Letter to the Editor of Jerusalem Post, April 2, 2007
Sirs,
“Cigars, salsa and shmaltz” (February 16) talked about the Canadian Jewish Congress’s supply of kosher-for-Pessah food to the “small but tenacious” Jewish community of Cuba. It mentioned a first-ever meeting between Castro and local Jewish leaders, and noted Castro’s participation in a Hanukka celebration held in the Gran Sinagoga on December 20, 1998. This and further meetings “helped immensely in paving the way for our Pessah shipments in the years following.”
Former chief rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau’s 2005 autobiography, Al Tishlah Yadcha El Hana’ar (Do not raise your hand against the boy), contains this account: Early in 1994, on a lecture tour in Venezuela, the chief rabbi made a brief visit to Cuba accompanied by some Venezuelan Jewish leaders. In Havana they met with Castro. During a talk lasting more than three hours Rabbi Lau asked the Cuban leader to allow Cuba’s Jews to receive matzot from abroad. Castro gave permission – provided the matzot weren’t sent from the US. It was agreed that they would come from Venezuela.
TOVIA PRESCHEL Jerusalem