the jewish community of cuba: between continuity and extinction

130 Margalit Bejaranois assumed to be higher.58A small number of Jews, mostly Sephardim,live in the interior towns, but the majorityis centered in the capital.Apartfrom a relatively large number of old peoplestill livingin OldHavana, Jews are dispersed throughoutthe city, whereas priorto theRevolution they tended to concentrate in distinct areas. One of theproblems facing the communityis to provide transportationfor theJewish school or other activities because of the large geographicdistances.Four out of the five are religious congregationsstill functioninginHavana. The Reformtemple of the American Jews, on Avenida de losPresidentes (in Vedado), continued to function until around 1980 when itwas sold to the government for lack of members; the buildingis now undergoingreconstruction bythe Cuban state.The propertyof the United Hebrew Congregationwas on passedtoAdath Israel, but the organizationhas not been formally dissolved; ithas a Board of Directors that meetsregularly,to fulfill officialobligations.Since the nationalization of the cemeteries in 1967, thestate has assumed responsibilityfor burial expenses, but the UnitedHebrewCongregationcontinues to be recognizedas the manager andproprietor of the cemetery that had been once the cornerstone of Jewishinstitutional existence in Cuba.Chevet Ahim is the only Jewish organizationstill functioningin itsoriginal premises,and it remained throughout the years as the centerof the Sephardim livingin Old Havana, many of whom continued towork as peddlersuntil privatecommerce was prohibited.While manyof the Jews who remained in Cuba after the Revolution received compensation for their nationalized property or found employmentin government-owned establishments, the poor Sephardi peddlers,who didnot profit from the economicopportunitiesunder Batista, lackedinitiative to leave Cuba and were unable to adjustto the revolutionaryregime.Some of them remained with no source of income and have sincebeen livingon the small subvention distributed by the local Jewish institutions.Chevet Ahim continued to serve as a social and religiouscenter aslong as it had an active leadership.Since its guiding spirit, JacoboPerez, was taken ill, the situation of the Sephardi organizationhasbeen constantly deteriorating,and since the death of the haham Susi in1986, there is no one capable of conducting religiousservices.For several years the government permittedthe functioningof abar, and revenues from the sale of beer financed the social activities ofChevet Ahim. Now the old Sephardi organizationis totally dependent on the income of the Centro Sefaradi; both have the same board ofdirectors, headed by Roberto Levi, and the same membership. Fridayeveningservices are held at Chevet Ahim and Sabbath morningprayers at the Centro Sefaradi. Duringthis author'sstay in Havana,This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.230 on Sun, 2 Dec 2012 04:14:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions