When he started teaching Spanish language at the Yeshivat Frisch in Paramus two years ago, Alejandro Meneses asked the head of school, Rabbi Eli Ciner, to support an initiative that Meneses knew would serve both of these goals quite well. Rabbi Ciner heard him out and gave the idea his blessing—and his active support.

At the day school where he worked previously, Meneses led a group of students on a humanitarian mission to Cuba, to deliver over-the-counter medical supplies to the Jewish community in Havana. He saw firsthand how profoundly this effort made an impact on the Jews of Havana and the deep impression the visit had on the students.

After a one-year delay due to the lingering precautions of COVID, Meneses got to work to organize the mission for his 10th-grade Spanish language class in February 2023. He enlisted Toby Moses, Frisch faculty member and the mom of a student in his class, as his co-coordinator and they signed up 15 students to participate. Using his network, Meneses found a contact in Cuba who could make all the arrangements there.

His contact was well chosen. William Miller is former executive vice president of the Cuban Jewish Community and is national director of ORT Cuba as well as chief operating officer of Jewish Cuba Connection, Inc. He’s the grandson of Dr. Jose Miller, who was the president of the Cuban Jewish Community for more than 30 years.

As Miller told The Jewish Link: “Mr. Meneses together with his students brought some light to Jewish Cuba in times of darkness. After the COVID pandemic, Cuba and the Cuban Jewish Community have been living in the worst crisis ever. Medications, food and other vital resources are hard to find today or just available at very high prices. The Cuban Jewish Community has survived thanks to humanitarian missions and their contributions to the local community. Without our brothers and sisters from abroad it will be almost impossible to survive.”

Moses, the mission’s co-coordinator, explained: “The main goal was to donate over-the-counter medication and sanitary products because the Cuban community does not have access to these items on a daily basis. We were hoping to take at least six large duffle bags of donated medication by the Frisch community, and we brought eight!”

The five-day trip started from Newark Airport on Sunday, February 19. Meneses said that in addition to donating the medications, the group visited the Patronato in Havana and had lunch one day with senior citizens and met another day with children their own age.

According to Meneses, there are between 1,200-1,500 Jews living in Havana, and they lack many common medical supplies. To secure over-the-counter medicines we in the U.S. take for granted, the Jews in Havana will either wait on lines for hours or resort to the black market and pay exorbitant fees.

Meneses shared with The Jewish Link two emails he received from the student participants, which make it clear that the trip had a profound impact on them.

One student wrote: “Cuba was one of the best trips of my life. … Going to Cuba opened my eyes for how thankful I should be for what I have in America. I have never seen a whole country in poverty before, so this experience was different and taught me a lot.”

Another student wrote: “Cuba was an amazing and once-in-a-lifetime experience! It was really eye opening to see how privileged we are.”

Allegra Fried, another student, told The Jewish Link: “The most unexpected and shocking aspect of the trip was learning that in Cuba, most people make about $25 a month, no matter if you are a doctor or a busboy in a hotel. … Families struggle to have enough food on the table every single day. My favorite memory is meeting and talking with the sweetest seniors and having the chance to ask about their lives and dance with them. Although there was a language barrier, even if I didn’t understand every word they said, I still felt their emotions and love.”

A fourth student, Ilan Romm, shared: “I decided to venture to Cuba because I knew it was an opportunity I’d never get again. … The most unexpected thing I saw in Cuba was a Hebrew classroom for the first grade. Not only do Jews live in Cuba, but they continue to teach Torah and avodah to future generations. This trip made me think of the teaching from Pirkei Avot 4:1, ‘אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר, הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ, Who is rich? One who rejoices with his lot.’ While the Cubans were poor monetarily, they were very rich in happiness and love. Perhaps we in the United States should be the ones seeking wealth from Cuba, and learn to be happy with what we have.”

Speaking of the impact of the group’s visit, Miller told The Jewish Link: “Frisch Yeshiva made a difference by coming and bringing aid to the most needed ones. Our young guests are now ambassadors for the Cuban Jewish community and had the mission to spread the word. We hope that this will be the beginning for many other groups coming to Cuba to join us in our goal to save the Jewish life on this island.”

Frisch faculty member Moses shared: “When Frisch sent out an email asking our community to donate medication and the donations came pouring in, it made me feel so proud and thankful to be a part of a community that immediately helps other Jewish people in need. It then felt even more gratifying to give all the medication to the community in Havana. The leader of their community’s eyes lit up as we poured bags of medication onto a table for their taking. It felt so good to go to a local market and buy bags of rice, beans, fruit and vegetables and hand them out to people who were so desperately hungry. ”

Meneses said: “I wanted to bring my students to a Spanish-speaking country so they would be immersed into everyday life and encouraged to use the language they are learning in class. In addition, they would be doing a mitzvah by helping the Jewish community in Cuba.”

He said that he intends to organize another humanitarian mission from Yeshivat Frisch to Cuba next year and welcomes donations of medicines from across the area (but please don’t send them to him at the school until next winter). Meneses also encourages other schools, shuls and Jewish groups to send their own humanitarian missions to Cuba and offers to help them with organizational details; he can be reached at [email protected]

Harry Glazer was delighted to cover this heartwarming story and thanks Toby Moses for sharing the news tip that led to this article. He invites news tips of other noteworthy developments in our communities that may merit news coverage in The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected]