Jewish mystic’s predictions about 2010 include Kansas

At least one of Naftali Hertz Imber’s predictions for 2010, as recorded in an 1897 Los Angeles Times article headlined “America’s Destiny,” was spot-on: “The Californian wine will be famous all over the world, as the French champagne is at present.”

The part about Kansas seceding from the union and leading a second American civil war that shifts the map of the world? Not likely to be borne out, says Naftali Imber’s descendent who lives in Kansas, attorney Steve Imber.

A peripatetic poet, mystic and alcoholic, Naftali Hertz Imber is best known today as the author of the words to Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” (See below)

But by the late 19th century, he was traipsing around the Golden State, calling himself the “Apostle of the Kabbalah and Emissary of the 37 masters” and writing articles in the LA Times as “Prof. Naphtali Herz Imber” when he wasn’t making its news columns for being drunk and disorderly.

Imber was the subject of an Oct. 15 story in Tablet magazine by Rutgers University Yiddish scholar Eddie Portnoy, who brought Imber’s 1897 predictions back to light.

Apocalypse now?
“In the year 2010, America will face a great period of hard times, which will give birth to important events, giving history another direction and changing the map of all the countries on the face of the globe,” Imber wrote in 1897.

Hard times, check. And the next part, about the advent of solar power, seems prescient, too, if a bit overstated. (It will “supply the force to drive the locomotives and vehicles of all descriptions …”)

But the ensuing section, about Kansas, seems, well, far-fetched.

“In the year above mentioned, an election for Governor will take place in Kansas State,” Naftali Imber wrote. “The campaign will be a hot one, and all the eyes of the Union will be directed to the development of the struggle in that State, which will be regarded as the most radical and progressive of the United States. A powerful Governor will be elected, who will be an exact type of the State itself; every inch a progressive radical. The shibboleth of the Kansas Legislature will be; ‘The West for Westerners,’ and in a fit of patriotic and progressive excitement the Kansas State will secede from the Union. Missouri and Illinois will follow suit directly afterward, and at a convention of all the Governors of the Western States, which will be held in Chicago, they will declare themselves disunited from the Union.

“The most disastrous war that the world has ever seen will ensue. Over 4,000,000 soldiers will be arrayed against one another in the open field.”

Imber goes on to predict that the South will ally itself with the West, and together they will defeat the East. Later on, he writes, the East, or Atlantic Empire, will go to war with Canada, while the Western Empire will go to war with Mexico.

The writer Portnoy couldn’t resist this quip in his Tablet article:

“Farfetched as Imber’s prophecy seems, its major question right now seems to be how quickly Kansas can become ultra-liberal.”

Touche, Professor Portnoy.

Imber in America
When he read the portion of Portnoy’s article dealing with Kansas, Steve Imber, a member of Congregation Beth Torah and resident of Overland Park, pointed out something about the era during which his great-great-great uncle wrote the LA Times article.

“This was Bleeding Kansas, the home of abolitionists and John Brown, and we know what he did,” said Steve Imber.

Steve Imber said he didn’t have a lot of information about his famous forebear, other than that he wrote “Hatikvah.”

“I knew he did a lot of traveling,” Steve Imber said. “I was told he was an alcoholic. I knew he traveled throughout the Mideast, and I am familiar that he wrote ‘Hatikvah,’ ‘The Hope.’ I think he also believed in the Zionist movement.”

Steve Imber said he heard these tales of Naftali Imber from his late grandfather, New Yorker Harry Imber.

“My grandfather met him (Naftali Imber),” Steve Imber said. “Obviously, my family is proud that he wrote the national anthem of Israel.”

According to Portnoy and other sources, Naftali Herz Imber was born in 1856 in Zlotzshev, Poland, and was a brilliant Talmudic and kabbalistic prodigy. He also dabbled in poetry. In the late 1800s, he traveled across Europe and sojourned in Palestine and India before moving to the United States. It was during his Euro-Asian period that he wrote “Tikvatenu,” the poem that would become the basis for the song “Hatikvah.” It was included in his first book of poetry.

According to Portnoy, Imber’s “American sojourn was marked by itinerancy and an increasing obsession with the occult.” He eventually moved to New York, where he died in 1909 at age 54.


The story of a song
The lyrics of Hatikvah were taken from the first verse and chorus from Naftali Herz Imber’s 1878 poem “Tikvatenu” (Our Hope), which had nine stanzas. (Ed. Note: Another source dates the poem as 1877, and yet another dates it as 1886)

Various sources agree that “Hatikvah” was sung at some of the initial Zionist Congress meetings in 19th-century Europe and that it quickly became the movement’s unofficial anthem. According to notes in a special section of its Web site devoted to “Hatikvah” and Israel’s 60th anniversary, the Jewish Agency for Israel states this was officially confirmed at the 18th Zionist Congress in 1933. It became Israel’s national anthem by acclamation in 1948.

Over the years, Imber’s lyrics have undergone a few changes.

The musical arrangement is credited to Shmuel Cohen in 1888, although many sources say it is probably based on a Romanian folk song he heard during his childhood in Romania, “Carul cu boi.” (“The Ox Driven Cart”)

Hebrew lyrics to ‘Hatikvah’
Kol od balevav penimah
Nefesh yehudi homiyah,
Ulfaatei mizrach kadimah
Ayin lezion zofiyah.
Od lo avdah tikvatenu
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim,
Lehiyot am chofshi bearzeinu,
Erez zion viyerushalayim.
Lehiyot am chofshi bearzeinu,
Erez zion viyerushalayim.

English translation of lyrics to ‘Hatikvah’
As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And towards the East
An eye looks to Zion,
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Lewis recalled as mentor to generations of Kansas Citians

Longtime local educator Hilary Lewis, who died this week at age 62, was remembered as a woman who positively influenced generations of Jewish Kansas Citians. As the primary staff member of the Central Agency for Jewish Education and proprietor of its resource center for nearly two decades, she was the go-to person for teachers looking for a lesson plan, a book or just some affirmation and inspiration.

She had been a religious-school teacher and principal herself before becoming a mentor to others like Jill Maidhof, who is now associate executive director of the Jewish Community Center.

“Hilary Lewis was invaluable in my development as a religious school teacher at Temple B’nai Jehudah,” Maidhof said. “If you said ‘I need help,’ she was there. I am among the many teachers she created, along with camp counselors and Jewish-communal-service workers and Jewish Community Center programmers.”

Maidhof said Lewis was never at a loss for ideas. She cited Lewis’s involvement in creating the Jewish Parenting Center, a collaborative effort between CAJE, the JCC and Jewish Family Services that organized many special events during the 1990s and whose leading members still contribute articles to The Jewish Chronicle’s “Jewish Parenting” column. Lewis herself was a contributor until her final illness.

The Jewish Community Campus was the setting for many of Lewis’s one-off educational adventures, including a series of Jewish Family University events.
“They were Sunday programs for families,” Maidhof recalled. “We had modules for different age groups with different teachers and rabbis leading the classes. Then we’d bring in a musician to end the day.”

Stephanie Katzif, the JCC’s director of youth services, also began her involvement with Lewis as a religious-school teacher, and then worked together with Lewis at the Campus on special events sponsored by CAJE.

“She was always very creative,” Katzif said. “She would listen to you and give you ideas.”

Rabbi Mark Levin of Congregation Beth Torah put it this way in his eulogy, delivered at Lewis’s funeral Monday:

“Hilary was like an education computer: type in your education problem, and in seconds the Univac card came out with the correct answer.”

“She was better than the Internet; warm and fuzzier,” Maidhof said.

Rabbi Levin said Lewis “loved children; pretty much all children. And she loved Judaism and teaching. …(W)e, her community, were the beneficiaries of her extraordinary talents and devotion.”

Rabbi Levin noted that Lewis, as part of her work at CAJE, had helped Beth Torah work through a difficult time of transition in its religious-school program.

“Before that and after, I watched other congregations do the same,” Rabbi Levin said. “No educator at this time? No problem. Get Hilary and everything will be better than fine.”

Alan Edelman, now associate executive director of the Jewish Federation, was Lewis’s boss for many years as head of CAJE.

“Hilary Lewis was one of the most compassionate Jewish educators with whom I had the pleasure to work,” Edelman said. “She cared deeply about the students and teachers she guided throughout her nearly four-decade career. She loved Judaism and spent her life spreading that love to family and friends as well as the parents, students and teachers who came into contact with her in various professional capacities. She will long be remembered and missed by many.”

UMKC students forming Hillel chapter

The University of Missouri-Kansas City has joined the ranks of more than 500 colleges and universities around the nation by forming a Hillel organization. UMKC Hillel, still in its infancy and not yet accredited, is the brainchild of UMKC students Amenda Shapiro and Boris Abramov.

“Right now, we’re calling it Hillel because it’s affiliated. We spoke to a couple of people who said using the name Hillel is not an issue if it’s used for the right purpose,” Abramov said. “We’re a registered organization with UMKC.”

According to the national Hillel Web site, www.hillel.org, “Hillel student leaders, professionals and lay leaders are dedicated to creating a pluralistic, welcoming and inclusive environment for Jewish college students, where they are encouraged to grow intellectually, spiritually and socially.”

Unlike other Hillels, UMKC’s is not exclusively for its own students. Shapiro, president, and Abramov, vice president, have invited all Kansas City-area college students to become involved.

“We’re getting all kinds of students coming in, from all of Kansas City,” Abramov said. “There’s Johnson County Community College, Rockhurst, Avila, Penn Valley, Kansas City Art Institute and KCUMB (Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine).”

Abramov estimates there are more than 100 Jewish students attending area colleges.

Starting from scratch
Shapiro, 18, is in her second year at UMKC, studying computer science. She graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School in three years, in the top 10 percent of her class.

She said she was surprised to discover there was no Jewish organization on the UMKC campus, and began to seek out a place in the area.

“When I realized that such a place didn’t exist, I decided that I would like to work to help create somewhere that Jewish young adults could gather and celebrate their Jewishness together,” she said.

Abramov, 20, attended Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, and, while there, he took some classes at Johnson County Community College. He finished all the prerequisites and took and passed the Pharmacy College Admission Test. UMKC accepted him into pharmacy school straight out of high school.
He, too, felt the need to meet some fellow Jews in his new environs, where he estimates there are only about 15 to 20 Jewish students.

With their shared vision, the two students got to work.

Shapiro said that as president, she’s responsible for building the organization from the ground up.

“The most important thing … is getting the word out about our new organization and identifying Jewish students in the Kansas City area who would like to get involved,” she said.

Abramov and Shapiro have sent out e-mails, visited synagogues and put up flyers to get the word out, and there was an article in The University News, UMKC’s student newspaper.

“As part of the organizing work, I have been setting up meetings with fellow students at UMKC and leaders from the Kansas City Jewish community,” Shapiro said. “We have been very fortunate that (these) leaders have shared our enthusiasm about creating an organization to encourage Jewish students to reconnect with Judaism. … Jay Lewis (executive director of the University of Kansas Hillel) and Steve Israelite (former executive director of the Jewish Heritage Foundation) have been two such community leaders who have helped with their advice and guidance.”

A ‘rewarding experience’
The initial types of activities the two founders have in mind are mainly non-denominational social events.

Abramov said volunteer work is another possibility, perhaps at the Jewish Community Campus or Harvesters.

Shapiro said she is confident their efforts will be successful “because there are generally no activities for college-age Jewish young adults in the Kansas City area.”

“While it has taken a great deal of time, it has also been an incredibly rewarding experience,” she said. “We appreciate the help and interest from the broader Jewish community in our efforts. While there is still much work to be done, it is encouraging to see how many people we have been able to get excited about a place that young Jewish adults in Kansas City can gather. We continue to look for people interested in getting involved on the ground floor of an exciting, new, growing organization.”

Shapiro is the daughter of Peter and Sabina Shapiro of Shawnee. They are members of Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner.
Abramov is the son of David and Raya Abramov of Overland Park and they, too, are members of Congregation BIAV.

Find out more
Anyone interested in participating in UMKC Hillel events may contact Shapiro at (913) 972-7223 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Abramov at (913) 710-3380 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

OP Police chief gets anti-terror tips in Israel

There has never been a terrorist attack, as such, in Overland Park, Kan. But Police Chief John Douglass notes that the most heinous domestic terrorist incident prior to 9/11 — the Oklahoma City bombing — took place just 180 miles away.

Which is one way of explaining why Chief Douglass accepted an invitation to attend a weeklong counter-terrorism seminar in Israel last month as a guest of the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange. Douglass was one of nine law-enforcement officials from across the United States in the seminar group.
Other regional leaders who have toured Israel with Project Interchange in years past include U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore and Kansas Govs. Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson.

As Douglass tells it, 90 minutes after his plane landed in Tel Aviv, he was receiving an overview briefing on the Israeli-Arab conflict from former Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman Miri Eisen.

During the following week, the American visitors met with Israeli bomb-disposal experts and hostage negotiators and had discussions on such topics as the threat of global jihad and upholding civil rights while combating terrorism. They also met with Palestinian Arabs, including a journalist and a political leader.

Chief Douglass said that he profited from the trip in three main areas:

“First, from a professional standpoint, there was an invaluable transmission of ideas from the true experts in this area,” he said. “Second, from a historical standpoint, and from ancient history to more recent, this is right in the middle of where it’s all happening. And finally, there is the religious significance. You can’t be there without being overwhelmed with its significance to all three of the (monotheistic) religions.”

Chilling effect
The group toured the historic sites in Jerusalem’s Old City and visited Masada and Nazareth, as well as the Golan Heights. They saw and held discussions about Israel’s West Bank security barrier, which was installed as a reaction to the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign of the early 2000s.

Douglass said that being in the Holy Land gave him a new appreciation for the depth of “this tremendously complicated geopolitical problem.”

Douglass said for his part, he is somewhat surprised there has not been another major terrorist attack within the United States since 9/11.

“We woke up, and there has been some chilling effect,” Douglass said. “I know for a fact that we’ve stopped some things that would have happened in other places in the country, and Kansas City has played a part in stopping them.”

Douglass noted that the sophistication and evil genius of 9/11 has not been replicated by terrorists in the years since, “not even in the London and Madrid train bombings that followed.”

“And yet we can’t forget the fact that we have folks who allegedly participated in terrorist training (overseas) who left from a Minneapolis mosque. We can’t discount the fact that someone could be on their way from Colorado to New York to blow up something.”

KC firm benefits from stimulus spending

You can find some of the jobs that have been saved or created by federal stimulus spending in the Grandview, Mo., headquarters of U.S. Toy/Constructive Playthings, the 56-year-old, Jewish-owned firm that was humming Monday with last-minute Christmas-season orders.

Co-CEO Jonathan Freiden said his business, like the overall economy, was bad up until Congress passed and President Obama signed the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act in mid-February. U.S. Toy/Constructive Playthings experienced its first annual operating loss in 2008.

Jonathan Freiden and his brother, co-CEO Seth Freiden, responded like many other business leaders in the current environment: they ordered two rounds of layoffs (the company’s first non-seasonal layoffs ever), across-the-board salary reductions and a freeze on their 401(k) plan matching contribution. They dramatically cut in spending in every aspect of the business.

“Earlier in the year, it looked like there was little if any hope for a meaningful turnaround in our business or the overall economy,” said Jonathan Freiden. “However, since the passage of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act in mid-February, our business has steadily improved. Over the past few months, ARRA funds, specifically funds dedicated to improving early-childhood education, have made a notable impact on our current and future business. We are now excited about the future and, we as a company, can help not only improve early-childhood education, but create jobs and economic activity throughout the company.”

Increased demand
Jonathan Freiden said U.S. Toy has a “core group” of about 320 to 400 employees at its local headquarters and warehouse and at its eight stores across the country, with additional, short-term employees added during the busy fall and winter seasons.

“We have been able to add back positions as the economy is improving,” said Jonathan Freiden. “The stimulus has helped us. Consumers are not so fearful, and they are more willing to buy holiday toys.”

Jonathan Freiden said that from mid-September 2008, when the stock market went into the tank, to the end of last year, “everything trended downward” at U.S. Toy/Constructive Playthings.

“This year, we are seeing more consumer demand,” he said. “Sales in November were up over 10 percent over 2008.”

Jonathan Freiden noted that most of the orders being processed this time of year come from individual customers of the U.S. Toy or Constructive Playthings catalogs or Web site. But he also had on his desk Monday a multi-page, $20,000 order from a school district in suburban Pittsburgh. It is the latter type of order that the ARRA stimulated.

Jonathan Freiden was so excited to see orders like that he contacted the White House and asked to be part of a group of small-business leaders meeting with President Obama to discuss the outcome of federal stimulus spending. A meeting scheduled for last month was postponed, and Freiden is still waiting to hear if he’ll be invited back to D.C.

“There is good news,” he said, “and good news needs to get out.”

Double whammy
Jonathan Freiden said that, although the fourth quarter of 2009 will have been a good one for U.S. Toy, the challenges of the first part of the year leave him “positively optimistic for improved results over last year.”

Because it imports most of its products from manufacturers in Asia, Jonathan Freiden noted, U.S. Toy faced a double whammy over the past year as a result of the impact of the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. That was the act passed by Congress in 2008 after concerns were raised during the Christmas season of 2007 over the use of lead-based paint in certain Asian-made toys.

As a result, Jonathan Freiden said, U.S. Toy had to write off “millions of dollars worth of inventory” and restock its shelves with products that meet the stringent, new standards.
Even so, he said, the company has not only hired its usual complement of seasonal workers, it has added a couple of core positions.

“We are actually adding some sales and higher-level positions now that were not in the mix previously as we plan our growth for the next year,” Jonathan Freiden said.

Third generation running U.S. Toy
Jonathan and Seth Freiden are the third generation of their family to own and operate U.S. Toy/Constructive Playthings. Frances Gershon and her then-husband, Elvin Klein, founded the company in the living room of their President Gardens apartment in south Kansas City, Mo. A former teacher, she helped pioneer the emerging educational-toy business geared toward preschools, day-care centers and the like. Now, Jonathan Freiden said, it’s one of three full-line distributors that dominate the American market.
Frances and Elvin’s son, Michael Klein, ran the company as president for four decades, but recently he has reduced his involvement as his nephews, the Freidens, have taken on the roles of CEO.
The company’s products are sold via catalog, call center and online at www.ustoy.com www.constplay.com.

Child philanthropist helps Children’s Mercy Hospital

Lots of Jewish children have a compassionate impulse and make an effort to help those less fortunate than themselves. But few 9-year-olds take it to the extent that Jack Novorr has done.

Jack, who has already raised thousands of dollars for Children’s Mercy Hospital through appeals to family and friends, is setting out to make his fourth holiday-season fundraiser the biggest and best ever. He has partnered with his neighbors’ business, the new children’s recreation center Jumping Jax, for a public fundraiser next week.  (See below for details)

It all started when Jack was 5. He overheard as his parents, Scott and Jennifer Novorr, watched news reports about CMH receiving and treating children made homeless by Hurricane Katrina.

“I wanted to help the sick kids,” Jack said in a recent interview at his south Overland Park home.

As his father remembers it, Jack “disappeared to his room. When I went to check on him, he was sitting on his floor emptying out his piggy bank. He told me that he wanted to give all his money to the kids on TV to help buy new houses, clothes and toys.”

That first year, his parents matched his donation, and Jack himself donated hundreds of dollars worth of coins. “He didn’t understand the concept of a cashier’s check,” Scott Novorr explained, and CMH officials complied by accepting his loose change.

Since then, Jack has collected nearly $6,000 from friends and family to donate to Children’s Mercy, each year around the winter holidays. The Novorrs belong to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.

“Jack is, indeed, a special little boy; He’s unique,” said Brad Leech, CMH vice president for resource development, who has worked with the Novorrs as they made their donations over the past few years. “It makes it even more special when kids give to other kids.”

Jax joins Jack
This year, the Novorrs reached out to their neighbors, Mike and Pam Yonker, who have been busy transforming a building on the southwest corner of 119th Street and Blue Valley Parkway into the bounce-house-filled recreation center Jumping Jax. The Yonkers will open their brand-new business three times next week in return for donations to CMH. An “open play” session at Jumping Jax normally costs $8.

“He’s a little role model, eh?” Mike Yonkers said of Jack Novorr. “When they approached us, it seemed like a good fit. The cause is something we’d like to support.”

Jack and his sister Sophie, age 7, have crafted a flyer to promote the event (at right) and sent it to 50 members of their family and friends. And CMH has promoted the event within the hospital community.

Jack hopes to raise over $3,000 this year to help the hospital.

Whereas in years past, Jack wanted his donations to pay for toys, this year he is simply donating whatever he collects to the hospital to use as it sees fit.

“He’s always been kind of an old soul,” said Jack’s father, Scott Novorr.

Jump for charity
Parents may take their children for a play session at Jumping Jax, 12022 Blue Valley Parkway, at one of three times next week in return for a donation to Children’s Mercy Hospital.
The times are:
• Monday, Dec. 21 — 10 a.m. to noon
• Tuesday, Dec. 22 — 1 to 3 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 23 — 3 to 5 p.m.
For more information about Jumping Jax, call (913) 469-JUMP (5867), or visit www.jumpingjaxparties.com.

JSU engages teens at public high schools

Hillel Goldstein wants to get Jewish kids who attend public school to do something Jewish. In the short time he’s been the director of Jewish Student Union here in Kansas City, he’s found that more and more of these kids are indeed hungry to do something Jewish.

JSU is a national program designed to connect unaffiliated and under-engaged Jewish public high school students with Judaism and the Jewish community. It is funded locally by a grant from the Jewish Heritage Foundation and administered by the Jewish Federation. It’s been operating here since 2006 and there is no charge for attending. All students, regardless of religion, background or affiliation, are invited to attend.

Now offered at three Blue Valley Schools — North, West and Northwest — and Shawnee Mission South, JSU draws up to 18 students to weekly or bi-weekly one-hour club programs.

“I call it organized hanging out,” says Goldstein. “No lectures, no just sitting there. After being in school for six hours, lectures are the last thing they’ll come for.”

What they do come for — sometimes twice a week to repeat the same program at different schools — is the chance to connect to their Judaism and, even if they’re not Jewish, to explore Jewish holidays, culture and traditions.

Whether it’s learning about Chanukah by making potato latkes or gaining insight about Israel from an IDF soldier’s story, Goldstein creates a fun and informal atmosphere. He also spends time getting to know each of the kids personally. He also shares information about other Jewish activities and programs in the community that he thinks they might find of interest.

Karen Gerson, who, as director of informal education for CAJE, the education arm of the Jewish Federation, supervises Goldstein, said JSU programs are held immediately after school at the public schools because, “As a community, we were doing a great job engaging high school students already involved in Jewish life, but not so well with those who weren’t. We realized we have to meet kids where they are, and where they are is at school.”

The 26-year-old Goldstein, who holds a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Queens College in New York, succeeds Todd Cohn, who moved to Florida, as director of both JSU and NCSY. Prior to moving here last summer with his wife, Ofra, BIAV’s youth director, Goldstein was an assistant teacher and behavior coach in a special education program in Far Rockaway, N.Y. He also has several years of experience as a resort teen program director and camp counselor for NCSY and B’nei Akiva, an Orthodox youth movement promoting Israel, where he met Ofra.

Goldstein’s favorite part of JSU is when the 45-minute program at a school is supposed to end and the kids are still actively participating.

“I love leaving late,” he says. “A lot of these schools are huge. The kids don’t even know who’s Jewish. Now they’re interacting on a social level and when they pass in the hall and come back to JSU, those relationships will develop.”

CAJE’s Gerson said Goldstein is doing a “fabulous job.”

“Goldstein understands that JSU is an important piece of the puzzle in connecting with kids who would not otherwise be engaged,” Gerson said.

From KC to Cuba: Local woman, former cantor visit island’s Jews

The women became friends when Cantor Levine worked at The Temple from 2000 to 2003 and have stayed in touch.

Cantor Levine is now on staff at Temple Shalom in Chevy Chase, Md., and her two previous Cuban trips were made in conjunction with nearby Baltimore-area congregations.

This year, Fry is joining Cantor Levine on one of the regular Cuban Jewish Relief Project visits organized by B’nai B’rith International.

“Marti and I have been friends for 10 years, and I really wanted to share this mission with her,” Cantor Levine said in a telephone interview the day before she and 22 other people headed down to Cuba for nine days.

Fry said she decided to go after hearing about Cantor Levine’s experiences.

“To go with a friend, that means a lot,” Fry said last week. “It sounds like a very worthwhile experience that can really enhance and change your life. … I’m just really excited and kind of nervous.”

Fry said she was surprised to learn there was a Cuban Jewish community.

“I never would think there would be any Jews in Cuba, (or) that there are ways to help them,” she said. “I think, in the holiday spirit, it’s the right thing to do.”

Cuba’s Jews

According to the B’nai B’rith Web site, there are about 1,500 Jews living in Cuba today, most in Havana. Before Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, the Jewish population in Havana alone was 15,000.

Cantor Levine said that after the communist revolution, most of the Jews left. Those who remained “either stayed behind to take care of the elderly, or they couldn’t get out. They pretty much lost everything,” she said.

The wealthiest Jews migrated to Miami, Cantor Levine said, so lots of money flows to Cuba from there. Much of that money is being used to rebuild the Patronato, the main synagogue and Jewish community center in Havana, and other major renovations in Havana and outlying regions.

Although Cuba is thoroughly communist, Cantor Levine said Jews and Catholics “pretty much enjoy freedom of religion there.” However, she added, “religion is not looked upon very favorably.”

The cantor said she had already shipped more than 200 pounds of supplies collected by the students her religious school; things like medicine and clothing.

“Things they are in desperate need of,” Cantor Levine said. “Also, I sold copies of my CD, ‘My Songs for the Jews of Cuba,’ which I recorded to raise money for the Jewish community of Cuba, and all the proceeds go to them. I raised quite a bit of money to take down with me. They’re building a new synagogue in Santa Clara, so I’m going to give the money to them for the synagogue.”

In addition to Havana and Santa Clara, the Americans planned to visit Cienfuegos.

Cantor Levine said she had packed CDs and hard-to-get sundries like bar soap to hand out as Chanukah gifts.

“I’m involved with Hadassah, and they donated a whole bunch of Jewish stars that light up, and little necklaces; I have about 25 of those,” she said. “I’ve developed and maintained my relationships with people there, so this time I’m taking specific things they really need. But (the trip) really is a humanitarian mitzvah.”

Cantor Levine said she was excited about holding a Chanukah concert at a Sephardic synagogue on the first night of Chanukah and teaching in its religious school Sunday morning.