Now the Adult viewpoint

RABBI STUART KELMAN

I am writing this letter on a plane from Havana to Mexico City (and from there to Dallas and, if the weather holds out, to SFO). It is the end of our ten day teen mission to Cuba ………… Some brief reflections: The teens were wonderful and responsible. Sure they weren't quite as punctual as good yekee's like us have come to expect, but no one missed a plane or a bus! The group bonded and formed what will probably be lifelong friendships. But the greatest nachas I felt was when I witnessed the interaction of our teens (in pairs or singly) with the Cuban's in Santiago. We/they taught for four days. I had decided that on this trip, what the Santiago community needed most was to learn Hebrew intensively - at least the decoding of the language. With Miriam's help, we reviewed a bit of  Hebrew language teaching before we went,……From day to day people in the groups changed - and yet the energy and love and passion for transmitting our Hebrew heritage remained consistently high. Some of the Santiago Jews learned to decode for the first time in their lives. Others became more proficient in their understanding of tefillot while still others attempted spoken, modern, Israeli Hebrew. Preschool kids began letter and sound recognition. Cubans and Americans learned together joined by the linguistic bond of a lashon hakodesh, the holy language.

They also played together. It was simply delicious to see some of the Cuban children sit on the laps of the Americans - and laugh and giggle as they are supposed to do. Watching our teens interact brought back all the old memories of just how teens begin to learn, express themselves  and get to know themselves and others.

Reactions to Santiago: This visit proved to be very different from the previous two. A teacher rarely has the opportunity to see the product of his or her work. Time passes and the student (and teacher) move on. But here was a community where, essentially, time and space had been frozen. I saw, first hand, the progress that had been made by this community over the last four years. I heard one young man (Marcos) read Torah. True, it was from a Chumash with someone else pointing to the Torah letters, but on my last visit, he barely knew alef/bet. Or Andres, the religious leader of the community who 5 years ago, also couldn't decode. Or Jorge, with his wife Zeina, who work as teachers and youth group leaders, and who bring a lot of youthful energy and passion - the kind of excitement that every shul needs. So, once again, success can be easily measured in the amount of learning in this isolated community; and, once again, June Safran has let her passion for Jewish survival in Cuba create endless possibilities in their struggle for Jewish survival.

December 26, 1998 Motzei Shabbat in Santiago de Cuba

Dear Bob,

I am sitting on my bed with my feet up for the first time all week and thinking about the wonderful day that has just finished. The people from Guantanamo came just for the day. There were more of them than there were of us and the Santiagueros together, so the synagogue was very full. We started the day with services, ate lunch together, and then participated in study sessions. Part of the time the teens were teaching all sorts of camp songs in the kitchen area while the Rabbi was having a discussion with the adults in the main room. After that, we broke into groups to study Hebrew. Then we did Mincha and Havdalah.

Our Teen Trip to Jewish Cuba tee shirts with the two flags are a huge success. Many people on the street stop to read them and ask questions. We seem to be appreciated wherever we go.The kids are so special. They are helpful to us "old ones" and they are relating well to both the young and old of Santiago. Rafi adopted Gabby who is an irresistible 9 month-old. He carried her much of his free time, talking to her in Spanish. Nor did he ever complain when her saturated diaper leaked onto his shirts. He is out with Marcos again tonight. Right now all the young Santiageros seem to be partying because of the holidays.Rafi says he is learning lots of new Spanish. I can imagine. Ethan has turned out to be the most steady person in the group. I can always depend on him. Mike is very kind and helpful. Joey is always ready to carry my bags and often asks if he can help me. He pulled a Papa Leo today. Near the end of services, he quietly went outside the synagogue building where he met a man from San Franciso who has moved to Cuba and married a Cuban woman. Joey spent a couple of hours talking to him and now they are good friends. He learned a lot about Cuban life from this man. Now he is off with Julio talking about other aspects of Cuban life. He took Julio out for a "drink." Abby has been having fun, Abby style- laid back and relaxed. Yael has been a great help to me both during the nightmare trip here with all the unusual airplane difficultiesand now with translation and general stuff. Daria is having a good time, as is Jessica. They are always the last out in the morning, but somehow they manage to get there on time. They both help Miriam if Julie needs something special like a trip to the bathroom. In fact, between them and the Santiageros, I've done very little to help Julie. Julie is having a ball. She has been included in everything and the Santiagueros are treating her very well. They help take care of her and are not put off by her handicap. She is already planning to return. Miriam has been such an excellent aide to Julie that you would think she were previously experienced. She's also been a great aid to Rabbi Kelman with the teaching. Rabbi Kelman is delighted to be back. His teaching has been absolutely superb and it has been fun just to be with him.

The salamis were a hit on our day at the beach and at La Gran Piedra. I guess you might call this another step in the Jewish education of Hatikva and allowed our group to have some meat as a nice change from fish. The Teens invited Vicki, Robertico, and Andresito, to come back to the hotel tonight. They partied in Jessica's and Daria's room and ate pizzas in the room instead of the restaurant so that the Cubans would not be conspicuous in the hotel. Now they are on the 15th floor at the disco, enjoying the dancing. They also enjoyed the disco host's game of having someone from each table play the drums. He chose Robertico from the "American" table. When asked his name, he said, " Robert." Asked where he was from, he said, "San Francisco." Then "Robert from San Franciso" proceeded to win the competition and the prize of a bottle of rum. I'm sure his parents will enjoy that. The next plan is to either send everyone home by taxi or sneak them into the rooms to spend the night. Tomorrow morning, the truck is stopping here to transfer the older people to the bus. Then our kids will join the young people of Santiago on the truck. But first, we will stop at the cemetery, allow people to say prayers over family graves, and have a dedication ceremony for the stone on the grave of Gloria Lyon. We will also see the damage that was caused to the walls of the cemetery and the roof of the Tehara room by the last two hurricanes. After we return from the beach, we hope to rest, then eat our last Santiago Hotel pizzas and pasta before attending a good by party for us at the synagogue. Eugenia has arranged entertainment and a surprise 17th birthday party for Joey Davis.

This has been a stupendous week for our teens and a very special time for the Cubans. We offered so much and got back more in return.

All my love,   June