Jewish Cuba Inside - American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

Inside
Jewish Cuba
A Short History with Map of Havana’s Jewish Sites
Today’s
Jewish Community
Today, Cuba’s approximately 1,500 Jews are
actively shaping a vibrant and meaningful
Jewish experience for their community.
Jewish teenagers prepare for bar and
bat mitzvahs through a study program
Hundreds of Jews share in a communal
chicken dinner following Shabbat
services at the island’s five synagogues
Children and adults participate in Jewish
dance troupes that connect them to
their cultural identity and each other
About JDC
Cuba’s
Jewish History
The American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC) is the world’s leading
Jewish humanitarian assistance organization.
JDC works in more than 70 countries
and in Israel to alleviate hunger and
hardship, rescue Jews in danger, create
lasting connections to Jewish life, and
provide immediate relief and long-term
development support for victims of natural
and man-made disasters.
While the Jewish presence in Cuba dates
back 500 years to the time of the Spanish
Inquisition, organized Jewish life began in
the 20th century with the founding of the
island’s first synagogue in Havana in 1906
and the consecration of the first Jewish
cemetery four years later.
Several waves of Jewish immigrants—
primarily from the Ottoman Empire and
Eastern Europe—reached Cuba over the
next five decades and together built more
than a dozen synagogues in as many
communities. Following the revolution in
1959, 90% of Cuba’s Jews left and Jewish
life on the island lay dormant.
To learn more, visit www.JDC.org
Religious educators from Latin America
visit Cuba to teach Jewish traditions
More than 150 children and parents
attend Jewish educational programs
each weekend
Due to a change in the Cuban constitution
allowing for greater religious freedoms,
in 1991 the Joint Distribution Committee
(JDC) began working with the community
president, Dr. José Miller (z”l), and the
remaining Jews to rebuild Jewish life
on the island. JDC Jewish community
development professionals have since
created opportunities for local Jews
to explore their heritage, resulting in a
dynamic Jewish renaissance from one end
of the island to the other.
supported by the Jewish Federations of North America
”Some make love their home...
others turn a dream into
their home... Jews turn their
religion into their home.”
Photo Credits
-José Martí, published in La Opinión
Nacional, Caracas, December 24, 1881
Michael Priest
from left to right: JDC/Julian Voloj (1,2,3)
JDC (4) Michael Priest (5,6)
Jewish Sites Michael Priest (1,2) JDC/Julian Voloj (3,4,5,6)
Cover
Inside pages
3/2011
Jewish Sites
From the retro-chic neighborhood of Vedado
to the colonial village of Guanabacoa, you can
visit a number of major sites of Jewish interest
in Havana. Highlights include the Patronato
Community Center and Synagogue and the
oldest Holocaust memorial in the Western
hemisphere, found at the United Hebrew
Congregation (Ashkenazi) Cemetery.
Enjoy your Jewish journey through Havana,
el alma de Cuba!
Havana
Santa Clara
Cienfuegos
Sancti Spiritus
1
2
Patronato (Beit Shalom) Synagogue
Calle I #241 entre 13 y 15
Sephardic Center
Calle 17 #462 esquina E
M
a
2
Capitolio
Nacional
s
e
or de Allend
Ashkenazi Cemetery
Guanabacoa
ez
óm
Má
xim
tí
oG
ar
M
ta
Zapa
Plaza de la
Revolución
Ave. de la Independencia Este entre
Obelisco y Puente
4
gi
do
E
Ave. Salvad
te
ra
da de
Calle G entre 5ta y Final
Old 3
Havana
r
se
nt
Mo
te
en
a
id
a
Central
Havana
id
23
Castillo
del Principe
en
Av
Cementerio
Cristóbal
Colón
Line
6
Picota 52 esquina Acosta
Havana Bay
es
Pr
o
se
e
Av
Calza
n
Adath Israel, Orthodox Synagogue
San Lázaro
os
da
ni
Pa
Vedado
15
eL
le
l
Ca
.d
Li
e
Av
a
ne
fanta
a de In
ad
lz
Ca
Calzad
1
ale
e
Av
Sephardic Cemetery
4
East
Havana
Guantánamo
n
co
a.
5
Calle San Ignacio #103 esquina Amargura
Gulf of Mexico
Camagüey
Santiago de Cuba
5t
Hotel Raquel
Jewish Communities
in Cuba
Cuba
ida
3
saria
a Ro
id
Aven
Havana
Independen
ci a O
este
5
Independencia Este
Miramar
Car
rete
r
a Ce
ntra
l
6