Blue-and-White in Santo Domingo

Walking back from a live screening of the Met Opera, I heard music coming from the next block.  Loud music is not unusual in Oaxaca, but as I rounded the corner, I was stopped in my tracks by a sea of Israeli flags. Then, I took in the men, women, and children, that filled the street, waving the flags while singing in harmony.  At the end of the alley, on a stage in front of Santo Domingo Church, a youthful group motivated the enthusiastic crowd with Christian Rock.  The surreal situation soon began to make sense.  This Christian congregation was celebrating Israel's Independence Day.  I lingered for a while, clapped my hands in rhythm, then continued to a delicious Oaxacan dinner.

This is not the oddest Christian Congregation in Oaxaca.  The Messianic Jews adhere to all the rules of the Torah as strictly as any Orthodox Jew.  Some of them even speak Hebrew.