President Javier Milei of Argentina gives a speech after his inauguration ceremony at Casa Rosada presidential palace on Dec. 10, 2023, in Buenos Aires. ((Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images)

(JTA) — When it came time to swear in his new foreign minister, Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, turned to one of his favorite topics: the Torah.

Milei, who is not Jewish, cited the week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, when inaugurating Gerardo Werthein, a Jewish businessman who is assuming the role. Milei fired his predecessor, in part because Argentina voted at the United Nations against the U.S. embargo of Cuba. Werthein had previously been Argentina’s ambassador to the United States.

[AHORA] Milei le tomó juramento a Werthein, el nuevo canciller. https://t.co/mHycLPcwW1 pic.twitter.com/VOKLCCsX8n

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

— ElCanciller.com (@elcancillercom) November 4, 2024

In public comments during a ceremony this week at Casa Rosada, his official residence, Milei drew a connection between the Torah portion, which describes God sending Abraham to Canaan to create a great nation, and Werthein’s task in steering Argentina’s foreign relations.

“The powers of heaven are sending you signals, Gerardo, because it speaks of the beginnings of Abraham’s travels throughout the world, spreading the messages of the creator,” Milei said in Spanish, according to a video shared online by an Argentine news agency. “God tells him in this parashah that he will have a lot of influence on the nations of the world, and gives him an important responsibility to bring the messages of the Torah, of life and freedom to the entire world.”

A parashah is one of 54 portions of the Five Books of Moses read each Shabbat in synagogue; Jews study and chant the week’s portion according to a fixed calendar.

The Catholic-born Milei has been famously drawn to Judaism and said he intends to convert once he leaves office. (He says it would be impossible to serve as president and observe Shabbat fully, a commitment that involves abstaining from writing, driving and using electricity for a full day.) He studies regularly with a rabbi, Axel Wahnish, whom he appointed as his ambassador to Israel. He has also cited Jewish stories at other events at Casa Rosada, including when he told the Hanukkah story and gave a menorah to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, last year.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount