The Believers: Stories from Jewish Havana
Encyclopedia
The Believers: Stories From Jewish Havana is a 1994, short film documentary, directed by Bonnie Burt.
The director hears from a variety of Jews
about their post–Cold War
lives in the Cuban capital city
.
, the collapse of the Soviet Union
and their island government’s changing opinion of their faith created just such an opening. Despite the material shortages created by the end of Soviet support to Cuba, the end of the years of plenty is also an end to the enforced religious vacuum
—a vacuum now being filled by “reborn” Jews.
In 1959, at the dawn of communist rule, there were roughly 15,000 Jews living in Cuba. In the three decades that followed, party allegiance and religious observance were considered incompatible. But the fall of communism in Russia triggered an era that Cubans call the “Special Period
.” During this time, communist party membership requirements regarding religious belief were gradually relaxed. Seeing this ideological opening, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
began sending religious materials and advisers to Cuba in an attempt to reinvigorate a fading community of less than 1,400 Jews.
Burt journeys to Havana
to interview local Jews in 1994, five years into the Special Period. She films excited activity over the local rebirth of the faith, but also the daily hardships of life under a national economy on the brink of collapse. A halt in Soviet material subsidies means that food, gasoline, electricity and medicine are all scarce, and Burt’s subjects are forthcoming about the negative impact these shortages have on their lives.
That lack of fear in the secularized world of the communist state is complemented by the religious optimism that Burt documents among a group of Jews re-learning their faith. The director captures images of Friday night worship where, despite lack of gasoline for buses and cars, the faithful somehow manage to travel from far and wide to pray at Havana’s handful of synagogues. They pray, dance and sing songs, living the humble lives of believers.
The director hears from a variety of Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
about their post–Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
lives in the Cuban capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
.
Summary
The film shows how political turbulence can sometimes give a previously unacceptable idea a new chance at acceptance. For Jews living in CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, the collapse of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and their island government’s changing opinion of their faith created just such an opening. Despite the material shortages created by the end of Soviet support to Cuba, the end of the years of plenty is also an end to the enforced religious vacuum
Vacuum
In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...
—a vacuum now being filled by “reborn” Jews.
In 1959, at the dawn of communist rule, there were roughly 15,000 Jews living in Cuba. In the three decades that followed, party allegiance and religious observance were considered incompatible. But the fall of communism in Russia triggered an era that Cubans call the “Special Period
Special Period
The Special Period in Time of Peace in Cuba was an extended period of economic crisis that began in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by extension, the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early-to-mid 1990s before slightly declining...
.” During this time, communist party membership requirements regarding religious belief were gradually relaxed. Seeing this ideological opening, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is a worldwide Jewish relief organization headquartered in New York. It was established in 1914 and is active in more than 70 countries....
began sending religious materials and advisers to Cuba in an attempt to reinvigorate a fading community of less than 1,400 Jews.
Burt journeys to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
to interview local Jews in 1994, five years into the Special Period. She films excited activity over the local rebirth of the faith, but also the daily hardships of life under a national economy on the brink of collapse. A halt in Soviet material subsidies means that food, gasoline, electricity and medicine are all scarce, and Burt’s subjects are forthcoming about the negative impact these shortages have on their lives.
That lack of fear in the secularized world of the communist state is complemented by the religious optimism that Burt documents among a group of Jews re-learning their faith. The director captures images of Friday night worship where, despite lack of gasoline for buses and cars, the faithful somehow manage to travel from far and wide to pray at Havana’s handful of synagogues. They pray, dance and sing songs, living the humble lives of believers.