
Iskaa Daza Gallego, who started studying Judaism eight years ago.
Dressed in a headgear, Devorah Guilah Koren does make-up in her car with her children.
TOP: Benjamin Acosta, center right, leads a Torah study group. BOTTOM LEFT: Iskaa Daza Gallego, who began studying Judaism eight years ago. BOTTOM RIGHT: Wearing a headgear, Devorah Guilah Koren does make-up in her car with her children.
There are seven known emerging synagogues in Cali, while the traditional Jewish community has only three. It is difficult not to notice the emerging ones because they embrace the external signifiers of orthodoxy. I first came across it several years ago when I spotted a taxi driver with a kippah and the traditional tallit (prayer shawl) worn by Orthodox Jews. Over the years, I have photographed many emerging Jews who have embraced religion and its culture – for example, ritual baths and women’s headgear.
These new adherents speak of being dissatisfied with their previous beliefs. “I wanted to find the truth,” Rivka Espinosa (formerly Loida Espinosa), who converted from evangelism, told me. “I started to study more and more and to ask myself deep questions: What was my mission in this world? Why was I here? And what should I do? She said her father was the pastor of an evangelical church of which she was a member. He also converted.
“It was a call from the soul,” Devorah Guilah Koren, who converted from Catholicism with her husband and two children, told me. “More than a religion, [Orthodox Judaism] was a way of thinking and driving that met all of our needs.
But despite these strong beliefs, are their conversions valid? Judaism is organizationally decentralized, with different bodies overseeing their own conversions. And who recognizes which conversions is a complicated question. Various groups and rabbis carry out conversions in Colombia.
Emerging Jews are not associated with any traditional organization in Colombia or the United States, according to Alfredo Goldschmidt, chief rabbi of Colombia. But he advises them and advises them: “Emerging communities consult me on everything,” he told me. “They form a parallel community.”
Many emerging rabbis have been trained in Israel, I have learned, and the emerging communities have formed their own independent organizations. “We are Orthodox because [we] follow the same laws as in other Orthodox communities around the world, ”says Meyer Sanchez, assistant to a rabbi in Medellín.
During my project, I had intimate daily access to those who adopted this lifestyle. My work has forced me to confront my own views on identity. I began to see the emerging Jews of Colombia as an example of the growing freedom we all have to choose how we label ourselves – from sex to sexual orientation to religion.
What is identity? Is this something we were born into? Is this something that we are free to create? What does it mean to be welcomed and accepted without judgment regardless of genetics, history or context? These are the questions I wanted to raise and the story I wanted to tell through my photos.
Children outside the Shomar Israel Synagogue, a former evangelical church.
Sara Camargo and her husband Benjamin Acosta, who moved to Israel in January 2020.
Nancy Castillo, who identifies as a “sympathizer” of Judaism, says a Jewish prayer.
TOP: Children in front of the Shomar Israel Synagogue, a former evangelical church. BOTTOM LEFT: Sara Camargo and her husband Benjamin Acosta, who moved to Israel in January 2020. BOTTOM RIGHT: Nancy Castillo, who identifies as a “supporter” of Judaism, says a Jewish prayer.
Heidi Paster Harf is a photographer in Cali, Colombia. Alicia Vergara contributed reporting from Israel.
Design by Christian Font. Photo retouching by Dudley M. Brooks.
When I moved to Cali, Colombia in 2003 to follow my businessman boyfriend, it was one of the most violent cities in Latin America, besieged by drug cartels. I felt lost, angry and out of place. Growing up in a conservative Jewish family in New York City, I sought out the Jewish community in Cali, which took me in. Jews are a tiny minority in Colombia; it is estimated that only 4,000 live in a country of 50 million inhabitants, the religious majority of which is Catholic, with a growing contingent of evangelical Christians.
More recently, I have been surprised to find a growing community in Cali of so-called emerging – “emerging Jews,” primarily evangelicals who have abandoned their earlier religious doctrines to practice strict Orthodox Judaism. Although none of them were born Jewish, many had been exposed to Judaism as part of their Christian faith, through the life of Jesus, who was a Jew. They have come to see Judaism as the only true religion, many told me. My photography project focused on hundreds of people who established their own communities of converts outside of traditional Jewish communities.
Benjamin Acosta, center right, leads a Torah study group.
Iskaa Daza Gallego, who started studying Judaism eight years ago.
Dressed in a headgear, Devorah Guilah Koren does make-up in her car with her children.
TOP: Benjamin Acosta, center right, leads a Torah study group. BOTTOM LEFT: Iskaa Daza Gallego, who began studying Judaism eight years ago. BOTTOM RIGHT: Wearing a headgear, Devorah Guilah Koren does make-up in her car with her children.
There are seven known emerging synagogues in Cali, while the traditional Jewish community has only three. It is difficult not to notice the emerging ones because they embrace the external signifiers of orthodoxy. I first came across it several years ago when I spotted a taxi driver with a kippah and the traditional tallit (prayer shawl) worn by Orthodox Jews. Over the years, I have photographed many emerging Jews who have embraced religion and its culture – for example, ritual baths and women’s headgear.
These new adherents speak of being dissatisfied with their previous beliefs. “I wanted to find the truth,” Rivka Espinosa (formerly Loida Espinosa), who converted from evangelism, told me. “I started to study more and more and to ask myself deep questions: What was my mission in this world? Why was I here? And what should I do? She said her father was the pastor of an evangelical church of which she was a member. He also converted.
“It was a call from the soul,” Devorah Guilah Koren, who converted from Catholicism with her husband and two children, told me. “More than a religion, [Orthodox Judaism] was a way of thinking and driving that met all of our needs.
But despite these strong beliefs, are their conversions valid? Judaism is organizationally decentralized, with different bodies overseeing their own conversions. And who recognizes which conversions is a complicated question. Various groups and rabbis carry out conversions in Colombia.
Emerging Jews are not associated with any traditional organization in Colombia or the United States, according to Alfredo Goldschmidt, chief rabbi of Colombia. But he advises them and advises them: “Emerging communities consult me on everything,” he told me. “They form a parallel community.”
Many emerging rabbis have been trained in Israel, I have learned, and the emerging communities have formed their own independent organizations. “We are Orthodox because [we] follow the same laws as in other Orthodox communities around the world, ”says Meyer Sanchez, assistant to a rabbi in Medellín.
During my project, I had intimate daily access to those who adopted this lifestyle. My work has forced me to confront my own views on identity. I began to see the emerging Jews of Colombia as an example of the growing freedom we all have to choose how we label ourselves – from sex to sexual orientation to religion.
What is identity? Is this something we were born into? Is this something that we are free to create? What does it mean to be welcomed and accepted without judgment regardless of genetics, history or context? These are the questions I wanted to raise and the story I wanted to tell through my photos.
Children outside the Shomar Israel Synagogue, a former evangelical church.
Sara Camargo and her husband Benjamin Acosta, who moved to Israel in January 2020.
Nancy Castillo, who identifies as a “sympathizer” of Judaism, says a Jewish prayer.
TOP: Children in front of the Shomar Israel Synagogue, a former evangelical church. BOTTOM LEFT: Sara Camargo and her husband Benjamin Acosta, who moved to Israel in January 2020. BOTTOM RIGHT: Nancy Castillo, who identifies as a “supporter” of Judaism, says a Jewish prayer.
Heidi Paster Harf is a photographer in Cali, Colombia. Alicia Vergara contributed reporting from Israel.
Design by Christian Font. Photo retouching by Dudley M. Brooks.