Buenes Aires, Argentina – Jewish candidates for the city legislature cannot append the title, “rabbi,” to their names on the ballot, an Argentine court ruled over the weekend.
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Rabbi Sergio Bergman, a prominent leader of Argentina’s Jewish community, has been chosen by Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri to head his PRO party’s list for the city legislature. But though he is better known to the public as “Rabbi Bergman” than by his actual name, as the party argued before an Argentine district court, the court found that the title “rabbi” has a positive connotation and is therefore prohibited from appearing on the ballot.
The 49-year-old Bergman – who has served for the past decade as the spiritual leader of Templo Libertad in Buenos Aires, one of the country’s largest synagogues – is one of three prominent Jewish leaders contending for leadership positions in the city, which is holding municipal elections on July 10.