Re: [CubaNews] Another side of Cuba: Jewish Santiago de Cuba
What crap from Kubisch, DPA and JewishTuscon.org! The lies and inaccuraciues regarding access to telephone services and other things in Cuba notwithstanding, it is interesting how the propaganda piece, masquerading as a "news": article focuses on garbage like this - quote - "After the revolution and takeover by Fidel Castro many Jewish companies were seized by the state. Thousands of Jewish families moved to Israel or the United States" This is a blatant and overt attempt to slander the Cuban Revolution by implying an anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish bent to the Revolution. The fact is, that any so-called "Jewish" business that were confiscated by the new Cuban state, were not confiscated because they were "Jewish". Rather they were confiscated, (along with property and other unearned, stolen assets of other foreign and domestic capitalists) because they were owned by capitalist oppressors and exploiters....not because these exploiters and oppressors in some cases happened to be "Jewish"! A capitalist exploiter and oppressor is a capitalist exploiter and oppressor, regardless of religion or ethnicity. Interesting too, that no mention was made of the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that were paid out by the new Socialist Cuban state in *real market value* compensation for most of these assets - or that the only foreign business owners and investors who were not compensated for the loss of their ill-gotten property and assets were U.S. citizens......because the compensation was blocked by the U.S government itself! This article is not just "sloppy journalism". Rather, it is an overt anti-Cuban, anti-Communist propaganda piece deliberately intended to misinform and to deceive. mart ============================================ ----- Original Message ----- From: Walter Lippmann To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 1:09 PM Subject: [CubaNews] Another side of Cuba: Jewish Santiago de Cuba (Nice story except for the part about private phones being a rarity in Cuba. Notice the man who learned his Hebrew in Cuba but is living in Cuba...) ====================================== Another side of Cuba: A glimpse into a small Jewish community Bernd Kubisch, dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) 09/20/2004 http://www.jewishtucson.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=126442 Santiago de Cuba (dpa) - All the houses in the Calle Corona, a street in Santiago de Cuba, are simple one-storey buildings, on most of the houses plaster and paint is peeling from the walls. Even the blue and white painted house number 273, which happens to be a synagogue, reputed to be the oldest on the island. The bronze signboard with the Jewish star and the words "Sinagoga de Santiago de Cuba" pinpoint the building where the congregation meets every Friday at sundown. The congregation was founded in 1924 and exists at this site since 1939. It is called the "Communidad Hebrea Hatikva" - Hatikva means hope. At sunset on Friday when the Sabbath begins, at the entrance to the synagogue things start to liven up. This congregation has not had its own rabbi for the past 37 years. "Nowadays visits of a rabbi are very seldom," says congregation president Eugenia Faria Levy. "Every Sabbath we study the torah". The 31-year-old Marcos F. Farin is one of the torah experts. In 1997 while on a visit to Israel for the Macabbiah Games - the Jewish Olympics - he studied the torah in theory and practise. "I learned to read the torah in Israel," he says. In the synagogue there are folding chairs for the 35 people expected to attend. Against one wall are shelves with a small library with many of the books in Hebrew. Proudly the young man shows us a glass bowl. "This is sand from Jerusalem. I brought it back with me," he says. Carefully Farin opens a curtain, pulling out a torah. "It is about 200 years old, we believe, and probably comes from Turkey," he explains. On Saturday mornings the congregation also meets for prayer, a sermon, conversations and a meal. The congregation is made up of 17 families and 70 people. Until the communist revolution in 1959, about 800 to 1,000 Jews lived in the Santiago area, according to Farin. Farin's grandparents came to Cuba from Turkey in 1909. They belonged to the group of Sephardic Jews who fled prior to World War I. Farin's mother Mathilde reports that hardly any Jews remain in the old Jewish quarter near the synagogue. Santiago was established by the Spaniards in 1514 and was a flourishing harbour city in the 16th century. At the start of World War II Ashkanazi Jews from Poland increased the congregations in Havanna and Santiago. Until 1959 about 12,000 to 15,000 Jews lived in Cuba. After the revolution and takeover by Fidel Castro many Jewish companies were seized by the state. Thousands of Jewish families moved to Israel or the United States. Today there are between 1,300 and 1,500 people of Jewish faith on the island, about 1,000 in the capital Havanna. "Our synagogue is the oldest in Cuba. That is certain," says Farin. He has studied many chronicles. The Sociedad Union Israelita de Oriente de Cuba (Jewish Congregation of East Cuba) at first used a rented building. The name "Sinagoga de Santiago de Cuba" has been official since 1939. The Hatikva congregation receives support from Canada and the United States, especially from the American-Jewish Organisation Joint Distribution Committee (Joint). It also sends pesa, the wine for religious ritual. Joint also has a small office in Havanna. With the money the congregation also buys food for the common meals. In the kitchen behind the small synagogue helping hands prepare chicken, rice, beans and salad. Many can only afford a piece of chicken once a week. Because of the foreign aid, the Hatikva congregation can also celebrate the religious holidays of Pessach, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Sometimes a rabbi comes from Mexico, the U.S. or Britain. The number of Jews in Cuba has stabilised. Only a few families emigrate to Israel or the United States. But through marriage and conversion of partners to Judaism, the community has remained relatively stable. Travel possibilities for the Jewish community to international Jewish events is not all that bad. Often small delegations from Cuba take part at congresses and sporting competitions. Congregation members report that Castro and his government treat the Jewish citizens with respect, although none of the Jews in Santiago are members of the Communist Party. Apart from the synagogue in Santiago there are four more in Havanna. Jewish life also exists in the cities of Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Guantanamo and Santa Clara. Nobody knows how many families there are. Communication is not always easy. Private telephones are not the norm in Cuba and in villages they are even a rarity. Copyright 2004 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH ================================== Cuba News http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews To subscribe to Cuba News send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========================================= [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. 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