Cuba
From the archive, 1959: Passover in Castro’s Cuba, yearning for freedom
When Castro took control of Cuba, he put curbs on religious practice, forcing Azriel Weitz to write to the Forverts, begging for Passover supplies.
Cuban Government Restoring Country’s Oldest Jewish Cemetery
The repairs are part of an initiative by the city ahead of the 500th anniversary of its founding.
Cuban Jews Push For Better Ties With U.S.
— Leaders of Cuba’s Jewish community sent an open letter to the U.S. Jewish community calling for a strengthening of ties and expressing …
Alan Gross Is Starting Over In Israel — After 5 Years In Cuban Prison
WASHINGTON — Alan Gross contacted me a couple of months ago over Facebook Messenger. There was something he thought I should know. I was pl…
Take A Look Inside This Thriving Cuban Synagogue
The entire country needs modernization, but all things considered, the Jewish community is thriving.
How Did A Yiddish Opera Wind Up In Cuba Of All Places?
“Hatuey: Memory of Fire,” originally written in Yiddish, became a hit in Havana. Turns out that Jewish culture is more popular in Cuba than you might think.
Israel Stuns Cuba 4-1 To Continue Cinderella Run In Baseball Classic
Team Israel continued to shock the world and defeated a well-regarded Cuba 4-1 Sunday in the first quarterfinal game of the World Baseball Classic at the Tokyo Dome.
Frank London’s Yiddish Opera Will Premiere In Cuba
RIO DE JANEIRO — A new opera based on an 86-year-old Yiddish poem about a Taino indigenous chief who resisted the Spanish invaders will have its premiere in Havana next month. “Hatuey: Memory of Fire,” will first be performed in Havana on March 3, reported the New York Times. Composed by Frank London of the Klezmatics, the…
Mayer Abramowitz, Rabbi to Miami’s Cuban Exiles, Dies at 97
(JTA) — Rabbi Mayer Abramowitz, who opened the doors of his Miami Beach synagogue to waves of Cuban exiles beginning in the early 1960s, died Thursday at his home in Miami Beach. He was 97. Abramowitz, longtime leader of Temple Menorah, ministered to hundreds of young Jews who arrived in the United States as part…
Fidel Castro on Israel and the Jews? It’s Complicated.
With the Cuban’s leader’s death November 25, at age 90, his long and controversial career is sure to be reviewed minutely on every issue in the days leading up to his funeral, December 4. But it would be hard to find a more convoluted record than the one he established with the Jewish state and world Jewry, and with the Cuban Jewish community.