In recent years there’s been a resurgence of interest in the island’s Jewish community. Month after month, there are Jewish delegations visiting Cuba from New York,
Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and a myriad other American cities.

That there should be a link between the U.S. and Cuban Jewish communities isn’t surprising: The first official Jewish organization here, the United Hebrew
Congregation, was created in 1906 by a group of Americans.

But the first permanent synagogue is the one that really reflects the island’s Jewish roots: Chevet Ahim, founded in 1914, was established by Orthodox Turkish Jews.
Currently closed, it’s being renovated as a museum under a long, rather byzantine plan by a French Jewish architectural concern.

The very first Jews in Cuba came with Columbus fleeing the Spanish Inquisition.

"Still today, most Cuban Jews are Sephardic," explains Jose Levy Tur, head of Havana’s Centro Hebreo Sefaradi, the only Sephardic congregation of three temples
in Havana. "About 60 percent of the total population, and about 90 percent of the Jews outside Havana are Sephardic."

But more than 90 percent of the foreign Jewish delegations are from the U.S., and ethnically Ashkenazi.

"So what gets played up is Cuban Ashkenazi history, because that’s what they want to hear about," says Levy with a shrug.

At the Centro, they try to gently explain to the delegations what the situation really is by presenting lectures and cultural programs. Some of the visitors come well
prepared, others with hardly a clue.

"It’s hard for me to believe -- with the Internet and so many different sources of information -- that people could be surprised that there are Jews in Cuba, or what
we’re like, but it happens," he says.

Still, Levy considers the delegations, which began in the early 90s, as a positive trend.

"For starters, we’re recognized," he says. "There’s exchange, which is important. They’re also a big help with kosher products, money for different projects, and
donations to the community pharmacy, which is critical."