Shmuel Szteinhendler

Shmuel Szteinhendler, a rabbi in Santiago, Chile, is considered the current Chief Rabbi of Cuba as well as the regional director for Masorti Olami in Latin America.^{[1] [2][3]}

Szteinhendler was born in Argentina and trained as a Conservative rabbi in Buenos Aires.^[4] He started visiting Cuba regularly since 1992, operating from his base in Guadalajara, Mexico, and oversaw a revival of the Jewish culture there, serving as an informal spiritual head of the Jewish community in Cuba.^[5][6][7] Szteinhendler's visits to Cuba were sponsored by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.^[7][8]

References

1. Rabbis of Chilean Masorti Forum meet with Mr. Zeev Bielsky Masorti World Archived August 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
2. The Virtual Jewish History Tour Cuba Jewish Virtual Library
3. The Jewish Traveler: Havana Hadassah Magazine
4. Ozzie Nogg, A Visit to Jewish Cuba: It’s Impossible to Come Back Unchanged, Jewish Press, The Jewish Federation of Omaha. Accessed August 15, 2011
5. Jerry Berke, Havana Synagogue Dark for Decades is Once Again Aglow in the Light of Shabbat Candles, The Jewish Federations of North America. Accessed August 15, 2011
6. Dana Evan Kaplan, A Jewish Renaissance in Castro's Cuba, Judaism, Spring 2000. Accessed August 15, 2011
7. Kenneth Bandler, Argentine rabbi ignites fervor in dormant Cuban communities, The Jews of Cuba, 1996. Accessed August 15, 2011
8. Ruth Behar, An island called home: returning to Jewish Cuba, New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8135-4189-1; p. 179