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38 March 31 • 2016
world »
continued from page 37
choking progress. But in the shad-
ows of U.S. President Barack Obama
renewing diplomatic ties and seeking
to alter the contours of relations with
Cuba after a 55-year Cold War, includ-
ing seeking a congressional lifting of
the trade embargo, Dworin observed:
“We hope that someday, things will
improve and there will be more incen-
tive for younger Jews to stay.”
Notably, Americans, including the
thousands of Jews who fled Cuba in
the wake of the revolution, now can
send Cuban relatives and friends up to
$2,000 quarterly, four times the previ-
ous limit.
BUILDING A COMMUNITY
Spanish and Portuguese Jews sailed to
Cuba with Christopher Columbus in
1492. Those who stayed were forced to
convert to Catholicism while secretly
continuing to practice Judaism.
More Jews, mostly businessmen,
came to Cuba from the U.S. in 1906.
Later, Sephardic Jews from Turkey and
Syria arrived.
In the 1920s, waves of poor Jews
from Eastern Europe eyeing the
U.S. ended up in Cuba because they
couldn’t secure an American visa. The
peddlers and shmata dealers among
them became solidifying forces of the
early Cuban Jewish community.
The tough economic times post-
revolution, including the confiscation
of private businesses and the closing
of private schools (including a Jewish
high school), saw most of the Jews,
including the rabbis and many lay
leaders, emigrate. Soon, it was hard to
attract a minyan.
With the Soviet Union breakup in
the 1990s, American rabbis stepped up
and have helped revive Cuban Jewish
life, including recruitment of lay lead-
ers. Canadian Jewry provides Passover
foods. Other significant support comes
from the Mexican Jewish commu-
nity and the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee (JDC). Both
Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul,
now Cuba’s president, have attended
Chanukah parties in Havana. The
Cuban government provides monthly
rations of kosher meat through a single
kosher butcher.
By directly supporting such overseas
agencies as the JDC, Jewish Agency for
Israel and World ORT via its Annual
Campaign, the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit is able to assist
Jews in more than 80 countries —
including Cuba. In 2013, Federation
also furnished soccer equipment to
the Cuban delegation entered in the
Maccabiah, an international Jewish
sporting event held for the first time in
Jerusalem.
A spinoff of visitor generosity in
Cuba has been growth in Sunday
learning at Beth Shalom. More than
100 students, youth and adults alike,
study Hebrew, history and tradition.
Kids from non-Jewish mothers but
Jewish fathers are welcome in hopes
they grow up Jewish. Latin American
rabbis regularly visit to teach, promote
holidays, perform weddings and over-
see conversions.
“We lost two generations,” Dworin
said, “but now we have a new genera-
tion that is very proud to be Jewish.
And they know a lot about Judaism.”
That includes becoming a bar or bat
mitzvah and, thanks to donor funding,
taking part in the March of the Living
and Taglit-Birthright Israel.
A HELPING HAND
The Cuban Jewish community relies
on givers touched by its devotion to
sustaining a Jewish presence 90 miles
from the Florida coast. Cash is always
needed to cover such ongoing costs as
synagogue repairs, kosher meat and
Shabbat meals.
Support also comes from among the
thousands of Cuban Jews, including
professionals and physicians, who have
relocated to Miami.
In Cuba, national healthcare is free,
but medical supplies to treat hyperten-
sion and diabetes as well as antibiotics
are in short supply. Pain relievers are
plentiful at Beth Shalom’s free com-
munal pharmacy thanks to what North
American tour groups have shlepped
in their luggage.
In closing, Dworin urged our travel
group “not to forget there is a very
small community of Jews struggling to
keep Judaism alive in Cuba.”
“We as Jews,’’ she proudly said, “are
privileged because we have you —
North American Jews. We’re waiting
for you — for your support, for your
kindness, for your love.”
*
Assist
Cuban Jews
Send donations with someone
you know who is about to visit
Cuba. Donate through JDC Global
Headquarters at (646) 871-3250.
Or send a check payable to
JDC to: Debra Romm, director,
Resource Development Systems
& Operations, American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee, 711
Third Ave., 10th Floor, New York, NY
10017. Specify your gift is for the
“Cuba Jewish community.”
*