BJC’s third Cuba Mission was successful beyond our wildest dreams.
We endured some bad hotel rooms, bad plumbing, and long bus rides, but
quickly all of that faded into insignificance as the effect of our six
years of working with and for Cuban Jewry came into focus.
It was apparent that the Cuban Jewish communities are in many ways
experiencing a renaissance while at the same time their numbers are
shrinking as more young people make aliyah to Israel because of harsh
economic conditions in Cuba.
At
every stop in Havana we noticed that the synagogues are in better repair
and their programming is more dynamic. At the Patronato, BJC underwrote,
in its entirety, the Cuban Jewish Milk project that guarantees a
delivery of 500 g of vitamin fortified cereal and milk mix to EVERY
Jewish child in the country!
We also met Mayra Levy at synagogue Centro Sephardi who charmed everyone
and shared with us her dream of a Jewish Movie Night designed to attract
young twenty somethings to the synagogue. We pledged to supply her
efforts
In the provinces, where we have always focused most of our attention,
the improvements were even more profound. Everyone looks healthier,
better fed, and better dressed than when we first met. Children have
grown up proud of their Jewish identity. Jewish knowledge and prayer
skills have improved exponentially.
In Santa Clara, after a visit to the restored cemetery and holocaust
memorial, we went to the “house” that will become the synagogue for this
community. Renovations begin at the end of March. We were presented with
a beautiful stained glass award in gratitude for our involvement in the
project and in turn we donated additional tallitot, prayer books, and
woven art to decorate Bayit Or Hadash (House of New Light), the name of
the new synagogue.
Then I led an afternoon of teaching and songs about Purim at the local
(here comes the irony…) Presbyterian church! At the conclusion our Cuban
friends, led by president David Tacher, spontaneously began to dance and
sing, and we joined in with great joy. The church director of education
(and a professor of English) shared with us his belief that this was the
FIRST time anywhere in Cuba that a Jewish group had held such a program
in a church. Even in Cuba BJC is out there promoting and modeling
interfaith cooperation. Wow!
Then it was off to Camaguey where we met this Jewish community for the
first time. When we arrived, the members of the congregation formed a
cordon and hugged and kissed every one of us as we entered. A large
handmade sign hung at the entrance to welcome us. This community is so
isolated from the rest of the Jewish world that very few American Jews
go there. Their excitement as we sang, learned, and supped together was
invigorating. We donated a lot of medicine to their new community
pharmacy as well as many other items. In the morning the synagogue
president, David Pernas Levy (77 years old), personally took us on a
walking tour of the town.
On we went to the centerpiece of our trip, Shabbat in Sancti Spiritus.
There, after greeting many old friends, Kabbalat Shabbat began under the
glow of a single lantern when the power failed. Once again our services
were led with great enthusiasm by Daisy and Ivonne Barlia. But this
time, something was different. Unlike our previous visits where the
Barlias sang and most other folks could only listen, this time the
entire Cuban Jewish community sang along at full voice with great
devotion. They had learned the service and were no longer spectators but
active participants.
Many honors and gifts were again bestowed to and from each community. A
new computer, printer, DVD burner, and many other necessities from us,
pictures and plaques from our Cuban friends. A personal highlight was
when I was asked to perform a baby naming for four month old Elisha, a
child born with a rare blood disease that required a full transfusion
when she was but a few weeks old. We had rushed a shipment of medicine,
iron supplements, and formula to the island that dramatically speeded
her recovery. To surprise and delight, Annafrid, Elisha’s mother, asked
that Joani and I accept the honor of becoming Godparents to her child.
Everyone was deeply moved.
Saturday morning we brought together the communities from Santa Clara,
Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus for a Shabbat morning service. We had the
honor to read, for the first time in Cuba, Torah from a scroll that had
been donated to the Santa Clara community only recently. We soon found
out that this was the first time anyone had seen a Torah in Sancti
Spiritus since before the Cuban revolution (according to Julito Eli). In
addition, one of our travelling party, Rabbi Joan Sacks of Philadelphia,
also read an aliyah. This was the first time anyone in the central
island communities had witnessed a woman serve as rabbi at a service.
Ivonne Barlia confided that it is her dream to make aliyah to Israel,
obtain a degree, then go to the US to study and become a rabbi. May the
Holy One of Blessing make it so!
Our days in Cuba concluded with a stop in Cienfuegos where we were
charmed once again by the Langus family. At the Shabbat service, David
Langus presented us with a wonderful pencil and charcoal sketch of Moses
carving the second set of tablets that will soon hang in the halls of
BJC. In his home, we had the opportunity to thank him once again and to
hear of his plans to go to Israel on a Birthright trip later this year.
When I decided almost twenty years ago to change the direction of my
life and become a Hazzan, one of the motivations was the hope that when
my life was complete, my presence made a difference and left the world a
better place. The work of this congregation, all of us together, has
made a profound difference in the quality of life, both physical and
spiritual, for the Jewish people of an entire nation.
Kol HaKavod – (great honor) to all of us. Let us take a brief moment to
bask in the warm glow of our accomplishments and let us now rededicate
ourselves to even greater service to our brothers and sisters in Cuba.
Hazzan Sunny Schnitzer
Spiritual Leader & Kol Bo
Bethesda Jewish Congregation
6601 Bradley Blvd.
Bethesda MD 20817
(301) 469-8636
