Camagüey is a city and municipality in central Cuba and the capital of Camaguey Province. It is located in a large agricultural region in the east-central part of the island 300 miles southeast of Havana, and is a center of communications, education and culture. It is the nation’s third largest city, with buildings of beautiful colonial architecture needing restoration, winding and blind alleys and forked streets that lead to squares of different sizes.  This design made the city easier to defend from pirates when it was first built in the sixteenth century.

Camagüey is also known as the City of tinajones due to the continuing presence of big clay containers that had been used to store rainwater, but today largely have an aesthetic function.  In 2008, the old town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  However, in September 2008 Camaguey suffered damage as centuries-old buildings were smashed by hurricanes and homes and crops also were destroyed.  

The Jewish community thrived in Camaguey by 1927, with a synagogue opened that year which welcomed World War II refugees. However, many left after the war and others after the Revolution.  The Camaguey graveyard is the only functioning remnant of pre-Revolutionary Camaguey, with the old synagogue having been turned over to the government after the Revolution and converted into apartments.

The community of about 50 people belong to Comunidad Hebrea Tiferet Israel whose current leader, David Pernas Levy, is a grandson of the community’s first president in the 1920s. A new synagogue was opened in 1998.  It is a long and narrow building with tall columns that support wooden rafters, with a small number of religious texts shelved on a bookcase to the side.  Since there is no rabbi in Camaguey, as is the case for Cuba as a whole, members of the congregation lead the service.

Camagüey, Cuba, congregation profile

Numbers of members: approximately 50

Leader: David Pernas Levy

Type of synagogue: mixed