An outline about its history and today's situation
By Isaac Gelen

The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus occurred, in part, as a result of the expulsion of the Jews of Spain. Some of the newly "converted" Marranos became members of the crew of the small fleet formed by the Admiral

Columbus' translator, Luis de Torres, became the first Jew in America. He was a converted Jew who was well versed in many languages such as Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, etc It is believed by historians that some of the first settlers in Cuba were Jews escaping from the Inquisition These Marranos settled in Cuba, using its fertile soil to grow sugar cane, tobacco and other products.

Nearly 400 years passed before genuine Jewish subjects truly started to participate in the economic life of this country This was due to the Spanish American War It was waged as a move to exert United States increasing influence on Cuba's Island As an outcome of this process, when peace was agreed upon between Spain and the United States, many people (some of them Jewish subjects) decided to settle in the island and take part in the development of the newly liberated country.

Once a good crowd settled in, they founded a synagogue and, in the same period, they asked for land where to bury their dead. This was granted to them and it took from 1906 until 1910 to officially inaugurate the first cemetery. In 1947 they opened the Sephardic Cemetery. After the opening of any of these installations, it was customary that any Jew who needed to he buried was entitled to it without distinction (either Ashkenazi or Sephardic )

Time went by. After the end of World War 1, Jews in Europe and Turkey were in a very odd situation, on account of the anti-Semitism and the Old World political and social turmoil Many immigrants started to come to America, mainly aiming to reach the United States Those who came to Cuba did it because the travel agents told them that, after living for a year over there, they could apply for a visa to the States. This was true up to 1924 when the U.S. Immigration Department decided to establish a quota system that, made the waiting -period absolutely unbearable For Cuba it was a blessing for most people started businesses. They opened stores and industries mostly with regard to men and women apparel and accessories Prior to this period, most of these products were imported to Cuba (coming mainly from the U S.) New they were manufactured in the island with a considerable reduction in the retail price

As a result of this process, the Jewish community reached an average population of up to 15,000 people. All this brought about the normalization of the life of the group. They opened synagogues, schools, relief establishments, care of the sick and the elderly and developed a strong community life.

During the years of persecution by the Nazis and throughout the World War II, Cuba became a haven for many Jewish refugees, with the exception of some sad incidents such as the Saint Louis History records the cost of the lives of probably 3/4 of the ship's passengers, since they were sent back to Europe

Up to 1959, the Cuban Ischuv enjoyed a surprisingly friendly country, where anti-Semitism didn't prosper, except for some of the fascists and nazi followers. Even to this date, the Cuban people do not indulge in any anti-Semitic outbreaks We should take into consideration that Cuba and Israel do not keep relations since 1973.

Our actual standpoint as a community is a peculiar one. Most of the former members of our Jewish population in Cuba were conducting businesses of different types and most of them were nationalized. Due to this fact and, in many cases, even before the nationalization started, an approximate of 90% of the Jewish community emigrated, mostly to the US and to some Latin-American countries as well.

In Cuba remained some of the professionals such as doctors, architects, accountants, economists, engineers, teachers or college professors, as well as technicians, artisans, white and blue collar, rich and poor, high and middle class along with a small

group of politically involved government officials. The common denominator of this last group was that they did not participate at all in Jewish life. It was really thanks to a few elders and some of their family members that the traditions were kept. The synagogues stayed open; there was a Sunday school year round where small few children received education regarding our holidays (Passover, Purim, Shabbouth, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.) To come to our real interest, we can recall that religion was for many years in Cuba a critical issue To be a religious person greatly impaired the chances of having a good position during the first three decades of Cuban Revolution This all changed some years ago with an adjustment made to the Constitution that switched the statement that declared Cuba as an atheist country to that of a secular or multi-religious country.

All of a sudden many people started going more often to their places of worship and, of course, it affected many Jewish lives for it opened a forbidden door. It was not only this positive change that came along. At the same time the JDC sent Rabbi Shmuel Szteinhandler from Guadalajara, Mexico, to find out in which way our Ischuv could be helped in matters pertaining to our faith and also to inquire about the material needs, which we might be lacking. It is pretty well divulged that Cuba, as such, is enduring a great shortage of medicines, food, machinery, etc. and we were part of this deplorable mechanism, the same as the rest of Cuba's population.

I must tell you that, thanks to the Canadian Jewish Congress, throughout all this Period the ones that chose to keep their Jewish identity never lacked the Passover products every year. We received kosher products for some years through the Mexican Ischuv which the Canadians used to send customarily. The JDC started sending madrijim from Argentina, first on a temporary basis and then, they sent George Diener for a couple of years. It certainly was a, great mitzvah because it helped the revival of our Ischuv

From this point on. our Ischuv strengthened its customary associations. People started going more often to the synagogues. The Sunday school increased its registration, having children's group called Olameinu and an adult group known as Tikun Olam (mainly because there was a group of people hoping to make Aliyah.)

Up to this, date, about 200 people have gone to Israel these last years right after this process began. Also the young people created the Maccabi Cuba and they prepare machanot, at least twice yearly, through the sponsorship of the Joint.

There is a Women's organization that along with the synagogues make social work, Also there is a Hadassah Chapter which was started with the presence of a Hadassah delegation that came to Cuba.

For the people of the third age, we get together once a month and make trips to sightseeing resorts. It is known as the Simchah Group

The young people have formed an Israeli dances group that participates in all the activities that take place in our community. Along with these activities, we also revitalized our B'nai Brith Maimonides 1516 Lodge, which was founded in 1943 at Havana. We started by modifying the existing bylaws and we adjusted them in order to update them in accord with the changes that had taken place in Cuba. It is very important that we can accept women today as members of the Lodge, due to the role that they have played in behalf of the success necessary for our activities. Actually our Lodge offers lectures, mostly on matters pertaining to Jewish culture and we back all the meetings that our community takes up.

By Isaac Gelen

José Martí had so many sides and was so universal that if we try to remember all the skills he attained during his very short life (42 years), we will be able to list among them teacher, newspaper-man, philosopher, poet, translator, and his most outstanding feat - his ceaseless struggle for Cuba's freedom. I have chosen to discuss his humanist outlook, because from his tenderest years he clashed with slavery, when he saw in the midst of a forest a slave hanging from a tree, and even more, when his early passion for his country's freedom led him at the age of seventeen to undergo political imprisonment on the Isle of Pines, all of which initiated him in his endless struggle towards the sacred goal of his country's independence, which he waged until the fatal day of May 19th, 1895, when his life was cut short by the enemy's bullets on the battlefield.

In 1874, Martí got his degree in Philosophy and Letters at the University of Zaragoza in Spain, with distinguished marks. His subjects included the Hebrew Language, which brings us closer to the theme I intend to develop.
The bibliographical research I have undertaken was carried out using Martí's complete works (27 volumes), including his North American Scenes and The Golden Age. I have also used excerpts from the book Martí (Key West and Tampa), by Reverend Manuel Deulofeu, and to end this essay, a reference to one of the people who helped realize the cause of Cuba's independence – a Jewish lawyer by the name of Horatio S. Rubens, born in New York in 1869.

The North American Scenes were news chronicles dealing with different aspects of life in the United States, and were published mainly in two newspapers: Public Opinion in Caracas, and The Nation in Buenos Aires, during the years 1881 until 1891. From these works I will cite three fragments referring to Jewish immigrants which show the respect and admiration that José Martí had for the Jewish people.

In a letter to Public Opinion, dated Dec. 24, 1881, we find the following passage on Chanuka: "And the Hebrews celebrate their Chanuka, and the children of the Pilgrims the landing of the freedom messengers, who arrived on the 11th of December on the beaches of the mysterious America two hundred and sixty years ago. The Hebrews as well as the Poles make of their religion a motherland. Others make their religion with regard to a beloved person, and if that person dies, they wander through life as if in exile. Others make their religion from a dream. That mother tongue — made and spoken in ancient times, from whence have come the people of these times, like leaves on branches — is preserved with passion, like a family jewel, in the Jew's house— the synagogue. For them, religious indifference is not an incredible felony, but is no less than treason. To leave the Temple empty during the holidays, is like deserting the flags of the motherland, and the motherland you may desert, yet never in its misfortune!”

"They close the shops in the days consecrated by their synagogue, and celebrate with dances and banquets the feats of Judas Maccabee, who named himself the Macab, because he rained mace-blows on the faces of the tyrants and entered triumphantly, at the head of his redeemer armies, into the Temple that had been profaned by Antiochus. All this happened more than two thousand years ago. Even today the Jews abominate — like deadly and recent offenses — the gross profanations of the bloody king of Syria, who sprinkled Solomon's Temple with the water in which he had boiled a pig, and slayed so may Jews that it became a terrible catacomb, even higher than the Temple itself. Even today, the pale and skinny faces of the Hebrew people become hot with the flames in which Antiochus Epiphanes threw the Holy Scriptures to be burnt. Even now they feel the eagerness that drove their ancestors to shelter under Mattathias' flag, to rebel fiendishly against the king's general, and throw themselves, as a wrathful sea, through plains and mountains."

In another letter to Public Opinion (Feb. 4, 1882), Martí condemned the persecution of the Jews in Russia:

"And still it resounds along with these voices, foreigners by sheer luck among our people, where to share life is to begin to truly enjoy it, the magnanimous and robust accents of the New York [Jewish] leaders, assembled to denounce the felony which heaven shall punish – the rancorous and barbaric events of which the wretched Hebrew people in Russia are victims today. And, an old man with a rugged face, and apostolic words, was saying that when `the heart swells, it over-flows from the lips, and just as one's face is reflected immediately in the creek's water, the hearts of all women and men on earth answer the cry of anguish of the men and women of Moses."

In a letter to the Buenos Aires newspaper The Nation (July 15, 1888), Martí wrote on Jewish children:

"We must not show ill will to the Jewish people, although in the hearts of the most generous may he seen the anguish and misery of the race, because among the Hebrew people there is much natural nobility, even with the handicap of living without a motherland to their name. This was seen yesterday, when a boat loaded with poor Jewish children was carrying them to play on the swings that a generous association has installed m a nearby island (I assume it was Staten Island). The mildness, independence and gallantry of those children could be noticed. They showed appetite without greed, and beauty without vice, and joy without brutality, besides a certain charm in their movements that made those wretched creatures look like descendants from kings, yet with no more wealth than the discernment which is the legacy from their parents to them, and the beauty of their black eyes."

The book Martí, published in 1905 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, by Reverend Manuel Deulofeu, summarizes some of Martí's views on Jews and Judaism:
"It is an amazing spectacle to see a nation formed by some millions of inhabitants, divided and dispersed nearly two thousand years ago throughout the world, fulfilling what is said by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:16): 'And scattered will you be among the nations', and yet preserving pure and whole their race, customs, language and religious faith, in such a way that a Jew born in New York, and one born in St. Petersburg, can meet intimately in their home, certain that they will understand each other perfectly and that there will not he the least friction between them regarding language, customs and religious faith.”

"Regardless of their adherence to their customs, language and religion, they always tend to identify with the people who surround them, as the natural impulse of their noble and high feelings. As soon as Martí arrived at Key West, the Hebrew community there met with Cuban residents as part of that movement of patriotic-enthusiasm which was focused on Martí’s plight.The first to meet with Martí was the chivalrous, distinguished and learned Edward Stember, who con tributed to the purchase of cakes and beers with which Martí was celebrated as a guest of honour After the formation of the Revolutionary Party, he introduced Martí to the Hebrew community in Key West On this memorable night, Martí spoke to them with such eloquence, and got so deeply into the hearts of these men, that everyone cried, remembering their persecutions and misfortunes, which was brought to their memory by the magic words spoken by the apostle of our rights and freedom."

One facet of the bond established between Martí and the Jewish people was the friendship of Dr. Gonzalo de Quesada and Horatio S. Rubens, who were former classmates at Law School, when Quesada introduced Rubens to Martí in 1893. From then on, Rubens, who was Jewish-American, was at the service of the Cuban Revolutionary Party until the end of the war in 1898, without his expecting any reward. He was in charge of all the legal battles held with the U.S. authorities - a very difficult and important task.

Among other activities, Rubens shipped arms to Cuba and established proceedings in Washington in favour of a totally independent Cuba. Thanks to his tenacity and well-aimed efforts, a resolution was issued by the U.S. Congress on April 19th, 1898, which stated that, "the people of Cuba by their natural right must be free and independent."

In the book Key West’s Motives, by historian Gerardo Castellanos, we find that Martí named the young, spirited and influential Rubens his lieutenant. Rubens became the consultant lawyer to the Cuban delegation, supported by Cuba’s quest for independence, and became a dear friend of the Cuban people and a passionate disciple of Martí, in whom he saw the greatest and most striking personality of the Americas.

At the beginning of 1895, there occurred what is known as the disaster of Fernandina (Florida), when the ships Amadis, Logonda and Baracoa, which carried ordinance for Cuba, were seized by the United State government, with possible penalties for the Cuban patriots involved in this action. Rubens recovered the arms, and set free the Cuban rebels so they could continue fighting for Cuban freedom.

Rubens Continues the Legacy of Martí.

Even after Martí’s death, Horatio S, Rubens continued serving the Cuban people’s struggle, defending in court everyone imprisoned by the U.S. authorities.

As a result of his love for Cuba, the Cuban Revolutionary Council conferred on Rubens the rank of Liberating Army Colonel, which was later confirmed by the United States government in 1898, when they named him Colonel in the Reserve of the U.S. Army. In 1896, the Government Council in Cuba bestowed on him the Vote of Grace in recognition of his deeds. As a token of gratitude and esteem, there was formed a Patriotic Club in Tamp which named him President of Honour.

At the end of the war, on account of his dedication to the cause of Cuba’s freedom, Dr. Rubens was bereft of a law office, with no clients as a practising lawyer. Colonel Tarafa then invited him to become his associate in his railway business, naming his President and Director of Cuba’s Consolidated Railways.

In 1915, the honours of a grateful country began to come to Rubens. Many cities declared him an adoptive son. The government granted him a special gold medal. In 1930, he was declared, “Great Friend of the Cuban People.” In 1932, he wrote and published a book, Liberty, about Cuba’s epic of freedom.

ISAAC GELEN is President of the B’nai Brith Maimonides Lodge in Havana, Cuba.