Nathaniel Rosen's mother,
Lisa, called us one day at the suggestion of Naomi Eisenberger of Ziv
Tzedakah Fund. Nathaniel was looking for a meaningful Mitzvah project for
his Bar Mitzvah and Naomi thought Cuba might be just the ticket to
success. It did not take us long to come up with the idea of providing a
library for the children's Sunday school in Havana, La Esquela Tikun Olam.
There are about 80 children from age 4 to 16 who will benefit from this
project. Furthermore, there will be some duplicate books for the various
small communities around the country. With the approval of Dr. Jose Miller
Fredman, President of the Joint Coordinating Committee (J.C.C.), La
Comision Coordinadora, and to the delight of volunteer principal, Dr.
Alberto Mechulam, the project began.
After months of researching
available books and booksellers on the part of Lisa and the CAJM staff,
Nathaniel and his family began the process of choosing which books to
send. The plan is to house them in a bookcase in the school area of the
Patronato. Finally, Nathaniel and Lisa visited Cuba in February to meet
the community and get acquainted with the school and its students. Here
are Nathaniel's reflections on the project so far:
Never in my life did I
imagine that I would take on such a project. As my Bar Mitzvah approached,
my family and I searched for a charity project. We had established an idea
of setting up Jewish libraries in the United States, but there was little
need for it. On the advice of Ziv Tzedakah Fund, we contacted June Safran
of The Cuba-America Jewish Mission and came up with the idea of setting up
a children's Jewish library in Havana. Our goal is to establish a good
library in Havana plus send some additional books to benefit Jewish
children throughout Cuba. We visited Havana in February with the
Cuba-America Jewish Mission and established an idea of what the community
needs. The books and bookcases will be there in the months to come.
Mazel Tov to Nathaniel
Rosen who became a bar mitzvah in June 2003, bringing joy and honor to
himself, his family, and kol Israel.
