HAVANA: A majority of the 1,500 Jews who live in Cuba today reside in Havana. (The pre-Revolution population was about 15,000.) There are three synagogues in Havana that function as spiritual and community centers for community members: Centro Sefaradi (the Sephardic synagogue affiliated with the Conservative Jewish movement in the U.S., Adath Israel (the Orthodox synagogue), and Beth Shalom (also affiliated with the Conservative movement.)

The Centro Sefaradi. The Cuban Jewish community is made up of members of the Ashkenazi (about 40%) and Sephardic communities (about 60%) and both communities attend the Sephardic Center. The Sephardic Center houses the Mitrani Senior Day Care Center and the Cuban Holocaust Memorial and Study Center and offers Jewish educational and youth and young adult programs, and serves Kaballah Shabbat dinners and Shabbat lunch and meals on Sundays and Mondays; initiated a food aid Program for an additional 50 families; and distributes such needed items as clothes, soap, tooth brushes, and tooth paste thanks to donations from the International Jewish community. While donations also allowed the Sephardic Center to purchase a minivan to transport older congregants to and from service, the Center is in need of another van. On Friday nights and Saturday mornings, community members gather after services to eat together and pass the time chatting after prayers.

Bet Shalom is is also known as the Patronato, the Jewish community center. This building was in disrepair until the mid-1990s, but is now functional thanks to contributions from the diaspora community. On any given day, people hold meetings there and teenagers practice folk dances. The Patronato Sunday school teaches Hebrew and basic Judaism.

The Adath Israel synagogue in Old Havana houses the only micvah in Cuba and has a wooden altar carved with scenes from Jerusalem and historic Havana. The synagogue was completed in 1959 near the city’s port where most Jews lived when they first arrived in Cuba. It is in a neighborhood of crooked and narrow streets and buildings in much need of repair. Religious services are held daily, with only men reading from the torah since it is an Orthodox temple.
The Jewish community has two cemeteries in Guanabacoa, on the east side of Havana harbor. The United Hebrew Congregation Cemetery is for Ashkenazim and dates from 1906. People enter the cemetery by walking under a Spanish colonial gate with a Star of David. To the left of the gate is a small memorial to the Holocaust. Behind the Ashkenazic cemetery is the Cementerio de la Union Hebrea Chevet Ahim for Sephardic Jews which also has a memorial to the Holocaust.

SANTA CLARA: The Santa Clara Jewish community has about 25 people. In 2000 the cemetery was fixed and a memorial to the Holocaust was built in the cemetery, with the U.S. Holocaust Museum donating stones from the Warsaw Ghetto. A new synagogue was opened in December 2012.

CIENFUEGOS: A small and vibrant Cuban Jewish community of about 20 people. Community members meet once a month for services, to study Hebrew and Jewish history, and to read the religious texts and other books that have been donated mainly by Jewish visitors.

SANCTI SPIRITUS: There is a small Jewish community of about 35 people. The Havaia Jewish Community held monthly religious services in a very authentic house with grillwork formed into Stars of David on all its sides.

CAMAGÜEY: The Camagüey community of about 25 people belongs to the Comunidad Hebrea Tiferet Israel. By 1927, the Jewish community in Camaguey was thriving, with a synagogue opened that year which welcomed World War II refugees. However, many left after the war and others after the Revolution. The Camaguey graveyard is the only functioning remnant of pre-Revolutionary Camaguey, with the old synagogue having been turned over to the government after the Revolution and converted into apartments. A new synagogue was opened in 1998. It is a long and narrow building with tall columns that support wooden rafters, with a small number of religious texts shelved on a bookcase to the side. Since there is no rabbi in Camagüey, as is the case for Cuba as a whole, members of the congregation lead the service.

CAMPECHUELA AND MANZANILLO: Campecheula and Manzanillo are two small communities several hours from Santiago. There are about 10 people in each community who try to travel to Santiago for Sabbath services as often as they can, which usually is no more than once every several months because of the expense and difficulty of getting to Santiago because of the absence of public transportation. The community is in need of medicine, food, and Judaica and several elderly members need bedding, dressings, Depends, and medicine.

SANTIAGO: The Hatikva Jewish Community of Santiago de Cuba consists of 20 people. Members reopened the synagogue in 1993, are very proud of their heritage and culture. Several community members specialize in Israeli dance which they perform throughout Cuba. A Jewish community was founded in Santiago in 1924 and was called the Jewish Society of Eastern Cuba. The society was housed in a rented space until 1939, when a more permanent home was found which became the Synagogue of Santiago de Cuba. Two Rabbis served in the synagogue, Senor Isaac Chiprut Confri, from 1924 until 1943, and Senor Victor Farin Sarfati, from 1946 until 1967. Santiago’s Jewish population consisted mainly of Sephardim from Turkey who came to Cuba seeking a better life. At the beginning of World War II, Ashkenazi Jews from Poland arrived in Santiago fleeing Nazi persecution. The Jewish Society remained active until 1959. After the Revolution, most of the Jews in Santiago immigrated to other countries.

GUANTANAMO: The Guantanamo Jewish community is very cohesive and, with 81 members, is the largest Jewish community outside of Havana. Guantanamo is located on Cuba’s east coast and few missions visit the city. Community priorities include: a Sunday school classroom, teaching Hebrew, costumes for the dance group, medicines, and meeting transportation needs. The community also faces food and housing needs. A main goal is for all community members to go through the conversion process.