The depth of commitment

I was glad to be in Rhode Island the other day with my colleague, JDC's CEO Alan Gill, for their Annual Board meeting. The "Jewish Voice" published a nice piece on our visit ....


Alliance annual meeting recognizes progress, honors JDC partnership

By Fran Ostendorf

Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:36 Sharon Gaines welcomed the crowd June 16 to the third annual meeting of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island by taking a moment to recognize the plight of the three kidnapped teenagers in Israel. At the entrance to the Dwares JCC Social Hall was a table with iPads so that the audience could sign a virtual message to the families of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel from the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). “We hope this will offer some comfort that we are supporting these efforts,” Gaines said. As a prelude to the annual awards presentation, members of Pastrami on RI blended their voices for “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Hatikvah” as well as “Bilvavi.”  Pastrami on RI, a post-collegiate coed Jewish a capella group, is a (401)j cluster that performs locally. Awards presented       The Jenny Klein Memorial Teacher Award, established by the Alperin-Hirsch Family Foundation to recognize outstanding teachers who have excelled in teaching and demonstrated a commitment to Jewish education in a synagogue religious school was presented to Nitza Attali. Attali, who teaches second-, third-, fifth- and sixth-grade students at Temple Beth-El in Providence, transmits her love of her homeland of Israel to her students. “In Israel, our national treasure is our children. Keep on loving our nation,” she said. The Riesman Leadership Development Award, created by Robert and Marcia Reisman to inspire and encourage emerging leadership, is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated leadership and commitment through significant service with the Alliance. Recipients attend the General Assembly of the JFNA. Rabbi Barry Dolinger, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom, is this year’s recipient. A member of the board of directors of the Alliance, he served as lead educator for the New England Region of the March of the Living and is a founding member of (401)j. “Outside of your congregation,” presenter Doris Feinberg said, “you have embraced our community. You are already on a path that will cement your leadership in our community.” Dolinger had particularly kind words for the Rhode Island community where, he said, “Everyone gets along and cooperates … more than anywhere.” The Norma D. & Flo Tilles Community Relations Council Award was established to stimulate and encourage leaders and emerging leaders who have performed significant service to the Community Relations Council (CRC) of the Alliance. Sharon Gaines, a previous recipient, presented this award to Richard Glucksman, chair of the Government Relations Council of the CRC and a senior staff attorney at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island. As the Government Relations Council chair, Glucksman reaches out to government officials at the federal, state and local levels to raise awareness of Alliance priorities and goals. Glucksman thanked his high school teacher for inspiring him and his mentors at the CRC for providing an unparalleled model of service. The final award of the evening, the Joseph W. Ress Community Service Award, recognized an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership at the Alliance, local or national Jewish agencies and the general Rhode Island community. Joan Ress Reeves presented the award to Alan Litwin, whom she deemed “a regular Joe Ress Junior,” referring to her father, after whom the award was named. As she listed Litwin’s many contributions to the community at large, she mentioned the similarities to her father’s activities. Litwin, managing partner of Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd., has served on the boards of the Jewish Seniors Agency, Jewish Home Corp., Jewish Family Service, Brown RISD Hillel, Temple Emanu-El, Miriam Hospital and The Miriam Hospital Foundation. He is a past president of the JCC and served on the board of the Alliance. In accepting the award, Litwin said, “It’s such an honor to be named in the same sentence as Joe Ress, let alone get this award.” He said that the real reward is to be able to instill the same values of service in his children. Alliance report Jeffrey Savit, president and CEO of the Alliance, offered an encouraging report of growth and renewal at the Alliance, highlighting several initiatives underway. “I hope, a year from now, we’ll be sitting in our renovated social hall,” he said, referring to the ongoing renovations to the Dwares JCC. He said that fundraising has resulted in more than $2 million so far, and that the result will be a “lovely inclusive user-friendly community center.” Savit also told the meeting about the Living on the Edge Initiative, explaining that almost one-half of our community is living on the edge of financial insecurity. “We are committed to helping those in need in our community, “he said. Fundraising has reached $1.4 million of the initial goal of $1.8 million for this initiative. “We are beginning to raise an army of people to help,” he said. Commitment to community was the theme of the evening as the meeting celebrated the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s 100 years of service and its impact around the world. “It’s wonderful to share in this anniversary with Alan Gill and Dov Ben-Shimon,” Savit said. “For 100 years, there’s been one worldwide address for Jews in need. We cherish our relationship.” “I’ve seen the depth of commitment you have in this community,” the JDC’s Ben-Shimon responded. “I’m proud of the partnership we have.” In an earlier conversation, Ben-Shimon said that he and Gill value the deep and meaningful tie that the JDC has with the Jewish community of Rhode Island. “We see the impact that Jewish philanthropy has around the world.” Gill, CEO of the JDC, and Ben-Shimon, executive director-Strategic Partnerships, are well-known to members of the Rhode Island Jewish community, where support has been high for the work of the JDC around the world. Ben-Shimon has accompanied many Rhode Islanders on missions around the world. From the JDC Gill delivered a brief history of the JDC, from its beginnings in 1914, and a “brief snapshot of the Jewish world through the JDC lens. “Here we sit as brother and sister. We, as a Jewish people, will be there to help. The 100th anniversary is a time to consider where every dollar you give us is spent,” he said. He explained that the JDC’s mission hasn’t changed though the years. He stressed that all Jews are responsible for one another. “We are the only Jewish organization that holds itself accountable.” The JDC is active throughout the world – in Russia, in Hungary and Ukraine, in Greece, in Germany, and in Israel and in many other countries. Wherever there are Jews who need food, medicine, financial help or help staying safe, the JDC is there. Israel is one example. Gill said that 36.5 percent of Israeli children are living below the poverty line. “We’re fighting poverty. We can’t afford a social fabric that’s frayed.” Ukraine is another example. Gill mentioned the work that the JDC is doing there to make sure that Ukraine’s Jewish population, which numbers more than 300,000, is getting the help it needs. “I talk about the history to remind us of what happens when we stay focused on our mission,” Gill said. “Our mission is our business plan.” His compelling stories of housebound elderly in communities under stress, worldwide, held the attention of the crowd. They were meant to illustrate the work done by the JDC, said Gill, so “am Israel chai” … the Jewish people shall live. Following Gill’s speech, Edward Feldstein installed the newly elected boards of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, the Federation Foundation and the Alliance Realty. Gaines ended the evening with remarks echoing those of Savit. “Change is never easy,” she said. But, showing what Feldstein had termed her positive outlook, she said, “We will continue to move forward.” She cited the Living on the Edge Initiative as a defining moment and said that the Alliance is positioning itself for a great future. FRAN OSTENDORF is the Editor of The Jewish Voice.

http://www.jvhri.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5577:alliance-annual-meeting-recognizes-progress-honors-jdc-partnership&catid=41:community&Itemid=62

Things that take too long

I'm on a train heading up to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. Together with JDC's CEO, Alan Gill, I'm going to speak at a number of events to thank the Alliance for their support of the Joint and our partnership in places like Poland and Afula. But, train journeys being what they are ... my mind got wandering to things that take a long time. And sometimes, too long.

My colleagues at JDC's macroeconomic research institute, the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, have a fascinating review on labor productivity in Israel. One of their findings is how long it takes to start a business. The OECD average is 13 days. The US is 6 days.

Israel ... is 34 days. Over a month to overcome bureaucracy before you can start production. High concentration in the domestic market, lots of regulation, not enough competition. So ... higher domestic prices, lower attractiveness of the economic environment.

We have to fix this. Because money won't flow to physical and capital investment that slow down growth.

Poland's Jewish Awakening

At the heart of Europe and the epitome of a changing continent, Poland and its Jewish community are redefining and rebuilding themselves in a post-communist Jewish revival. A pillar of this Jewish resurgence in Poland is JDC's introduction of Limud, a grassroots studyfest that brings together Jews of all ages and backgrounds for a shared experience of rediscovering and celebrating their Jewish heritage.

Special thanks and appreciation to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island for their continued support for the renewal of Jewish life in Poland. 

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Mission to Minsk … and more

Lovely article in the Jewish Voice of Rhode Island By Susan Leach DeBlasio

Friday, 16 August 2013 20:27

PROVIDENCE – Eddie Bruckner, Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s vice  president for financial resource development, and I experienced Minsk and Israel  on a Jewish Federations of North America mission with 96 other lay and professional  leaders from across the United States and Canada. Missions are peripatetic,  transformational summer camps for grownups. There’s no sleep, only days and  nights filled with inspiration, education, training, and bonding with our counterparts  and instant new friends. The mid-July mission was no different. In Minsk and Israel, we visited programs sponsored by the American Jewish Joint  Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and World ORT.  Each of these organizations, collaborating on a continuum of services with the dollars  we (and other donor organizations) raise, ensures the renewal and vibrancy of Jewish  life all over the world. Today, about 25,000 Jews live in Minsk, the capital of Belarus (birthplace of Marc  Chagall, Shimon Peres and Meyer Lansky), the first country invaded by the Nazis  and the last liberated by the Allied Forces. The Nazis slaughtered 80-90 percent of the  Jews in Belarus, and the Communists imposed official anti-Semitism for decades after  the war, obliterating entire generations of Jewish knowledge, tradition and communal  life. We began our visit to Minsk by exploring Yama (“pit”), a deep depression carved  out of the earth where 5,000 Jews rounded up from the ghetto were shot to death in  just one day. There we recited Kaddish and heard from several young leaders of the  Jewish community as well as its head, Leonid Levin, an architect and sculptor.   Descending by the stairway into the pit is his statue of 27 soulful figures about to die.   In his remarks, Levin reminded us, “Each of us could have been in that line.”   Transporting us from those tragic moments in the pit, where “the ashes of our people”  are buried, he summed up the successful rebirth of Jewish life in Minsk with his  dramatic conclusion, “We are few, but we are Jews.” Jewish life flourishes in Minsk today. There are synagogues, schools, summer camps,  young leader and cultural enrichment programs, Shabbatons, family retreats,  newspapers and kosher food, with a robust infrastructure of Jewish social service,  cultural and philanthropic organizations.  The Minsk Jewish Campus, a thriving  social, cultural and educational center, is the central address for Jewish communal  activity.   JDC, JAFI and World ORT are partners in their efforts to promote and  sustain Jewish identity and care for the community’s needy and vulnerable. Together,  with support from the Alliance, they are saving a generation of young Jewish adults  who would otherwise assimilate into obscurity. JDC’s Hesed Rachamim Welfare Center provides medicine, food, home care,  cultural life, companionship, winter relief and home repairs for the last generation  of elderly victims of the Nazis and life under a Communist regime. As Dov Ben-Shimon of the JDC explained, “Jews don’t need our help getting out of  any country in the world today. They need our help in staying.” Their needs arise from hunger and thirst – hunger for food and sustenance, thirst for  Jewish community and belonging.  Eddie and I shopped for groceries for 86-year old  Tatiana, who lives alone in a tiny room of a communal apartment. We had an  allotment from the JDC of 100,000 rubles ($11) to spend. We bought chicken, oil,  tea, kasha, bread and noodles.  We all contributed to add oatmeal, fruit, potatoes  and eggs. Astonishingly, many young people we met exploring and celebrating their Judaism  did not learn they were Jewish until they were into their teens.  Sometimes a  grandparent or aunt let them know, or they discovered old family papers or a  siddur (prayer book) in a shoebox in the attic.  Yoni Leifer went to shul for the  first time when he was 11.   After Jewish summer camps and Hebrew school, he made aliyah, and then after  serving in the Israeli army and attending university, he returned home to Minsk to  work for the JDC. In Volozyhn, we visited the world-renowned Volozhyn Yeshiva, the site of the  Second Zionist Congress and the “Harvard” of yeshivas, attracting the greatest  Jewish intellectuals of the time (from 1803 until 1939).  There, we met Vladimir  Levitskiy from Moscow and other Jewish young adults participating in an  “Expedition” program where they do community service projects across the former  Soviet Union and learn about their Jewish heritage.  Vladimir is 21 and first learned  he was Jewish three years ago.  Since then, he has been to Israel on Taglit-Birthright,  traveled all around the United States, participated in a number of cultural programs  sponsored by JDC and JAFI, and hopes to return to Israel on a MASA program.   Together we spent several hours cleaning a Jewish cemetery next to a monument  memorializing the mass grave of thousands of Jews killed by the Nazis. Recognizing that Jewish adolescents and young adults need multiple touch points in  their lives to concretize their Jewish identity, these agencies sponsor summer camps,  Birthright trips and Jewish schools, to create a long-term immersive experience in  Jewish life.  JAFI runs summer camps where children learn local Jewish history,  Jewish customs and practices. At one camp, I met Kseniye, 19 and a counselor, who  did not learn she was Jewish until she was 9 and had an opportunity to attend the  camp.  As they learn to engage young campers in the Jewish community, counselors  develop their own Jewish identities. In Israel, we traveled to Haifa, Afula, Jerusalem and other areas where programs  rescue children at risk, provide services to those in need and integrate immigrants,  including Ethiopians, into Israeli life.  At a World ORT science and math campus  focused on “program-based learning,” we launched rockets and enjoyed other  experiential learning opportunities with 14- and 15-year-old scientists. One personal highlight was a visit to a JDC-run father/son sports program in Afula.  Fathers and sons must commit to spend 90 minutes each week together with coaches,  counselors, and other father-son pairs. Together they practice and play soccer, but  what they really learn are social skills, teamwork, confidence, self-esteem and responsibility.  The program successfully strengthens the relationship between father  and son, and their lessons spill over into all other areas of their lives, generating  emotional wellbeing, family relationships and better school attendance and grades. The Alliance has been ensuring a vibrant Jewish community for nearly 70 years  both domestically and overseas. As the central address of Jewish philanthropy in  greater Rhode Island, the Alliance provides care for people in need and support to  Israel and collaborates to develop a strong Jewish community for the next generation. As the great Lubbavitcher Rebbe Schneerson cautioned, “If you see what needs to be  repaired and how to repair it, then you have found a piece of the world that God has  left for you to complete. But if you only see what is wrong and how ugly it is, then it is  yourself that needs repair.” I invite all of you to join the Alliance and me this year to help repair the piece of the  world left for us to complete. Susan Leach DeBlasio ( sdeblasio@apslaw.com) is vice chair for financial resource development of the Alliance. http://jvhri.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4381:mission-to-minsk--and-more&catid=41:community&Itemid=62

Cuba participates in the 19th Maccabiah Games

A report from my amazing colleagues in JDC Cuba ...

It was about a year ago that World Maccabiah got in touch with JDC because they wanted a meeting with the Cuban Jewish community. This year the Maccabiah had the vision to invite small communities in the Diaspora to participate in the games experiencing a world Jewish encounter. They formally extended this invitation to the president of the Jewish Community, Adela Dworin, assuring that the participation of any Cuban athletes would be guaranteed, sponsoring the air fare, meals and accommodations. It was with pure honesty and determination that the vice president of the community, David Prinstein, also present in the meeting expressed “we don`t have any professional athletes in our community, but if you give us six months, we´ll make them”.  After several encounters, the decision was made, the Jewish community of Cuba would be represented for the first time in their history in what might be the biggest Jewish global event, by participating in the 19^th Maccabiah Games.

The following steps were made by the local Cuban community that began a research all over the island to look for amateur athletes within community. Each local community`s president would do a thorough search of their congregants and propose them to make up the Cuban teams. As a result, 33 athletes were selected from not only Havana (where the majority of the population and institutions are located) but from different provinces across the country such as Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba and Santa Clara. The community put together Table Tennis, Futsal (indoor soccer), Karate, Archery and a Softball team. This last one was made up half by local members of the community that live in Cuba and completed by the other half of former members of the Cuban Jewish community that had made Alia and currently live in Israel and have their own team. In addition, 13 dancers were selected from all over the country to represent the community in the largest Rikkudim (Israeli folk dancing) Dance Festival in Israel known as the Carmiel Festival. The dance troupe would not only participate in the festival but proudly dance in front of the Cuban delegation at the memorable Maccabiah inauguration ceremony.

The months of hard training in the different sports took place and the community had to make the best efforts for their delegation within the possibilities. The community owns no training facilities so the practices took place in public places with the several disadvantages this option carries.  JDC funded essential projects in the important stage of preparation. Projects such as a nutrition complement for the athletes to enhance a healthy diet. The food packet delivered once a month included extra proteins (chicken, beans), pasta, milk among other products.

Another goal was to assure each athlete and dancer with a pair of sneakers which they were lacking of and in some occasions the exact training footwear needed to practice the sport.

It was import to assure refreshments (mineral water and energy drinks) during practice, transportation for the players to reach the practice area and back, and extra transportation and accommodation for the participants living outside of La Habana were the training took place. In average, once a month an intensive training was scheduled were players living in other provinces travelled to La Habana and had a 4 day long training with the team.

In the case of the Futsal team, in joint efforts with Clam and JDC, a coach from the Argentinean team travelled to Cuba for 10 day intensive training and helped in the arrangement and preparation of the team.

In addition to setting the conditions for proper training, the road to the Maccabiah games was long and at the same time, going by quickly. There were a series of things that had to be considered before the team actually made it to their flight and accommodations in Israel, to begin with uniforms: for each sport and a unifying delegation one. JDC, private donors and the support of other community friends fully funded all the uniforms and costumes of the Cuban Delegation.

Also taken care of by JDC were:

·        Tax fair rate

·        Transportation to and from the Airport for the Delegation

·        Transit Visa in France

·        Cell phones for the Delegation Staff in Israel

·        Transportation of the Uniforms to Cuba

·        Per diem for the 2 Archery  Athletes that received training in Israel 15 days before the games

The commitment was powerful and passionate. The Cuban Jewish community was already full of pride as their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers prepared for the games. In Cuba it was much more than a game, it was the first time a delegation as big as 46 people would leave the country altogether to represent something they are proud to be: Cuban Jews. Some participants had left the island to participate in programs such as March of the Living or Birthright, but many had never had the opportunity of travelling abroad. The 19^th Maccabiah games became a theme of growing unity within the community where the children from the Sunday school would prepare videos expressing the support and the adults choir would prepare songs to congratulate a team that were already winners at home.

It was an ambition to have an “intensive training” with all the athletes and dancers together to build the bonds of The Cuban Delegation,  regardless of what sport or what choreography tied each one to the project. The overall project was representing the community they all belonged to. So, JDC developed and supported an overnight camp with the objective to turn the group into a team. Volunteers were chosen to prepare different workshops that would help the participants feel reassured before the games. These workshops varied from: explaining security issues at airport and Israel level, packing and ideal suitcase, expected behavior at hotels including the first experience with Israeli buffet breakfast, history of the Cuban Jewsih community, etc.  The camp altogether set the seed of the Maccabiah games near and real and by the end of the day athletes could dance and dancers could score.

The only thing missing was a grand “good luck” ceremony from the community to the delegation. JDC supported a community Havdala with special guests, including local authorities, community presidents from all over the island, the community Rabi Shmuel Szteinhendler and the associated JDC director for Latin America, Dr. Fabian Triskier. That evening the delegation’s flag bearer was announced and the Cuban community said farewell to a team that aspired to win the medal of dignity, not knowing that they would return having earned another 5 winning medals.

Once in Israel, the delegation was divided in teams to different cities to start the competitions. The feeling of a whole Cuban delegation wasn’t split up and in the little free time, teams would travel to support each other at different games. The inauguration ceremony was a true example of the fervent joy the teams felt of representing Cuba for the first time in the Maccabiah Games. The reception of the Cuban delegation was wild, surprised by the lively entrance of the 13 energetic dancers and a 9 meter Cuban Flag held by the athletes. That night, the thoughts shared were filled with deep emotion when the delegation identified their Cuban flag in the spectacle of the ceremony and realized that they were making history for their community. 

Each player was true to the sprit to fair play and stayed this way outside the completion as well. And in the completion, the teams showed real enthusiasm, reaching results much surpassing any expectation:

·         Bronze medal in Karate: Abel Hernandez (the Delegation`s Flag bearer)

·         Bronze Medal in Karate: Heberto Bedoya

·         Bronze Medal in Archery: Roxana Gonzalez

·         Silver Medal in Team Archery: Roxana and Rafael Gonzalez (siblings)

·         Gold Medal in Team Archery: Roxana and Rafael Gonzalez

Yet the congratulation also goes to the teams that had no wins in their participation and still left the games feeling winners, because they gave their heart and souls with great appreciation of the possibility to play. The dancers also had their share of recognition vibrantly spreading their local music and joy at the Carmiel Festival. 

Now, with all 46 back home, the community is eager to hear about the delegation`s performance and so we are currently planning the occasion where the athletes and dancers can share their meaningful experience. With the spark the 19^th Maccabiah Games left, all athletes are willing and excited to continue training and hopefully develop a new Sport Department in the Jewish Community of Cuba.  Perhaps, this may turn into the next program that enhances social and cultural community life while rebuilding the Jewish identity on the island. For the Jewish Community of Cuba to participate for the first time in an world Jewish event such as Maccabiah means many things, but unquestionably strengthens a voice that echoed this last Shabbat when each participant was welcomed home to their community, a clear voice that together sounds like this:  Am Israel be Cuba Chai.

Medallas

(well, two bronze medals, to be precise ... but mazal tov to the Cuba Maccabia team for their wins, and remember, everyone, it's not the winning but the taking-part that really counts, right kids?)

Thanks again to the generosity of donors and supporters who helped send the Cuban Maccabia team to Israel this month. Here are some more terrific photos from my colleague Lisa ...

Together

We're so grateful for the support of generous Cuba mission supporters from Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and the Jewish Federation of Greater Rhode Island, who helped us equip and support the Maccabiah Team from Cuba ... my colleagues Lisa and Victoria were present tonight at the opening ceremony and sent these terrific photos .... the uniforms, nutritional support, sneakers and so much more are because of your generosity. Together we can do great things!

On a mission to Cuba, with the JDC

By Susan Leach DeBlasio

Friday, 26 April 2013 02:28

Our community’s women discover Cuba’s vibrant Jewish life Our community’s women discover Cuba’s vibrant Jewish life Stacy Emanuel, Dov Ben-Shimon (JDC representative), Jill Goldstein and Susan Leach DeBlasio are at the home of famous Cuban artist José Fuster. /Cuba mission participantsPROVIDENCE – Amid Ché Guevera posters, 1950s-era Chevrolets and crumbling facades of architecturally magnificent buildings, hope, energy, vibrancy and synagogue life permeate Cuba’s Jewish community. Last week, 20 women from the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and Alliance staff member Trine Lustig returned from a provocative, inspiring and exhausting 5-day mission to Cuba organized through the Joint Distribution Committee.  We explored the programs funded and services provided by the JDC and met the members of the Jewish community that we impact directly with the dollars  we raise and funnel through the JDC. We celebrated the Cuban Jews’ successes and also bore witness to their critical needs. An island of 270 square miles, Cuba achieved independence from Spain in 1898 and became an independent government in 1902.  Good relations with the United States steadily deteriorated following the 1959 Revolution and Fidel Castro’s rise to power, until the U.S. imposed an embargo and severed diplomatic ties in the early 1960s.  The U.S. officially views the government as an authoritarian  regime that has severely restricted fundamental freedoms; U.S. regulations restrict travel to Cuba except for certain humanitarian, religious, cultural and educational purposes. The first practicing Jews in Cuba were American expatriates who came following  the Spanish-American War (mostly for economic opportunities), then Sephardic Jews from Turkey (mainly men escaping the army), and then Ashkenazi Jews (mostly from Poland escaping pogroms and others fleeing Eastern Europe).  Representing a variety of cultural and linguistic groups, many of these Jews had hoped to reach the United States. By the 1950s, many were wealthy; most had comfortable lives.  In 1959, Cuba’s more than 15,000 Jews had educational, social and cultural institutions such as Jewish schools, newspapers and philanthropic organizations. Soon after Castro came to power, more than 90 percent of Cuba’s Jews left.  Initially most supported the Revolution, but as the government seized businesses, Jews began to leave.  By the 1980s, few Jews kept up religious practices on the island.  In 1992, a dental surgeon named José Miller requested and received JDC assistance.  Other Jewish organizations also provided support; over the years, the community became a showcase for Jewish rebirth and renewal.  Though economically needy,  the community of about 1,500 Jews today is rich in Jewish culture and religious life. The Patronato, built pre-Revolution by Cuba’s wealthiest Jews (the “patrons” of the community), is Cuba’s largest synagogue and the center for Jewish life.  After the Jews left Cuba, the Patronato fell into disrepair and, after 30 years of cultural amnesia, only a few elderly Jews knew how to davenwhen the community sought help from the JDC; that support restored the synagogue, with impressive modernist architecture, to its former grandeur. There are Shabbat and weekday services, a computer center, a video screening room, a vibrant Hebrew School with 100 children  and 70 adults, a youth center, a summer camp for youth and adults, a kesher  program and social aid, and many other programs together with social activities. JDC-funded vans gather Jews to attend services and simchas, including bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies (11 planned for 2013); they celebrate all the holidays and hosted 200 people at this year’s Seder, and 400 at the Hanukkah party where Raoul Castro lit the first candle. We enjoyed Friday night services led by two engaging, accomplished young adults and joined the congregation for a Shabbat dinner of chicken and vegetables.  Although Havana has a kosher butcher, beef is rationed; even chicken is in short supply.  For that reason, Shabbat dinner is sometimes the only real protein that some families have all week. Through the JDC, the community distributes powdered milk to children in religious school. We met Adela Dworin who presides over the Patronato and the Jewish community.  The former librarian of the Patronato’s collection of 15,000 books, she gave up her  legal career to dedicate herself to preserving Cuban Jewish memory. Dworin, who visits the U.S. occasionally, always returns, as she said, “It is important to strengthen the Jewish community.” Dworin greets every Jewish group that visits the Patronato, where foreign tourists and local Cuban Jews intersect and interact.  She proudly told us that, at her invitation, Fidel Castro once came to meet with the Jewish community on the last day of Hanukkah. He spoke before a mesmerized crowd for nearly an hour.  She assured us, as did others we met, that no anti-Semitism exists in Cuba. We even visited a government-owned, Jewish-themed hotel called Hotel Rachel. Young adults are proud to be Jewish, and security is not a concern.  The government permits Jewish young adults to participate in Birthright and March of the Living; this summer, 45 teens will visit Israel for the Maccabi Games. The Patronato also houses the community’s pharmacy, founded in 1992 by Rosa Behar, a gastroenterologist, and her daughter, who holds a doctorate in pharmacy and lives in the U.S. Behar supervises the pharmacy, a small room with shelves piled high and deep with all kinds of medicines and medical supplies. Each of us had packed a large stash of pharmacy supplies – from vitamins, syringes, Desitin and powdered milk to antibiotics and adult diapers.  Medicine is often in short supply in Cuba, so Behar distributes it as needed to the community.  Although her parents moved to Israel years ago, she stayed in Cuba, where she is needed. We heard many similar stories of fractured families, with young people moving to Israel, and then often to the U.S. At the Centro Sefaradi, Myra Levy, whose parents came from Turkey, said that different synagogues address different needs, and they all work together.  They also have Shabbat dinner and a Kiddush following Saturday services. For some, Levy said, “It’s the best meal of the week.” Community members freely patronize both the Patronato and the Sephardic Center, which has a senior day care center, where 67 adults receive meals and enjoy activities such as Tai Chi, pottery and films. Many Jews have intermarried; in a surprising twist, today, the non-Jewish spouses usually wish to convert to Judaism.  For the past 22 years, an Argentinean rabbi visits Cuba every couple of months to perform conversions and weddings under a huppah.  Last December, he performed 27 weddings and 93 conversions. We enjoyed havdalah at the Patronato after a spirited demonstration of Israeli folk dancing.  With lights darkened, we stood in a circle and swayed as we blessed the wine, spice box and braided candle.  We sang in unison and wished one another a shavua tov, a good week. There were no faces, only voices, all singing together. The voices of Cuban Jews are all working toward becoming one community, while preserving their past; what they share is deeper and stronger than any differences.  There is hope, vitality, intensity and cohesiveness in this community. Perhaps that was the most significant and lasting “take away” of our mission, one that we can use right here in Rhode Island, right now. We began as a diverse group of individuals who then shared a powerful, impactful experience as Jewish women; thousands of miles from our local Rhode Island community, we bonded with – and grew to respect and care deeply for – each other along the way. While not financially successful, many Cuban Jews are highly educated physicians, engineers and lawyers; these individuals have become the community’s leaders. We saw many responsible, committed, powerful Jewish women leaders who exhibited different models of community leadership; each had a sense of ownership and pride.  In the next 20 to 30 years, strong, young adults will assume their roles.  Whether they remain in Cuba or emigrate, it will not matter.  The JDC and other organizations are rescuing one Jew at a time, all around the world, and each one will enrich the global Jewish community wherever their future lies.  As a JDC sign at its New York office proclaims, “There is only one Jewish world, intertwined and interconnected.” SUSAN LEACH DEBLASIO ( sdeblasio@apslaw.com), is a vice chair of the Alliance board and an editorial board  member of The Voice & Herald.

Jewish Alliance of Rhode Island Mission to Cuba April 2013

Twenty Rhode Island Lions on the steps of the Patronato

A sundog (corona eclipse of the sun) over Havana

At the Guanabacoa Jewish cemetery outside Havana

At the JDC Pharmacy in the Patronato

Israeli dancing at the Patronato

 Overlooking the Fine Arts Museum in Havana

Revolution Square

Afula City schematics

Civic Service Program in Afula