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Jews
resurfacing in Cuba
Easing of suppression brings revival
of faith community
By Evan Silverstein. From
PCUSA NEWS. November 26, 2003. Worldwide
Faith News.
HAVANA, Cuba - For Moises Rodriguez, growing
up Jewish in today's Cuba means spending
hours each week studying Judaism and its
teachings and the Hebrew language.
The 13-year-old boy with short black hair
and tan skin is a self-proclaimed Jew who
worships and attends Hebrew-Sunday school
at Bet Shalom, the main synagogue in this
culturally diverse capital city.
"I feel good in the synagogue, more
than any other place, because I practice
Jewish," Rodriguez said in halting
English. "I have many friends at the
synagogue. The synagogue is part of my life.
Like a student, like a child."
Rodriguez's mother is not Jewish, but thanks
to his Jewish-born Cuban father, he grew
up with an awareness of the faith. Rodriguez
started attending services at the conservative
synagogue as a child, first with his uncle,
then
on his own.
Under Jewish law, Jewish identity is inherited
maternally, so Rodriguez is preparing for
the day he will officially convert to Judaism.
He also is looking forward to his eventual
Bar Mitzvah, a time-honored coming-of-age
ceremony for 13-year-old Jewish males.
Such traditional Jewish ceremonies, now
quite common in Cuba, were nearly unthinkable
before Rodriguez was born. Until the early
1990s, a Bar Mitzvah hadn't been celebrated
in Havana since 1973.
Cuba, an island about 90 miles south of
Key West, FL, was virtually cut off from
the rest of the Jewish world after the 1959
revolution that brought Fidel Castro to
power.
Support for Castro was nearly universal
among the island's 15,000 Jews, as among
most Cubans, when Castro overthrew the dictator
Fulgencio Batista. But Castro declared Cuba
an atheist state, nationalized businesses
and other properties and introduced communism.
Within two years, more than 90 percent of
Cuban Jews had joined thousands of others
in fleeing their island homeland.
Most community leaders, virtually all rabbis
and teachers and many business people were
among the Jews that emigrated from Cuba.
Many relocated to southern Florida, while
others went to Mexico, Venezuela and Israel.
Most of the estimated 350 Cuban Jews who
stayed assimilated almost totally, avoiding
public involvement with Judaism because
of the government's opposition. Intermarriage
was widespread. However, some families did
continue observing Shabbat and major Jewish
holidays in their homes, even though candles,
bread and other necessary supplies were
scarce.
"It was a difficult time," said
Adela Dworin, vice president of the Jewish
community in Havana and its unofficial historian.
"We didn't have a minyan (quorum for
praying as a community), even for the high
holidays. But we never closed the synagogue."
Things are better today. Rodriguez is coming
of age in a small but thriving Jewish community
that survived more than three decades of
dormancy. About 90 percent of Cuban Jews
live in the capital.
Three of the city's five synagogues survived
the revolution and are still in operation
today: Adath Israel Orthodox Synagogue;
a Sephardic synagogue; and conservative
Bet Shalom, which is attached to the Patronato,
Havana's Jewish Community Center.
In 1995, the government allowed a congregation
of about 90 Jews to reclaim its former synagogue
property in Santiago de Cuba, the island's
second-largest city.
Three years later, on Rosh Hashanah (the
Jewish New Year), the Jewish community in
Camaguey, Cuba, rededicated a new synagogue
in a whitewashed turn-of-the-century house.
It was the first Jewish temple established
since the revolution.
The Jewish population is still a far cry
from pre-revolution levels, when it peaked
at about 15,000; but Jewish communal life
has undergone a revival nationwide the past
12 years.
Gradual membership growth and a new sense
of religious pride have re-energized the
Jewish community after its 30-year slumber.
Jews are rebuilding their organizations
and synagogues, attracting young new members
and filling sanctuaries for religious services.
During this recent renaissance, Cuba's
Jewish population has more than doubled,
from about 700 in 1991 to 1,500 today, according
to the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC), which assists the Cuban
Jewish community and others worldwide.
"The synagogue is growing all the
time," Rodriguez said, looking up from
a booklet of class notes. "More people
every day come and study with us."
The Jewish reawaking was sparked in large
part by a dramatic change in national policy
toward religious groups. Young people are
converting to Judaism in record numbers.
After the disintegration of the Soviet
Union, the Cuban National Assembly passed
a law in November 1991 allowing Cubans to
be members of the Communist Party and to
participate in religious associations.
The following year, the constitution was
changed to define Cuba not as an
"atheistic" state but a "secular"
one.
These changes, and the 1998 visit to Havana
by Pope John Paul II, produced a shift in
the country's view of religion. Christian
and Jewish communities began growing exponentially
as the government relaxed its grip. Cubans
of all faiths were quick to take advantage
of the opportunity to attend services and
study religion.
"The community is alive, that is the
most important (thing)," Dworin said.
"We have a Jewish community which is
proud to be Jewish. Now you can see young
people, you can see children coming to the
synagogue."
Rodriguez is one of a growing number of
young Cubans who regularly attend Shabbat
services at Bet Shalom, which has no full-time
rabbis.
Lay members handle most religious matters,
serving as rabbis and cantors for regular
Spanish-Hebrew services, which feature spirited
singing and traditional readings from the
sacred Torah scrolls. Rabbis, primarily
from Latin America, visit every few months
for rituals that require the involvement
of clergy.
Like Rodriguez, many new members are children
of interfaith couples who want to convert
to Judaism - another visible sign of the
rekindling of Jewish life on this Caribbean
island nation of 11 million people. Sixty
percent of the Cuban Jews are believed to
be converts.
Asked why he wants to convert, Rodriguez
said: "I like practicing Jewish because
here (at Bet Shalom) I have many friends.
I study much here at the synagogue. I listen
to much about history, philosophy other
things. It's very good. It's very interesting."
Jewish involvement in Cuba dates to the
time of Christopher Columbus, when the Spanish
Inquisition forced thousands of Jews to
convert or leave Spain. Many joined Columbus'
fleet on its voyages to the Americas. Columbus'
translator, Luis de Torres, is believed
to be the first Jew in Cuba.
After the end of the Spanish-American War
in 1898, as America's influence in Cuba
increased, more Jews immigrated to the island,
including retired U.S. servicemen. That
is about when the first synagogue opened
in Cuba.
The Jewish community is also a mix of Sephardic
Jews, who came mainly from Turkey in the
early part of the 20th century; and Ashkenazi
Jews, who mostly arrived as refugees from
Europe before and during World War II.
Today, Jewish visitors to Cuba from the
United States, Canada and elsewhere,
are finding a Jewish community coming back
to life.
"I think it's wonderful," said
Renee Sleischer, of Cleveland, OH, who was
visiting the Patronato with a group from
the Jewish Community Center in Chicago,
IL. "It's absolutely fabulous. I guess
they feel they really are family here at
the synagogue. The people, it brings them
all together and gives them charity and
hope and love."
Like other visitors, the Chicago group
donated items such as medicines, eyeglasses
and mix for making potato pancakes or latkes
(pronounced LOT-ka) to be used at the synagogue
during next month's celebration of Hanukkah,
the Jewish Festival of Lights.
However, Cuba's resurgent Jewish community
still faces problems, and relies on many
outside organizations for assistance.
Although there is little to no anti-Semitism
in Cuba, daily life is hard for all Cubans.
The average person earns $15 to $20 per
month. Food is rationed. Most quality items
must be purchased with U.S. dollars, which
are hard to come by for most Cubans.
A doctor who earns $20 per month might
have to supplement his state paid income
by working at a more lucrative job, driving
a cab or waiting tables in a restaurant.
"This is a poor community, and we
need support to maintain our Jewish lifestyle
and our institutions," said Dr. Jose
Miller, a retired physician and longtime
president of the Havana Jewish community.
"We are getting that support. That's
why it's important for us to have this force,
the synagogue full of visitors from the
United States and from other cities here.
It's very
important."
The sanctuary at Bet Shalom, opened a half-century
ago, has been restored in recent years after
decades of neglect. Leaders of smaller communities
across the island - Camaguey, Cienfuegos
and Santiago de Cuba - came to the capital
to rededicate the synagogue and community
center, a milestone for the Jewish community.
Organizations that meet regularly there
include local affiliates of Hadassah and
B'nai B'rith.
"We also have a senior citizens' group,
a youth group, and even a handicapped group,"
Dworin said of Bet Shalom and the Patronato.
The B'nai B'rith Maimonides Lodge in Cuba,
with 50 members, celebrated its 60th anniversary
in May.
Patronato officials are planning a Hanukkah
party next month, and a Purim party is scheduled
during March.
Famous visitors to the Patronato have included
Fidel Castro himself. His image is featured
in photos taken during the 1998 Hanukkah
party, which adorn the wall outside the
sanctuary at Bet Shalom. Film director Steven
Spielberg, an American Jew, has visited
the synagogue and an Ashkenazi cemetery
in Havana.
The Patronato complex also features a pharmacy
supported by groups including the B'nai
B'rith Cuban Jewish Relief Project that
has antibiotics, vitamins, medications and
supplies not usually available in government
pharmacies, all dispensed by a doctor and
two pharmacists.
The Tzedakah Fund, another B'nai B'rith
project, supplements the limited incomes
of elderly and retired members of the Jewish
community, who receive a $10 monthly benefit
and a small food ration from the government.
The fund adds another $10 per month.
Additional services are added frequently
as the island's Jewish population continues
to increase.
"It's a process, a complicated process,"
Rodriguez said of the Jewish community's
revival. "All day, more people come
to the synagogue. All week, all the time."
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