Join a Jewish Mission to Cuba with JCC Association | Fall 2009

Come to Cuba with JCC Association's Jewish Mission and perform a mitzvah while you visit one of the most beautiful islands in the world.

At one time, Cuba 's Jews numbered close to 25,000. Now, there are about 1,400 Jews living on the island. We will bring things to the Jewish community that they desperately need, show them they are not forgotten, and learn about their situation.

We are organizing Jewish missions for November 16–22, 2009 and March 1–7, 2010. We will leave from and return to Miami by chartered plane.

The cost of the trip is $3400 per person, based on double occupancy for JCC Members, which includes roundtrip airfare from Miami , hotel, all meals except two dinners, and the services of guides (tips not included). Our experienced travel consultant is very knowledgeable about Cuba .

For more information

Cippi Harte, CUBA Mission
JCC Association
520 8th  Avenue, 4th  Floor
New York, NY 10018

Cuba Fall 2009 Itinerary (Subject to Change)

Day 1 - Miami /Camaguay

• Meet at 10 a.m. Check in at Miami International Airport
• Remember to have your passport and adequate cash for the week in Cuba
• Depart  Miami around 12:30 p.m. (exact time to be determined).
• Arrive Camaguay Airport , Cuba and transfer to The Grand Hotel (in center town)
  In many respects, Camagüey is a forgotten town in the Cuban countryside, some 500 km east of Havana. A quaint town typified by tricycle-taxis and vintage American cars of the 1950s, the town is typical of Jewish Cuba outside Havana.
  During the early 1920s, immigrants from Turkey came to Camagüey seeking employment. In 1923, they founded two synagogues, which were closed after the revolution in 1959. After the fall of the Soviet Union, when the practice of religion was allowed, the Jewish community of Camagüey opened its new synagoge Tiferet Israelu.
• Welcome dinner at a local restaurant. We begin our discussion of religion in
  Cuba. Our introductory lesson is led by the president of the Jewish community
  of Camagüay, Mr. David Pernas Levy, who is the grandson of the community’s first president in the 1920s.

Day 2 - Camaguay

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Walk in the old city and meet the Jewish community at Casa Synagogua Tiferet Israel
• Help the community with the needs of the synagogue
• Lunch at the synagogue with congregants
• In the afternoon, help children with their Jewish studies
• Dinner at a local restaurant
• Overnight at Grand Hotel

Day 3 - Camaguay

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Visit the Jewish cemetery, which documents the origin and the history of the
  Cuban Jewish community in the middle of the country. The cemetery, with
  about fifty graves, has been refurbished, cleaned, and maintained over the past several years with funds made available by the government and from overseas Jewish agencies.
• Lunch in a local restaurant with members of the Jewish community
• Afternoon activities with the Jewish community

Day 4 - Sancti Ispiritus/ Santa Clara

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out
• Depart Camagüey, driving westward to Sancti Ispiritus, where we visit the Barlia family home, the center for the Jewish community of Sancti Ispiritus
• Lunch with the community and help them with their Jewish education projects
• After lunch, depart for Santa Clara, check in to the Los Caneyes Hotel (or similar)
• Dinner at hotel with members of the Jewish community of Santa Clara,
  led by David Tacher, its charismatic president
• Evening activities with the community

Day 5 - Santa Clara/Havana

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out
• Drive to Santa Clara, visit the Jewish cemetery, which serves the communities of Santa Clara, Sancti Ispiritus and Cienfuegos. The cemetery was recently restored and an impressive memorial to the victims of the Holocaust was erected. We pay our respects and help with restoration of the cemetery.
• Drive on to Havana and stop and visit the Jewish cemetery just outside of Havana before checking into the Park Central Hotel
• Meet in lobby of hotel and depart for evening services at the Patronato
  Synagogue. Meet Adela Dworin, the president of the Jewish community of Cuba, and hear the history of the Jewish community from an amazing Jewish leader.
• Visit the pharmacy housed at the Patronato Synagogue and learn about their distribution of medicine to the Jewish and non-Jewish communities at need
• Enjoy Shabbat services with the Jewish community followed by Kiddush
  and Hamotsai recited by young Moishe, a future leader
• Dinner at A Paladar. Evening activities

Day 6 - Havana

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Visit the Sephardic synagogue and attend morning services, or free time
• Lunch at a local restaurant
• Afternoon at leisure
• Farewell dinner. We have invited members of the community. After dinner, we evaluate our religious outreach and its impact on the advance of freedom of religion and its implementation amongst the Jews of Cuba.
• Evening activities

Day 7 - Havana/Miami

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Visit the Patronato Hebrew School and see how values and traditions are passed on to the next generation. Participate in classroom teach-in, and distribute siddurim and other Jewish texts to the children. We then say goodbye to our new friends and leave for the airport.
• Check in at Jose Marti Airport
• Depart Havana TBA
• Arrive in Miami