Reflections On My Jewish Identity As Seen Through B’nai B’rith’s Cuban Jewish Relief Project
Matthew Caplan
I’ve never been able to quite understand my Jewish identity. After all, I live in America, where many of my ancestors, in pursuit of benefits I now reap, assimilated into secular society. While no fault of their own, they have set in motion a decision that some say has slowly eroded the tenets of Jewish tradition for my generation. A transition has seemingly followed, forcing Jewish communal organizations to find new ways to engage an impatient youth drawn to immediate gratification and satisfaction — something antiquated religious practice does not seem fit to provide.
Such a haunting prospect has sent the Jewish world scrambling. Exemplifying these concerns, former World Jewish Congress President Edgar Bronfman voiced one final rallying cry to the Jewish people just before he died. If Jewish peoplehood is to continue as it has for thousands of years, we must build and strengthen the everlasting bonds between not only Jews across ages, but also Jews across borders. B’nai B’rith’s Cuban Jewish Relief Project answers this call and then some. The trip was as much time travel to a bygone era as a humanitarian mission to assist a community stricken with the trials of a collapsing economy, and a government unable to keep pace with the demands of population growth, globalization and modernity. A glance in any direction produced the blur of a flaming red 1958 Cadillac straight out of Philip Roth’s pastoral America. Yet, the time travel exposed something even more poignant: an infantile Jewish community birthing from its own ashes. Following Castro’s 1959 revolution, Jewish identity effectively ceased to exist. Those who were able fled to Israel or America. Those who remained were stymied by the fear of punitive action against religious expression. Only until such restrictions were eased in the 1990s was the community— some descendants of Holocaust survivors, some survivors themselves — able to freely return to Torah. Slowly, they did, and slowly, they still are. Led by a charismatic cadre of young Jews, five synagogues provide a haven for unity and Jewish programming, of which B’nai B’rith has been instrumental, and even offers Holocaust education to a Cuban population unaware of the details. The Jewish community, though, is not immune to the nation’s broader economic woes, and many Cuban Jews struggle to find meals and other necessities.
Perhaps most fitting then was our trip’s final day. Following a week of delivering food, medication and other supplies to a community that so desperately needs it, we celebrated Havdalah with the same Cuban Jews who are so instrumental to the community’s sustenance. Amidst prayer, song and gentle conversation, an intertwined Havdalah candle became an apropos metaphor to our realization that no matter what, Jews across all ages and borders are there in support of each other. As the flame danced, Bronfman’s call was answered. B’nai B’rith’s Cuban Jewish Relief Project is doing truly transformational work, not only in maintaining a storied tradition and community, but also in engaging a future generation of Jewishness. Matthew Caplan, who is also active with our friend and partner organization Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), has traveled with B’nai B’rith International before, including on a 2013 mission to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Caplan is a native of Pittsburgh. He’s a 2016 graduate of Georgetown University.
In 2015, the B’nai B’rith Cuban Jewish Relief Project celebrated 20 years of assisting the Cuban Jewish community with a number of trips to the Caribbean island nation. Check out the photo recap on all of our 2015 activities.
Sienna Girgenti is the Assistant Director for the International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy at B’nai B’rith International. To view some of her additional content, Click Here.
“Tight Rides in Cuba”
by Charles Kaufman, senior vice president of B’nai B’rith International
The curious who’ve never visited Cuba want to know, “So how ‘bout those ‘50s cars? By all accounts, there are tens of thousands of cars from the era of Elvis — Packards, Chevys, the Plymouth Belvedere, Cadillacs, the Pontiac Star Chief, Dodges, the Oldsmobile Rocket and Fords. Cuba reportedly was the largest importer per capita of Cadillacs during the 1950s, at the dawn of the Castro Revolution. With appearances of Havana today mostly frozen in time from the 1950s, the classic cars are commonly found cruising areas popular with tourists are rest as heavy hunks of metal parked on the sides of narrow streets. When the U.S. embargo was initiated in 1962 and Cubans could no longer import parts to repair the American classics the plight of the cars worsened. Some vehicles showed the rust of neglect. Many of them looked beaten up like Rocky Balboa after a 12-round fight. Today, many vintage cars remain are dulled by age and the Caribbean heat, while others are buffed and restored to appeal to tourists. The Soviet Union’s Ladas, Moskvitchs and Volgas remain prevalent on the streets. When the former Soviets unplugged from Cuba, however, the Yank Tanks gained new life. Owners with proper plates worked to restore them. Let’s remember, however, few people own cars here. Gasoline is in short supply for consumers and few people can afford a car and the costs associated with it. Suffice it to say, there’s little traffic throughout Cuba, even in Havana, a city of two million people. Most Cubans get to where they’re going on foot, by over-crowded buses or vehicles that look like school buses. Comfortable, air-conditioned tour buses carry loads of visitors from all over. As for those American Classics, some are privately operated taxis, permitted by Raul Castro as a form of free enterprise to boost the tourism trade. They are tricked out in the most garish of colors. Check out the rides here and, while you’re at it, crank up the volume on “Maybelline” by Chuck Berry. My wife, Rosalie, and I went on an eight day B’nai B’rith International mission to Cuba in early December. It was an amazing and enlightening trip to say the least. Our primary goal was to meet with the tiny Cuban-Jewish community and to provide them with medicine, personal clothing, comfort items, Chanukah and other religious items. The group brought 1,100 pounds of goods with us.
Cuba has a population of about 11 million. There are only an estimated 1,500 Jews left in Cuba, a far cry from the 15,000 in 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power. There are five synagogues on the island: three in Havana, one in Santiago and one in Guantanamo. Throughout our week in Cuba, we visited all five and met with their leaders and members. From what we could see, there seems to be minimal anti-Semitism in Cuba and there is a memorial to the Holocaust in the center of Havana. I encourage you to consider joining a mission and see Cuba for yourself. Bob Kaufman HAVANA DE CUBA—B’nai B’rith International’s 2012 Mission to Cuba recently witnessed the miracle of its work during Chanukah, leaving behind a roomful of medicines, health supplies, clothing, household and religious items.
The group of 19 committed B’nai B’rith participants from 11 U.S. states and France experienced the remarkable efforts of Cuban Jews in Santiago de Cuba, Havana and, for the first time, Guantanamo de Cuba to maintain a Jewish existence in a country with a rich Jewish history. “This year’s group and trip were terrific,” said Stuart Cooper of Livingston, N.J., who along with his wife, Karen, completed their eighth trip to Cuba. “Everyone learned and made a warm and wonderful connection with the Jewish communities from one end of the island to the other. They saw the contrasts of Jewish life from the small communities in the countryside to the larger populations and facilities of Havana. People who come on this mission get to see the direct impact on a scale that few Jewish organizations can deliver. It’s a phenomenal experience.” B’nai B’rith International’s involvement as a mission dates back to 1995, though B’nai B’rith’s connection to Cuba dates back to a time when the world’s best-known Jewish organization helped German Jews get out of Cuba after World War II. Today, B’nai B’rith provides meals for more than 150 people in Havana through the B’nai B’rith Cuba Maimonides Lodge. “We are also primary sponsors of a senior day care center at the Sephardic synagogue to give many of our senior brothers and sisters a place to spend their days with friends, participate in activities and receive the attention of professional care,” Cooper said. Other specific mission contributions have involved providing a meat grinder so kosher hamburgers can be made at the kosher butcher that’s open one day a month and donating torahs to various communities. The mission participants came away with additional ways to help: > To provide in Guantanamo de Cuba a canvas that can be made into a retractable awning that would shade activity areas from an often blistering sun; and 25 outdoor chairs. Donna Padnos of Raleigh, N.C., made her first visit to Cuba and said she was impressed by the determination and dedication of the different Jewish communities to maintain their Judaism. “From the elderly at the orthodox synagogue to the younger generations (a baby naming at Santiago and an upcoming bat mitzvah at Guantanamo) our brethren are very proud of their Jewish heritage and of being Cuban. They deserve our utmost support.” Monique and Jean-Jacques Willard of Paris, France, other first-time visitors to the Caribbean island, came away moved and motivated. “Obviously, we knew nothing about Cuba,” they said. “We were very interested and impressed during our meetings with the Jewish communities. We feel they are courageous.” For Gerrald Salomon and wife Brigitte, who moved to San Diego years ago from their native Colombia, the mission to Cuba was an emotional one. “I feel rachmanos (compassion). I don’t know how else to describe it,” Salomon said. “I tear up just thinking about how hard people here work to be Jewish and wonder what’s to become of the community. That’s how I feel.” Cuba’s Jewish population is generously estimated at 1,500 these days with many remaining Jews coming from Turkey in the 1920s. Others are conversos, generally people who have discovered they had one Jewish parent. The Jewish population swelled after World War II. An exodus of European Jews from Cuba largely came to the United States before the Revolution in 1959 and in the early 1960s. Anyone interested in participating in or contributing to the B’nai B’rith Cuban Jewish Relief Project should contact Heather McWilliams at the B’nai B’rith office in Washington at (202) 857-6530 or HMcwilliams@bnaibrith.org. – by B’nai B’rith International Senior Vice President Charles Kaufman Cuba’s community blossoms as it evolves
HAVANA DE CUBA—Maritza Corrales is regularly identified as an expert on the history of Jews in Cuba, mostly on the strength of her 2005 book “The Chosen Island: Jews in Cuba” (Salsedo Press, Chicago). She often accompanies Jewish missions to the nation’s largest cemetery near Havana. She also makes presentations about her research niche to visiting Jewish groups. She is available to other authors who examine Jewish history. It’s her academic interest and part of her livelihood. She cites archives of Madrid that Conversos Jews were among mariners from Spain who first stepped on Cuban soil. The Spanish of the early 16th Century were seeking gold and when they found none they left the island. Jews escaping the inquisition stayed and by the time the British came to Cuba in 1898, a log reported more than 500 Spanish Jews in Cuba. Corrales rattles off figures relating to the Jewish community today, data that is useful to the Patronato, which serves as the community center of Havana: > There are 10 identified Jewish communities in Cuba; Corrales acknowledges that Cuba is a “totally unreligious” nation and there are some crypto-Jews, people who practice Jewish customs without knowing their origin. Some are learning about such rituals and are identifying as Jews. While some Jews make aliyah, a process that actually takes a handful of years to accomplish, the community should remain in tact, she says. Other scholars acknowledge that the Jews of Cuba are a fascinating mix of religionists and adherents to the current political structure in Cuba. “If Jews have survived storms, the Inquisition and Hitler, they will survive here,” Corrales said. The Patronato is composed of the Casa de la Comunidad Hebrea de Cuba and Templo Beth Shalom, the center and now a conservative synagogue. It was formerly Orthodox, in addition to a voluminous synagogue, the Patronato offers indoor recreational facilities, an extensive a Jewish library as exists in Cuba and a pharmacy. Adela Dworin is the president of the Patronato. She welcomes groups virtually every week and isn’t afraid to ask for contributions that supplement those from the Joint Distribution Committee. “We need money. That’s the most important thing,” she tells visitors, “but we need more Jews.” Dworin acknowledges the growth of the Sunday school, including a breakfast program, daily services for seniors, increases to more than 70 people for Friday night services and well attended festivities for Chanukah and Purim events. It’s proud that 45 junior athletes are planning to participate in the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel. . The Patronato also helps the elderly find housing with other Jewish families. It is flowering today in contrast to the 1980s, when the Patronato could barely attract a minyan and many Jews in Cuba practiced their faith privately in their homes. Dworin has been president of the Jewish community for a long time and is proud of its achievements. – by B’nai B’rith International Senior Vice President Charles Kaufman
Through a Cuban Prism: a Kosher Butcher in Havana
HAVANA DE CUBA—A group of French Jews recently purchased a van for use by the Adath Israel synagogue, the only Orthodox congregation in Cuba. Transportation is a luxury in Cuba and carries an expense, but its value is inestimable. “It’s the only way we can assure having a daily minyan,” said Yakob Berezniak Hernandez, young and thickly bearded. Hernandez is a fixture in the Jewish community. He is the synagogue’s cantor, burial committee, treasurer, shochet and mohel. His shochet license hangs on the wall of the small kosher butcher that is situated several blocks away from the shul. He became certified in 2009, when he spent four months in Haifa studying kashrut. Like other Cubans, Jews receive an allotment of meat under Cuba’s rationing system. Hernandez manages the kosher kills and processing. The meat is available to a select group of Jews once a month. B’nai B’rith mission participants sit in the downstairs chapel and listen to Hernandez discuss the problematic lives of his community. The B’nai B’rith members pass through a multipurpose room that provides seniors with kosher meals and makes available for roughly $10 apiece blue and white kipot that have been stitched with menorahs and Israeli and Cuban flags. They are popular with the B’nai B’rith visitors, as they are with other visitors, and a good way to raise funds for the synagogue. The mission participants take advantage of this opportunity and, separately, feed the tzedakah box. The currency in Cuba for foreigners is a CUC, a Cuban convertible peso, one of two official currencies in Cuba. Local Cubans operate with their own peso. The price tag for each kipot represents a little less than a monthly income for many Cubans. Physicians here, for example, earn about $50 a month. People do find ways to supplement their income but such extras are taxed highly by the Cuban government, explains our guide, who adds as an aside that Cuban Olympic gold medalists are regarded heroes of the nation and the revolution and earn $150 a month …. for life. Upstairs, the history of Adath Israel and the tremendous support is in full evidence. The large synagogue with its balcony, even by American standards, is at once an artistic treasure. Hernandez said the Orthodox community numbers maybe 300. He’s asked, so why do you need such a huge sanctuary? “The cost to modify it or tear it down and start over would be so great it’s better just to keep the space,” Hernandez says. Before the revolution, the Jewish community in Cuba numbered up to 25,000, with Havana representing the lion’s share of that figure. The space was needed then. More than 90 percent of the community left with the revolution. Another wave of Jews left when the Soviets arrived decades later and placed prohibitions on the public practice of religion. When the Soviets left in the ‘90s, the Jewish community experienced a revival. And here we are…. During the B’nai B’rith visit to Adath Israel, the mechitzah (for separate seating) is decorated for Chanukah. The synagogue also uses significant space in the main sanctuary to display historic documents under glass cases. Back to the kosher butcher. Hernandez said a few Jews make kosher meat a part of following the dietary laws, though other Jewish leaders here suggest about 20 people “keep kosher.” During the day of the B’nai B’rith mission visits, not one morsel of meat is visible. A couple of racks of large S-curve hooks normally would be used to move sides of beef. Today, they are perfectly clean and hang on the racks. Hernandez stands behind an empty counter and in front of an open freezer locker. It’s a remarkable remnant of Cuban Jewish life, past and present. – by B’nai B’rith International Senior Vice President Charles Kaufman
A B’nai B’rith Mission First: A Visit to Guantanamo de Cuba
GUANTANAMO DE CUBA—B’nai B’rith made its first trip to the eastern-most Jewish community in this country. Beyond that milestone, this proud Sephardic synagogue recently identified two Jews living 70 miles away, and young Jennifer is about to celebrate her bat mitzvah, the first local to have a bat mitzvah outside Havana. Jennifer and many Jews in this community are part of the Mizrahi clan. Rodolfo Mizrahi is the head of the community and lives in space below the second floor synagogue. The Mizrahis came to Guantanamo, like the Jews of nearby Santiago, several generations ago from Turkey. The B’nai B’rith mission participants pull up to awaiting congregants and immediately see the Turkish influences in the synagogue’s exterior design. The deep aquamarine walls contrast the structures on the rest of the street. Spiraling columns and other features decorate the synagogue edifice. The space, long and deep, is divided into two large spaces. One half serves as a sanctuary and indoor uses; the other half is used for outdoor celebrations. The outdoor space, already outfitted for a sukkah, could use a canvas covering to shield the space from year-round searing heat, particularly during the summer. Such an awning would be installed to retract. Twenty-five needed outdoor chairs would facilitate various outdoor holiday observances and celebrations. A tall, young man leads Shabbat services. His familiar renditions sound as if Bob Dylan is singing them. Really. Asked what he does in Guantanamo, the young man says he plays volleyball. He is about 6-3 and is built like a power forward. The synagogue knows the work and contributions of B’nai B’rith. In a PowerPoint following services, Rodolfo is shown in one of the clips wearing a B’nai B’rith Maimonides Lodge T-shirt. And on one wall, the synagogue proudly displays a framed 2009 resolution signed by then-B’nai B’rith International President Moishe Smith. This community counts more than 80 Jews as congregants, though quite a few people live miles away and some live even farther, such as the two newly-identified Jews living 70 miles away. Rodolfo would love to have Jewish learning tools in Spanish. The community generously received a Torah from a past B’nai B’rith mission participant, Mark Fleischer, but the synagogue has no one to read it. On this Shabbat, however, the Torah is not only taken out of the ark, but Rodolfo receives an aliyah. Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn on the mission reads the corresponding parsha. The B’nai B’rith mission and individuals leave behind contributions following a filling lunch and take home a wish list of gift ideas. After all, it’s Chanukah. – by B’nai B’rith International Senior Vice President Charles Kaufman
The Sefardi Center: Home of B’nai B’rith Cuba
HAVANA DE CUBA—Over the years B’nai B’rith has stitched many threads in the fabric of Jewish life in Cuba. Perhaps the most material impact currently is at the Centro Hebreo Sefardi. It is the base for the Maimonides B’nai B’rith Lodge with more than 125 affiliates. The center is where B’nai B’rith sponsors daily meals for more than 150 seniors. It also is the beneficiary of a significant amount of mission aid and donations—medicines, health supplies, clothing, Judaica and other items. Dr. Mayra Levy, a retired physician, author and professor, serves as the center’s president. Simon, Ida and Sammy also are officers and pivotal players in the daily operations of the Sephardi Center. Mayra even makes periodic trips to United States communities to raise awareness and support. She and her team joined the B’nai B’rith Mission to celebrate the second night of Chanukah, describe services at the center and answer questions. It’s evening, the end of a busy travel day for the B’nai B’rith Mission participants, and further discussion will take place during a return visit in a couple of days. That day arrives and Mission participants witness the center in full operation. An exercise class and weight lifters have the space in full motion. Workers are preparing lunch in a dining area for seniors. Arts and crafts teachers are assisting seniors on various projects that are available for sale. The space has many purposes. It is the sanctuary during the high holidays and other occasions and, actually, during the coming week will be filled with celebration as Rabino Samuel Szteinhendler, who is based in Santiago, Chile, will officiate at seven weddings simultaneously. Rabbi Szteinhendler has shepherded the Cuban community for the better part of two decades and is a long-time friend of B’nai B’rith. A Permanent Holocaust Display ORT, the organization that has worked decades with Cuban Jewry as well, involved Cuban students in videotaping community members’ stories about the plight of the SS St. Louis in 1939, in which 930 Jewish refugees from Germany were disallowed from disembarking, though a small number were allowed to land. Most of the refugees ended up back in Europe after also being rejected by the United States and Canada. More than 250 on the Voyage of the Damned perished in the Holocaust. Posters telling the story are for sale for 5 CUCs (almost $6). Visitors buy them to endorse the exhibit and support the Center. The Menorah Glows in a Warm Chapel The leaders of the Cuban Jewish community appreciate visitors from all over the Diaspora as the State Department approves more visas from many religious and educational groups. The Cuban leaders say groups bring medicines, aid and donations, but on a much smaller scale than B’nai B’rith and the Joint Distribution Committee, among other large organizations. “Most people come here to learn about our community and absorb life here,” one leader says. “We appreciate all contributions, but they are different from sustaining gifts.” B’nai B’rith provides sustaining gifts in its Tzedakah Project and the B’nai B’rith Mission has the advantage of the international organization’s relationships in the various Jewish communities. It understands Cuba’s unique needs. Finally, it has the experience of handling the logistics in producing many such trips for almost two decades. Anyone interested in participating in or contributing to the B’nai B’rith Cuban Jewish Relief Project should contact Heather McWilliams at the B’nai B’rith office in Washington at (202) 857-6530 or HMcwilliams@bnaibrith.org. – by B’nai B’rith International Senior Vice President Charles Kaufman
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Cuban Jewish Relief BlogReports on the B’nai B’rith International Cuba Jewish Relief project. > Upcoming MissionsMarch 19-26, 2015
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