The Jewish community in Peru currently numbers about 2,000 members although the population is in decline. To give a new impetus to this culture, the Peruvian Deborah Trapunsky opened “Oh-Jalá” in Lima in 2021, the only Jewish bakery in Peru.
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By the RFI correspondent in Lima, Juliette Chaignon.
Two years ago, Deborah Trapunsky chose the affluent district of San Isidro in Lima to set up her “Oh-Jalá” bakery. The Peruvian businesswoman hired a dozen employees to start selling traditional braided bread. “It’s a traditional Shabbat challah, which starts on Friday night. In theory, at the end of Shabbat, on Saturday, we bless and eat the challah. It looks like brioche and each family has their own recipe,” he explains.
On the kitchen counter are brioches in 14 different flavors: cinnamon, spread, pesto, olives, etc. The store aims to attract all the residents of the area. “Of my 10 most regular customers, nine are Jewish. I’m delighted because it confirms the value of this project. But it’s also great because people from outside the community can find each other through something that brings people together, like food and bread,” continues Deborah.
200 years of Jewish community in Peru
On the bakery’s Instagram account, Deborah also shares her culture and religion with her 19,000 followers. Peruvians, mostly Catholic, know very little about Judaism. However, the first Jews arrived in Peru almost 200 years ago. “They were all men. Many had non-Jewish marriages to Peruvian women. So that first wave got a bit lost. But curiously, in the two years that the bakery has been open, I regularly get customers from Piura, from towns in northern Peru , who tell me that they are in the process of rediscovering their roots,” says Deborah.
Deborah Trapunsky’s great-grandparents came to Uruguay from Lithuania in the early 1930s. They later moved to Peru. “As in many Latin American communities, there are strong European roots. There are Ashkenazi Jews here too, Sephardim mainly from Spain, but many of us come from Central Europe,” she describes.
meeting point
Sitting on the terrace, Isaac, 60, came to get two braided loaves. His grandparents, of Polish, Egyptian and Turkish origin, were forced to emigrate to Peru during World War II. “In the 1970s, almost 5,000 Jews lived in Lima. Since then, their number has not stopped decreasing. It is very sad for me. I encouraged my children to leave Peru. In my time, we were 1,200 in the Hebrew school; today we barely there are 300. Everyone went to the Hebrew club. Today it is a beautiful place, but it is empty”, explains Isaac.
The nationalization of the companies at the end of the 20th century, followed by 20 years of armed conflict in Peru, led many Peruvian Jews to leave the country. Historically, the Lima community has been linked to the upper echelons of society. A fairly closed community, which Deborah Trapunksy hopes to see open up and be reborn. “I think that today the community recognizes itself more in [lugares] open and secular I hope this space becomes another meeting point where community members can give more meaning to their identity, both inside and outside the community,” says the baker.
That’s partly why Vicky, 73, comes several times a week. “Listen, I just met a young couple. He’s Peruvian and she’s Israeli, and I’m going to introduce them to young people his age because they just arrived and don’t know anyone,” she says. Deborah Trapunsky, the founder, now hopes to franchise and open a second bakery.
