It’s unlike any trip you’ve taken to Israel. Or anywhere for that matter—even if you’ve ridden camels through the Sahara or windsurfed on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. 

The service ended—I threw on my thick wool coat, doubled up on scarves, said a quick, polite “Gut Shabbes” (“Good Sabbath”) to some of the other congregants and started to make my way to the door, figuring I’d head home, having really nowhere else to go. I had been in Scotland for nearly a week and had just attended my first Shabbat service at the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation.

As I opened the doors of Edinburgh Airport, trying ineptly to maneuver way too much luggage, a frigid, damp blast of Scottish air hit my face, and it felt wonderful.

Buenos Aires (BA) is a city of beauty and intrigue. But did you know that it also has the largest Spanish-speaking Jewish community in the world (160,000)? I recently visited this thriving Jewish community, the capital of Argentina. So I know from experience that they serve up the most succulent kosher steak. Also impressive is that the only Yiddish newspaper in the Southern Hemisphere is published here. And how could we forget, that here, walking the largest boulevard in the world, one can see some of the best-looking shul-goers.