‘Miss Sefaradí' & ‘Queen Esther': Sephardim & Zionism in Argentina ‘Miss Sefaradí' and ‘Queen Esther': Sephardim, Zionism, and Ethnic and National Identities in Argentina, 1933-1971* ADRIANA M. BRODSKY St. Mary's College of Maryland In 1940, Esther Bahbouth, a Sephardi young woman representing the Centro Sionista Sefaradí (CSS), won the title of ‘Reina Esther' in the Purim contest organized in Buenos Aires by the Keren Kayemet Leisrael (KKL).1 The Se- !"#$%&'&())*+%,-'."/'0&/,",%&1'%,'."/',!0'2#/,',%)0'"'30 !"#$%&'-(*+4'.()"+'had won the coveted crown.2 In these early decades of the twentieth century, .!0+'5%(+%/,'"&,%6%,-'")(+4'30 !"#$%)'."/'/,%77'80%+4'$02+0$'"+$'(#4"+%90$:',!0'6%&,(#-'(;'</,!0#'="!8(*,!'&"##%0$'/%4+%2&"+,'.0%4!,';(#',!%/')%+(#%,->'?!0'relationship between the Centro Sionista Sefaradí and the local Federación Sionista Argentina'@)"$0'* '(;'A/!B0+"9%'5%(+%/,/C'."/'&(+D%&,%60:'060+'"+-tagonistic, and the Sephardim complained bitterly about the way in which the ‘majority' of the Argentine Jewish community treated them. A Sephardi young woman in the Zionist dais, they rejoiced, clearly signaled to the Ashkenazim their undeniable commitment to the Zionist project.3