Building Name: | Centro Hebreo Sefaradi de Cuba |
Map Type: | Cuba |
Location: | Havana, Cuba |
Religious Affiliation: | Conservative Judaism |
Rite: | Sephardic |
Status: | Active |
In 2007 Centro Hebreo Sefaradi Synagogue was described as “…the only remaining institutional legacy of the Sephardic presence in Cuba.” Construction originally began in 1957 and the synagogue was completed in 1960[1] with a 726-seat sanctuary.[2] The main sanctuary was later rented out to the Afro-Cuban band Síntesis for their rehearsals while weekly religious services were held in a small room next door.[3] As of 2010, the synagogue had eighty families constituting 320 members. The majority of congregants were 60 or older. Centro Hebro is affiliated with the Conservative Jewish movement in the United States.[4] There is a small Holocaust memorial at the synagogue with quotations from José Martí.[5]
The Sefaradi are the Jews in Spain before and after the expulsion. http://www.madregot.com/Sefarad.htm