My Name In Lights

Double Diaspora = Cultural Brokers February 25, 2009

diaspora noun. – any group migration or flight from a country or region; dispersion

What else is a blog for but to teach my readers what I’m learning as I learn it? I learned a lot on Monday night when Josh and I met with Ruth Behar, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Michigan who is spending a semester at the University of Miami.

I have provided you with the definition of diaspora because in order to understand just how unique the Cuban Jewish community is, you must know that this group is, in the words of Ruth Behar, a “double disapora”. The people whom we refer to as “Jewbans” were relocated for the first time from Eastern Europe and Turkey to Cuba and then again to the United States. Imagine considering yourself European and then assimilating to a completely different identity in Cuba, before finally making a permanent home in America. Phew!

That said, Josh and I are very interested in discovering which identity takes precedence. Questioning which identity comes first- Jewish or Cuban- is a topic we are exploring. For some like Dr. Jaime Suchlicki, being a Cuban takes precedence (although he remains very connected to his Jewish heritage) because of the nature of his lifelong work in Cuban studies. Ruth Behar, on the other hand, does not like answering that question because, according to her neither comes first. Rather, she likes to think of herself, along with other “Jewbans,” as so-called cultural brokers. According to Ruth, Cuban Jews started out their American lives not fitting into either group and have now evolved to have a fluid identity where they can be either Jewish or Cuban, or both. For example, Ruth says she feels perfectly comfortable speaking Spanish among Latinos, fits in with the Jewish, but also enjoys being a part of the small overlap between both.

Specifically, Ruth is a cultural broker in the academic world. She said that whenever she lectures she finds it interesting how she brings together both professors of Cuban Studies and professors of Judaic studies- two groups that usually do not have a dialogue until Ruth Behar comes along.

If all goes as planned, Josh and I should be attending synagogue on Saturday with Ruth at the Cuban Hebrew Congregation of Miami Beach. It will be my very first time visiting a temple.