A Jewish Renaissance in Castro's Cuba

Judaism, Spring, 2000 by Dana Evan Kaplan

By 1980 the local Jewish community had become completely inactive and the synagogue building was not being used, and the government confiscated it for other purposes. This did not happen in Havana where the Jewish population was larger and was able to keep major Jewish institutions running, if only marginally.

But a small number of Jews had remained in the Santiago area. Although most had intermarried, many retained some interest in their ancestral traditions. At Passover each year the Santiago Jews would gather to receive a package from Canada forwarded from the Havana Jewish community. This package contained kosher wine, matzot, matzah flour, tea, tuna, and even meat. The annual receipt of this aid package made quite an impression on the remaining Santiago Jews because it showed them that there was a Jewish presence and worldwide sense of solidarity with them.

In October 1993 the Santiago community began reorganizing after about fifteen years of almost total inactivity. From October 1993 until July 1995, Jewish communal activities were held on a regular basis in the home of Rebeca Botton Behar, who became the president of the newly emerging Jewish community. Like other small Jewish communities without synagogue buildings of their own, the Jews of Santiago de Cuba met in a private home to celebrate holidays together. The government now agreed to return the confiscated synagogue to the Jewish community and the synagogue was rededicated in a joyous ceremony held on July 25, 1995. Adding to the festive atmosphere was the fact that the rededication ceremony coincided with the 480th anniversary of the founding of the city. Rabbi Shmuel Szteinhendler officiated at the rededication. Today the congregation has an active schedule of Sabbath services and has reopened the Hebrew school for the teaching of Jewish traditions and practices. After the Saturday morning service, a Kiddush lunch is offered for the entire congregation and a study session on the Torah portion of the week is taught is Spanish. Two separate Jewish dance groups have been created and they perform a wide repertoire of Israeli folk dances. A children's troupe called Etzim Ktanim, "little trees," has been established, as well as a group called Atideinu, "our future."

In 1996 a visiting rabbi from Chile officiated at a double bar mitzvah ceremony for two cousins, Robertito Novoa Bonne and Andresito Novoa Castiel. A month later, Rabbi Stuart Kelman of Congregation Netivot Shalom of Berkeley, California came to Santiago for a second double bar mitzvah ceremony. The double bar mitzvahs were the first ones held in the city for almost twenty years, and most of the members of the Jewish community attended the ceremonies. [28] Upon his return to Berkeley Kelman stated that "these are people coming back to Judaism with enthusiasm and passin." [29]

One young Cuban who has re-embraced his Jewish identity is Eitan Behar. At the time of his birth in October 1972 in Santiago, no organized Jewish community remained in the city. Like most descendants of Jews in the Santiago community, Eitan's parents were intermarried. His mother's family came from Turkey, and his father's grandparents were Catholics from Spain. Yet, he writes, "I knew I was a Jew." Much of this Jewish identity took the form of a visceral identification with Zionism, a deeply problematic political loyalty in pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist Cuba. Eitan recalls, "I had a small flag of Israel, and my mother was afraid of it. I loved to wear it all the time. But Cuba is [was] a pro-Palestinian country, and Israel was directly [connected to the UN resolution] 'Zionism equals racism.' So my ideology could be [criticized] for wearing such a symbol of racism. I remember a few very good teachers in high school who told me, 'Do you know what is the meaning of this flag?' When I said, 'Yes,' they answere d, 'You should be proud of it.'" [30] Both the Batista and the early Castro regimes formerly considered Israel a small country struggling for freedom just like Cuba. But once Castro formed an alliance with the Soviet Union, the official line on the State of Israel changed dramatically. Yet Eitan felt that most Cubans in Santiago continued to feel a great deal of respect for Israel, remembering it as "the country that plants flowers in the desert"