Trip to Jewish Cuba by Marla Whitesman, May 2001

I went to Cuba for my second time with the intent of meeting the Jewish communities, making friends, and delivering humanitarian aid. Here is an overview of my itinerary and what I accomplished.

Religious School Class in Havana
by Marla Whitesman

May 24-, I was finally back in Cuba after a 3 1/2-hour flight from Toronto. I was so excited and in a state of disbelief. My newfound passion had become a reality and I actually fulfilled my dream to return. I collected my luggage, (2 large suitcases weighing 85 lbs. apiece) and proceeded through customs. An agent who wanted to look through my luggage because he thought I had gifts stopped me. I told him only medications and books for the synagogue, but he insisted on a search. I had so many things that I brought to give away that I thought it would be confiscated. From peanut butter to beef jerky, tuna fish, Hebrew bazooka gum. 17 pairs of children's shoes, fashion scarves, razors, backpacks, Off, deodorant, soap, toothpaste. Desitin, perfume, flashlights, erasers, colored markers, glue, pens, pads of paper, pencils, jeans, lipsticks, girls dresses, Hebrew books, Jewish games, candle holders, Shabbat and havdalah candles, etc. When they saw the havdalah candles they asked what they were for but then answered their own questions with "ah, for the blackouts!" they also questioned the Jerusalem Report magazines. They said I was an Israeli and I said "No, American" they said "your people are Israelis", they looked through the suitcase with a fine-tooth comb. I also had about 25 lbs. of medications which were collected from local doctors.

Upon arriving at my hotel I received a call from Isaac Russo, the treasurer of the Maimondes Lodge of B'nai B'rith. He wanted to meet with me to show me around and discuss the community. He was a lovely man. We went in his car and saw highlights of the city. We also went to his office, the Jerusalem building which is part of a new complex built by an Israeli. We had dinner at La Roca and discussed the goals of the Lodge. This was a very wonderful day for my first day back.

May 25- Friday. I looked forward to being on my own and attending Shakarit services. But at 7:30 am my phone rang. "Mrs. Whitesman, hi my name is Aaron Espinoza and I'm here to show you around today. Stanley Falkenstein told me you were coming!" I was a gracious tourist and said, "I'll be down in 5 minutes." We proceeded to Adath Israel, the Orthodox synagogue. Services were being led by 2 Lubovichers as this weekend was Simchat Torah. Chabad always sends young rabbis in training for the holidays. After services the congregation is served a small breakfast of bread and cheese and maybe juice. I sat with Pearl, Bertha and Sophie. Sophie is the only one who spoke English. She is about 80 years old. I bonded instantly with all 3 ladies. There are two men that love to talk to tourists and be guides. I was polite and said that I'd keep them in mind as I was there for 12 more days. Aaron then took me on a walking tour of the old city. We went to a maternity hospital. It was very clean but very out-dated. They have a dentist, doctor, ultrasound room, sterilization room, and cafeteria for nutrition for the pregnant ladies, an infirmary for girls and a pharmacy. They said they needed antibiotics for pregnant women and vitamins. Aaron and my driver, Gabriel, went to lunch and then shopping, as I wanted to see a Cuban style shopping mall. It was in Centro Havana and was very nice with 3 floors. I looked at men's shoes. They cost 40 dollars but were not even very nice. I saw better ones in other places at other times. I also looked at men's t-shirts and all I could find were bad quality polyester. Some of the sports shirts were exceptionally nice. I went into a grocery like store to buy coffee and I asked what Aaron needed and he requested laundry detergent. While in the store a speaker announced a demonstration that was to take place tomorrow. It was mandatory that everyone attend.

I returned to the hotel to meet the group I would be touring with for the next week. That night our group went to Shabbat services at the Patronato where I met several very nice people. . I delivered Judaica from Atlanta and items from CAJM. Our group was very moved by services which Deborah Sorianno and Alberto Behar led. I gave a backpack filled with goods to Maria del Carmen. Her mother had died recently and she stood to say Kaddish. She is eight years old. After services, our group went to dinner at El Ajibe along with some Cubans, Isaac Russo and his daughter Tamara, and Simon Goldstein. Tamara is a pharmacologist at a children's hospital. We talked about the children and their needs. Simon is the vice-president of the Maimonides Lodge.

May 26- Saturday. Starting today I made breakfast daily for the Havanatur bus driver, George, and our tour guide, Julio. Maybe it was just bread with ham and cheese but I know it was appreciated. It is very hard to eat breakfast when you know many people in the country are going without. We first headed to the Nacional Hotel for a view of the demonstration. It was about the bombings at Viaqas, Puerto Rico. I went down into the crowd and watched them wave their Cuban flags there was so much patriotism. I then walked to the Patronato for Shabbat services. I arrived at 9:30am and I was the first person there. After services I was invited to stay for lunch by Rosa Behar. I was hesitant and said, "Maybe there won't be enough food", but she said that they would not have invited me if that were the case. Dr. Miller, the president, made a speech before lunch saying sorry if the meet was tough but it was oxen and it was all the meat the had. I truly thought it was delicious. After lunch I stayed for a meeting of the women's group. They meet once a month and Rosa, Lourdes and Adela lead it. The topic was the women's place in the home. They had 56 women from across the community in Havana attend. The women each received a goodie bag at the beginning filled with toiletries that had been donated by tourists. The women were very excited over the smallest thing ranging from fingernail polish to soap or hairspray. I had a chance to meet with Ivan and talk to him about books that were delivered from NYC. He is the JDC representative in Cuba. I left the synagogue around 4pm and shared a cab with Adela's cousin to the old city. I then found some friends from my last trip and delivered inhalers, tee shirts and pictures. After dinner in the hotel, Linda Susan and I went to the One-eyed Cat to listen to music.

May 27-Sunday. Today I was going to visit the Neurologist that we met on our last trip. On my way there my cell phone rang. It was my husband, Barney telling me that he was going to come down the next day. I was very excited, as I wanted to share this awesome experience with him. The visit with Miguel and family was nice. I delivered about 10 lbs of medications to them. He had emailed me and asked for specific ones. An hour later I left for the Patronato. I wanted to see the Sunday school in action. I met with Dr. Meschulam and gave him supplies. I took pictures of each of the classrooms and also videoed them before going on to Rosa Behar's house fir a nice afternoon. I met her daughter Rebecca Tur and grandchildren. I gave her 30 dollars to buy Desitin at the international pharmacy for the babies in the community. They told me that they do not have access to medicated baby-powder and it is much needed for the babies. I also delivered 4 hand made baby blankets. I went to the hotel to freshen up and then to the Ballet. It was very native and artistic. Tonight our group went to the Tropicana. It was like a Vegas show. Julio was very sick. He has stomach problems. He says its because his eating is not very regular. He will go long periods without eating and then at times have to eat a lot because he does not know when he get his next meal (because of his work schedule as a tour guide). I gave him medication to sooth his stomach.

May 28-Monday. Went to Adath Israel for services. Then had a tour of the Mikvah, the original Adath Israel, and the old Sephardic synagogue. Barney arrived at the hotel around noon and we went to a church to deliver medications for the AIDS sanitarium. The Sephardic synagogue was next. I met Jose Levy, the president of the synagogue. His daughter is going to have a bat-mitzvah in July. Took a tour of the Corona cigar factory before going to services at Adath Israel and out for dinner. I spent the evening listening to Dulce Maria.

May 29-Tuesday. Today we were leaving for Trinidad. Barney went to services at Adath Israel while I checked out of the hotel and found a taxi driver. We left around 1 pm and stopped at the Patronato for Barney to see the pharmacy and to drop off some medications. Abelarado was our cab driver. We went to his house and met his wife. He was one of the highlights of our trip. He was very open with all of his opinions and very informative. He taught us the word La Lucha, it means the struggle. This is the plight of the Cubans. He also told us they call the Cubans from Santiago "Palestinos", that's right, after the Palestineans. By the time we checked into the Hotel Ancon it was 9:30pm. It was only a 3 star, but hey I'm in Cuba. We went to the Casa de la Trova for music and it was great. It poured rain like cats and dogs.

May 30-Wednesday. We headed to Santa Clara to meet our group, arriving an hour before them. There is no synagogue in the town so the community meets at the home of the vice president, Virginia. David Tacher, president, was there and so were Virginia's 2 sons. Barney asked them if they ever put on tefilin. The boys never had so he pulled out his tefilin and put them on all 3 individually, having them recite the prayer after him and say Shehekianu. We then put our arms around each other and sang in songs in Hebrew. We all had tears in our eyes. THIS was the highlight of the trip. The group showed up and David gave us the history of the Jews in Santa Clara. We then went to see the Jewish cemetery. It had been restored recently and is now fully walled in. On the way to Ceinfuegos, We visited Che's memorial, Vidal Park, and a dollar store that sold diet coke. We stayed at the La Union hotel. I loved it. They greeted us with music and drinks. They had a beautiful pool but the misquotes were not so beautiful. WE went dancing at Beny Moreys.

May 31-Thursday. First thing in the morning, the group went to the house of Rebeca Langus. She is the president of the community and hosts community functions. Her young son and husband were there. We dropped off aid and discussed the possibility of Barney and I teaching there in December. She is excited by the possibility. They had a nice book collection of Jewish books donated by the CAJM. On the trip back to Havana we went to Bay of Pigs. June 1-Friday. Today my group was leaving. Barney and I met them in the lobby to say good-bye. Then we took a walk to the Sevilla Hotel for old times sake. The view from the restaurant is spectacular and their coffee is great. We attended services at Adath Israel and I introduced Barney to all my new friends. I took a walk to the market and Barney went to the beach. We met at the hotel at 3pm and then he had to leave for the airport. I was sorry to see him go because we were having a great time. But, I got ready for Shabbat services and went to the Patronato early. I met two sisters from Seattle, Nina and Sara. Nina was there for a month studying the Jewish Diaspora. I also met Arturo Levy with whom I had been emailing before my trip and had been in contact with the whole time I was there. I was invited to dinner at the Patronato but did not eat as I saw they had a lot of extra guests and ran out of food. The sisters and I went out for dinner and compared our observations of Cuba. After dinner, we went to the Casa de la Cultura. Since the hotel had a scheduled blackout, I went to bed in the dark.

June 2-Saturday. After services today, I met with Lourdes Albo, the leader of the Simah group, to discuss the seniors. I was shown a video of their last summer retreat. Jewish seniors from all over the island get together for a long weekend to learn and play. It is an adult overnight camp. We discussed ways to get seniors from the US to be involved with their group. After meeting with Lourdes I was lucky enough to see the Simah group in action. They had an outing scheduled that was sponsored by the Joint Distribution Committee. I was invited to go with them to the Hemingway Marina. They had only planned on 50 attending but had well over 60. They had to get taxis to carry the extra people. On the bus they took turns singing over the microphone. My favorite rendition of Guantanamera that I heard in Cuba was, no doubt, the group of seniors. After the Marina the group was taken out for ice cream and I took pictures. That night, I was invited to Arturo Levy's for dinner. He had about 10 people and I had a great time. We danced and talked and drank rum. I also met a beauty named Yvette. She was very open and honest with her feelings. I felt like I now had some lifelong friends in Cuba. I delivered some books oh Judaism to Arturo.

June 3-Sunday. Nina and I went to Calle de Hammel for the traditional Sunday event. The famous artist Salvador Gonzalez had painted the entire alley a mural of afro-Cuban art. There was a rumba that took place with music and dance. This was a good taste of the Santeria religion. I then met with Stanley Falkenstein who arrived the previous night. We discussed my trip so far and what he planned to do for the Jewish community. We met with Aaron Espinosa and took him to lunch. It was great to be in Cuba with a friend from home! I then took a tour of three hostels to see if they would be a good place for June to use for future trips. Had dinner at a paladar, "La Julia"; it was all right.

June4-Monday. Went to services at Adath Israel. It is usually the same group of people. Yamila, the daughter of the president, is a sweet girl. I then went to the Patronato to meet with Adela. She was giving a presentation of the history of the Jews of Cuba and answering any questions. I spent most of the day there. Back at the hotel I met two Jewish boys from Israel. I had dinner with them and introduced them to Abelardo.

June5-Tuesday. Today the butcher was open so I made a trip there. There were many people waiting in line for their ground beef. It looked like enough for 1 or 2 burgers. Only 200 people from the community are chosen to receive the kosher meat. I then went back to Patronato and helped in the pharmacy. The ladies (Lourdes, Tamara, and Rosa) were breaking down the samples that were brought by tourists. I joined in. Tonight I took out Lourdes, Arturo and Yvette for dinner.

June6-Wednesday. Day of my flight. It was a sad day, and I didn't feel like leaving the hotel. I just packed and said all my good-byes to all my new friends. I gave many of my clothes to the maid and to people I met in the hotel. Leaving was very emotional. The trip was a great learning experience.