Kesher Talk

Jews in odd places: Cuba: Cuba 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.

Three of Havana'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 community in Camaguey, Cuba, rededicated a new synagogue in a whitewashed turn-of-the-century house. It was the first shuel 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.

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.

posted by William @ 12/11/2003 08:35:16 AM