Travel

Miami's Cuban Congregations

Spanish-speaking Jews find a home
in culturally diverse Miami Beach.

RUTH ROVNER

Special to The Jewish News

L

ocated on a wide tree-lined
street, Temple Moses is one
of the numerous syna-
.
gogues in Miami Beach.
But it's also one of the most unusual
because it is home to a congregation
made up almost entirely of Cuban-
born Jews. The sermons are deliv-
ered in Spanish, and many cultural
activities have a Spanish emphasis.
With its large Cuban and South
American population, Miami is a
multi-cultural city and the only one
in the United States with two Cuban
Jewish congregations. Visiting the
congregations is one way for the
Jewish traveler to experience the
diversity of Miami's Jewish life.
In the main office of Temple
Moses, Inez Kleiman was busy
answering the phone, speaking in
staccato Spanish. But soon she was
ready to show me the 300-seat sanc-
tuary with its wood and bronze ark
and glass-enclosed Torah scrolls and
stained glass windows.
It is here that Spanish-born Rabbi
Abraham Benzaquen conducts ser-
vices. He delivers his sermons in
Spanish, the only rabbi in Miami
B _ each to do so.
We also saw the social hall where
wedding and bar mitzvah receptions
take place, the library with its collec-
tion of Spanish and Hebrew books,
and in the foyer, the striking mural
of Moses on Mount Sinai painted by
a Spanish artist.
An Orthodox congregation,
Temple Moses is a member of a
federation of Spanish Sephardic
congregations. About 90 percent
of the congregants are of Cuban ori-
gin. Others are from Argentina,
Uruguay and elsewhere in South
America.
The Cuban Jews began coming to
the United States in 1961 when Fidel
Castro took over. Many started out
in New York and later moved to
Miami because they preferred the

warm climate. Others came directly
to Miami.
At first, a small group of Cuban
Jews began worshipping together,
using a small shul on Washington
Avenue in south Miami Beach that
was so humble it was nicknamed
"the cave." But their numbers kept
growing, and they needed larger
quarters. In time they launched a
major fund-raising drive and built
their own modern synagogue which
they dedicated in 1980.
By now the congregation numbers

Farther south in Miami Beach,
the Cuban Hebrew Congregation of
Miami is an impressive sight.
Temple Shmuel, the actual sanctuary
on the corner of Lenox and 17th
Street, is especially striking: an ultra-
modern white building with unusual
curves, which looks almost like a
creation of the Spanish architect
Gaudi.
This congregation, which is
Conservative, also began in the early
1960s when Cuban immigration
started. But unlike Temple Moses, it

Temple Beth Shmuel in Miami Beach.

500 families. And they enjoy a
wide range of Spanish-oriented
cultural activities, including con-
certs, lectures, and a visiting pro-
gram rabbi for Spanish-speaking rab-
bis.
And then there's the big annual
event on New Year's Eve, when they
celebrate the anniversary of their
own congregation's founding with a
gala party in the social hall. "We
love to celebrate this," said Kleiman.

is Ashkenazi, not Sephardic because
so many of its members have Eastern
European origins; they came to
Cuba from Europe and then immi-
grated again after the Cuban
Revolution.
"Many Jews from Cuba have ori-
gins in Eastern Europe," said Ofelia
Ruder, executive director of the con-
gregation. Cuban born, she came to
Miami in 1961 and started working
here one year later.

The congregation began with just
50 members, and now there are 700.
Services are held daily, both morn-
ing and late afternoon, and Shabbat
services include an Oneg Shabbat
often attended by visitors.
Visitors are invariably impressed
with the spacious sanctuary, with its
stained glass art behind the bimah.
Intricate carved menorot stand on
both sides of the bimah, and stained
glass art also covers an entire side of
the sanctuary. Rabbi Shimon Dudai,
originally from Morocco, officiates
at services, which are
in Hebrew and
English. Besides the
c4
sanctuary, there's a
chapel for daily
minyans. This con-
gregation also spon-
sors a wide range of
events and activities,
including cantorial
•
concerts led by
Cantor Moshe
Buryn, the showing
of Yiddish films,
Holocaust-related
events and weekly
programs for senior
citizens. But in this
congregation, the
emphasis is not as
much on Spanish.
Both these congrega-
tions provide an
important home and
social center for
Cuban-born Jews
and their children
and grandchildren,
who are part of the fabric of Miami's
Jewish life.
Older Cuban Jews often have
had quite a life journey, emigrating
first from Eastern Europe to Cuba
and then to Miami (or, in many
cases, coming to New York first
and then moving south). And in
this sunny southe'rn city with its
active Jewish life and Spanish flavor,
they feel very much at home. ❑

2/13
1998

107