When Jews
from Russia and Poland started arriving in Havana after World War
I, the only Ashkenazi synagogue in the city was United Hebrew Congregation,
religiously very liberal with a well-to-do English-speaking membership.
It was hardly the place for Yiddish-speaking immigrants from Eastern
Europe to feel comfortable.
The first step towards
the establishment of a synagogue for Eastern Europeans took place
in 1923, when an immigrant from Ponovesz, Lithuania, Ben Zion Sofer,
started a minyan in his apartment at Calle Paola No. 17 (bajos).
In 1925 that minyan developed into Congregación Adath Israel,
on the second floor of Calle Jesús María 103. The
facility was basic with no embellishments, but it served the purpose.
The majority of the Ashkenazi
immigrants to Cuba were not strictly observant. Adath Israel was
nominally Orthodox. Its prayer services were traditional, and it
officially stood for religious observance.
The first rabbi of the
congregation was Zvi Kaplan (1864-1939). He had immigrated to Cuba
in 1928, following the advice of a friend that the Jewish Community
was looking to hire a rabbi; his family followed one year later.
Within a short while, however, a dispute broke out, and a group
headed by Kaplan bolted. In 1929 they founded Knesseth Israel, where
Kaplan remained rabbi until his death in 1939. Kaplan's son, Sender,
soon became the editor of Habaner Lebn, a Yiddish newspaper that
was published in Havana from 1932 until 1960.
David Rafalín
served as rabbi of Adath Israel until 1932, when he moved to Mexico;
Rafalin's position at Adath Israel was filled after his departure
by Rabbi Eichenstein, who stayed for a year and a half (1936-1937).
Adath Israel was situated
at Jesús María 103. The breakaway Knesseth Israel
was in the next building, at Jesús María 105. In February
1949, twenty years after splitting apart, the two congregations
merged together under the shortly-lived new name, Ahdut ("Unity")
Yisrael. Meir Rosenbaum assumed the elected position of Rabbi (essentially
the Ashkenazi Rabbi of Havana) on 1 April 1948.
It was obvious that new
community institutions were needed for the post-War era, and community-wide
solutions were sought. Unity, however, was not forthcoming. The
discussions to build a new synagogue to replace Adath Israel/Knesseth
Israel split the Building Committee. On 8 December 1949 it was decided
to build a new synagogue in Vedado. That is the origin of the Patronato.
Rabbi Rosenbaum (1910- ) and Adath Israel President Ben Zion
Dizik (1888-1960) joined the Vedado group.
Yet, many Ashkenazi Jews
remained in Habana Vieja. They eventually decided that a new synagogue
would be constructed at the corner of Picota and Acosta Streets,
which stood at the heart of what was the Jewish Quarter of Habana
Vieja. Oscar Baisman was the architect of the new building, and
Jacinto Feh Leonard served as construction engineer. The new building
included a sanctuary with six hundred seats, a chapel, and a reception
hall. The cornerstone for the new $100,000 synagogue building was
laid in April 1956. Construction was finished on 9 October 1959.
Kalman Wodonos became the new president of Adath Israel. (Wodonos
left Cuba for Florida after the Revolution.)
