President Of Argentina Honored At Yeshiva Darchei Torah

By: Larry Gordon

He wanted to speak at a great yeshiva with over 2,000 students. Just hours before, he had spoken at the United Nations and met with President Trump.

President Javier Milei is president of Argentina, a country with a population of 46 million of which 170,000 are Jews. That number makes Argentina the country with the sixth largest Jewish population in the world.

President Javier Milei of Argentina addressing the assemblage

Credit Naftoli Goldgrab Photography

A partial view of the crowd at Yeshiva Darchei Torah during President Milei’s speech

Credit Naftoli Goldgrab Photography

Caption Listening to President Milei’s speech at Yeshiva Darchei Torah: Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno; Economy Minister Luis Caputo; unidentified Argentine government official; Rav Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva; Mr. Aaron Zupnik; Rav Shlomo Avigdor Altusky, Rosh Yeshiva; Mr. Ronald Lowinger, president; Mr. Chaim Sholom Leibowitz, Mr. Ben Landa, Mr. Morris Smith, and Mr. Menachem Lieber.

Credit Naftoli Goldgrab Photography

In his opening remarks about the president, Rabbi Yaakov Bender, rosh yeshiva, described Milei as one of the “chassidei umos ha’olam,” one of the righteous among the nations of the world, at a time when the Jewish people and Israel need friends in the world, perhaps now more than at any other time in modern history.

At the age of 55, Javier Milei is a fascinating man. According to Nataly Magendzo, who is Argentinian but lives in New York and works at Yeshiva Darchei Torah, the effort to create last night’s event began last March, when President Milei attended an economic conference at Yeshiva University in New York.

Nataly was invited to attend the YU event by Steve Savitsky, former president of the Orthodox Union. At the conference, Nataly was introduced to President Milei’s sister, Karina Milei, who serves as the president’s General Secretary and whom he affectionately refers to as “El Jefe” (the boss).

When they met, Nataly planted the idea in Ms. Milei’s mind about the president coming to speak at Darchei, which has 2,700 students and occupies a 10-acre campus in Far Rockaway.

She told the president’s sister that she understands she could not get her phone number, but she offered Karina Milei her number and asked her to contact her if they can arrange for President Milei to speak at the yeshiva.

A short time later, Nataly Magendzo received a call from an Argentinian government representative about setting up an appearance at Yeshiva Darchei Torah the next time the president was in New York. That next time was this past Tuesday, the day after Yom Kippur, when Milei traveled to New York to attend the General Assembly annual conference.

According to Ms. Magendzo, President Milei’s interest in Judaism began when he was a college economics professor. He observed that one of the students in his class always seemed to be one step ahead of him on whatever subject he was teaching. The rabbinic student told Milei that he studies Gemara and that’s where he derives his knowledge and information. That piqued Milei’s curiosity, and he soon began studying Jewish texts with Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish, a rabbi from Argentina’s Moroccan Jewish community (who has served, since 2024, as Argentina’s ambassador to Israel).

It’s both intriguing and complex. He has expressed an interest in converting to Judaism, but reportedly his rabbi told him that for now, Israel and the Jewish people need him as a non-Jew.

During his visit, Yeshiva Darchei Torah honored President Milei with the Ohev Yisrael Award. Milei’s deep-seated respect for the Torah has made this world leader a rare champion of the Jewish people at a time of rising antisemitism around the globe.

Mr. Eitan Magendzo, a lay leader in the Five Towns Jewish community, briefly addressed the gathering in his native Spanish.

Standing before a crowd of rabbanim, parents, students, and community leaders, President Milei said that he would “take this recognition not as flattery, but as a commitment that I will not abandon until the last day of my life.”

Mr. Milei delivered his remarks in Spanish. An economist, he spoke extensively about capitalism as the ideal economic system, quoting multiple pesukim from the Torah to make his case. Wireless headsets at every seat allowed the assembled to follow the president’s speech with live translation into English.

After he concluded his remarks, the song “Am Yisrael Chai” played over the loudspeakers, and an ebullient President Milei waded into the crowd, shaking hands, taking selfies, and greeting as many people as he could before making his way back to his waiting motorcade.

As the president sang, I mentioned to Nataly that Milei seemed to be gesturing and swaying his arms in the same manner that the Lubavitcher Rebbe used to encourage his Chassidim to sing.

“He feels very close to the Rebbe, even though they never met,” said Nataly. “When he’s in New York, he always makes sure to visit and pray at the Ohel.”

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