Gran Sinagoga by Chen Lizra

One day when I was in Vedado and Miramar looking for Chapas (my pet project to reveal the secret of the Cuban license plates), I saw this sign that said "Gran Sinagoga." Being Jewish and from Israel of course I felt that I had to check it. I was curious to see how much of a connection they had to my country and to the source.

So I walked to the Synagogue and saw that the door was closed. It was locked.

I wasn't sure what else I could do but I was curious.. This was so close to home. I looked around and saw that at the bottom there was another door which was open. I climbed down and walked into something that resembled a community centre. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just started reading what was on the walls to see if I could get the feel for it.

After a few minutes an old man (82 years old as he told me later) came up to me and said in Spanish:"You want to see it" pointing to the upstairs, the synagogue. I nodded yes.

We walked out the door and climbed back up again and he unlocked the door.

My god, I didn't expect to see such a "rich" synagogue in Cuba where everything is so broken all around. This was a beautiful and stunning place.


I walked the aisle in and then out, taking in the sight and feeling. On the way out I noticed in the corner the "kidush" books and "kipas", which men use to cover their heads when they pray.


Really, I am not a religious person and this was probably my first visit in a synagog since I left Israel (I used to go on high holidays with my family growing up), but there was something very familiar about this that felt like home.

When we got out to the hall, there was a sign indicating when the "kabalat shabat" was - the entrance of the Shabat (Saturday) - and usually an important time we all spend with families. I checked the listed hour and realized that I already had plans for that day but made up my mind to come back on my next trip and experience the ceremony in Cuba. It would be interesting to see how much of the tradition they have maintained and how close to the way things are in Israel, it is.

It was also nice to see Hebrew writing on the sign and made me a bit homesick.


Before I left, the 82 year old man showed me this picture and pointed out that it was a picture of Fidel visiting them. There was a picture of kids dancing Ora (a traditional Israeli dance) and below, the picture with Fidel. He said it with such pride that it made my jaw drop. It was important to him. I am Jewish but I am not Cuban. For me as a Jew there is no link to Fidel. Most Jews that I have met in the world identify themselves more as Jewish than as what ever culture they come from. Yet, here being close to Fidel meant a lot to him, like he loved him. This insight stayed with me for a few hours as I was dwelling about it..


As I was still contemplating my new discovery, I couldn't help but think of the fact that we were speaking Spanish and that my grandparents spoke at home Ladino. I never spoke to any other Jewish person my whole life in Spanish, neither did I understand at the time what my grandparents were speaking. And somehow for a second, it felt like being back at their home and having them around. It's amazing how certain things make us feel at home.. even years later..

Working hard in Cuba by Chen Lizra

Yeri and Israel work in the afternoon, like most professionals that are in professional groups, and in the morning they teach private lessons. This means that they run around and work pretty hard. When Israel dances in the Conjunto, he dances 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. When I was there, they were teaching me 3 hours each morning on top of it. That's a lot of dancing...

What this means is that many times in the morning, they are tired.

Yeri and Israel work as a team and switch around between them. There are certain things that are a Yeri thing and certain things that are an Israel thing. So when one takes over, the other gets a break and can rest and vs. versa. They are an incredible team.

One day when one of them was taking a nap while the other was teaching we were laughing about the idea of putting the pictures of them sleeping on the blog, showing how "hard" they work. We laughed so hard about it that we decided to do it.. and here you go.. Israel and Yeri working their butts off... ha ha ha

Yeri hard at work

Israel hard at work

One day I hope they will be able to visit the blog and see it all..