Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Jewish Traditions Through a Mexican Lens

Religion and national culture can make for strange bedfellows. And as evidenced by the availability of items like the political-themed yarmulkes the McCippah and the Obamica, American Jews have come a long way in blending the two. Mexican Jews, on the other hand, are still working on their balancing act.

SILVER SCREEN: The film, ?My Mexican Shivah,? tells the story of a Jewish family in Mexico City.

In his soon-to-be released film, “My Mexican Shivah,” director Alejandro Springall brings to the screen the story of a Mexico City family mourning the loss of its patriarch. The movie, based on a story by Ilan Stavans, shows the peculiar collisions and alliances of dysfunctional family members who come together to tell very different stories about their father, grandfather, friend or lover. Through the unexpected arrival of a Catholic mistress and a mariachi band, and a quick last-minute attempt to instruct the maids about kosher law, the group tries to manage the Jewish traditions the father left behind and the new Mexican ones he embraced.

Despite the mixed loyalties and levels of observance found in the family, Springall says that holding a proper shiva would be a given.

“Shivas in Mexico are really not related on the level of religiosity or how observant the family is. Every family sits shiva for the seven days,” Springall told the Forward in an e-mail. “It has really become a very important social event, and this is, I suppose, because with Mexico being predominantly Catholic, the Jewish community is very keen on keeping traditions and a Jewish life.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.