Abstract:

Just before twilight every Friday evening, some of Havana's elderly Jewish community congregate in the shabby, windowless basement of Adath Israel Orthodox Synagogue, located on the narrow, pocked streets of Acosta and Picota in the Old City. They come to pray, make kiddush, the ritual blessing, over sweet red wine, and sit down to share a festive, kosher-style Shabbat (Sabbath) meal, served on worn cafeteria trays. By Orthodox standards, they are not religiously observant, yet they have begun to return each Friday night religiously. Communicating the vitality of a small, local remnant, this scene is one that visitors to Jewish Cuba often witness. Yet, the most crucial detail of what is widely known as “Cuba's Jewish revitalization” is neither the reconstitution of local congregations nor their renewed practices, but rather the growing interaction with the visitors themselves.