BUENOS AIRES — The Argentine National Ministry of Health signed an agreement to serve kosher food to patients that request it.
The agreement signed Wednesday by Minister of Health Juan Luis Manzur, and the Argentinian Jewish political umbrella DAIA creates the service that will be available on demand in every public hospital in the country.
Beginning Thursday the National Ministry was set to register requests for kosher food by patients requiring hospitalization.
Manzur, descended from Lebanese immigrants to Argentina, served as Health Minister in the province of Tucuman, ruled by Jewish Governor Jose Alperovich, who was the first Jewish person in Argentina to be elected a governor and to be sworn in on a Jewish Bible.
Manzur, Alperovich and his wife, Beatriz Rojkes, are part of Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s inner circle.
DAIA also is advancing another project which would provide spaces in Argentine airports for Jewish prayer, much like the spaces provided for Christian travelers wishing to pray.