Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez dead from cancer

Published on March 5, 2013

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a two-year battle with cancer, ending the socialist leader's 14-year rule of the South American country, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised speech on Tuesday.

Cuban and American Judaism – The Growth of Secularism

By Rabbi John Rosove
Published on February 21, 2013

Pidyon Shvuyim fund to help imprisoned Jews

Published on February 21, 2013

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington established a legal defense fund for Jews being held wrongfully because of their Jewishness and will assist Alan Gross, who is in prison in Cuba.

U.N. imprisonment watchdog calls on Cuba to release Alan Gross

Published on January 8, 2013

The United Nations Human Rights Council's imprisonment watchdog called on Cuba to release jailed Jewish-American contractor Alan Gross.

Cuba: Gross’ health has not deteriorated

Published on December 6, 2012

A top Cuban official said the health of Alan Gross has not deteriorated.

Jailed Gross calls for U.S. to sign pact with Cuba

Published on December 3, 2012

Jewish-American contractor Alan Gross asked the U.S. government to sign a non-belligerency pact with Cuba in an effort to obtain his release from a military hospital there.

Gross biopsy results ‘hopeful’ but not determinative, lawyer says

Published on November 29, 2012

The results of a biopsy released by the Cuban government raises hopes that Jewish American contractor Alan Gross does not have cancer, his lawyer said, but his family still wants his own physician to examine him.

Judith Gross sues government, contractor on husband Alan’s behalf

Published on November 16, 2012

Alan Gross' wife sued the U.S. government and the company that contracted his work in Cuba, alleging that their training was inadequate and a factor in his imprisonment.

Wiesenthal officials ask Ecuador to intercede for Alan Gross

Published on November 12, 2012

Officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center met with Ecuadorian authorities to seek their support in asking Cuba to release American prisoner Alan Gross.

Jailed Alan Gross may have tumor, doctor says

Published on October 3, 2012

Jailed Alan Gross may have tumor, doctor says

Cuban Jewish leaders visit Alan Gross

Published on October 1, 2012

Two Cuban Jewish leaders visited jailed American contractor Alan Gross and said they found him in “good spirits.”

U.S. senators ask Cuban president to release Gross

Published on September 25, 2012

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators asked Cuban President Raul Castro to release jailed American contractor Alan Gross.

Cuba says Gross in ‘normal’ health, willing to negotiate his release

Published on September 13, 2012

A Cuban Foreign Ministry official rejected claims by the wife of Alan Gross that the jailed American contractor was in ill health and said Cuba was willing to negotiate his release with U.S. officials.

Alan Gross’ health deteriorating, wife says

Published on September 11, 2012

The wife of Alan Gross said after visiting him in Cuba that the jailed contractor’s health continues to deteriorate.

Cuban official: Cuba is ready to negotiate status of Alan Gross

Published on May 15, 2012

Authorities in Cuba are ready to negotiate the status of jailed American Alan Gross, a senior Cuban official said.

Opinion: Our man in Havana

By Douglas Bloomfield
Published on April 24, 2012

I just returned from a week in Cuba on a people-to-people exchange tour to meet with members of Jewish communities in several cities and to learn about the country.

Pope skirts politics in Cuba

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on March 28, 2012

Alan Gross’ wife hoping Cubans reciprocate humanitarian gesture

Published on March 20, 2012

The wife of Alan Gross welcomed a judge’s decision to temporarily release a convicted Cuban spy to visit his ailing brother and said she hoped the Cuban government would grant a similar request to her husband.

JFNA calls for pope to seek release of Alan Gross

Published on March 1, 2012

The Jewish Federations of North America is urging Pope Benedict XVI to seek the release of Alan Gross during the pope’s upcoming visit to Cuba. The group is circulating a nationwide online petition calling for the pope to seek Gross' release as part of a nationwide appeal by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.

Alan Gross revelations could hamper campaign for his release

Published on February 21, 2012

For the Jews of Cuba, it was the ultimate Internet connection. The high-tech equipment that U.S. contractor Alan Gross brought with him to Cuba in 2009 to help connect local Jews to the Internet reportedly included a SIM card that makes it almost impossible to track satellite signals and is generally unavailable to civilians, even in the United States.

Gross visited Cuba at least five times, court document says

Published on January 19, 2012

Jailed American Jewish contractor Alan Gross visited Cuba at least five times in one year to set up wireless Internet connections, according to a report citing leaked court documents.

Ahmadinejad to visit Latin American nations

Published on December 29, 2011

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that he will tour four Latin American nations in January.

Cuban Jewish leaders meet with Alan Gross

Published on December 29, 2011

Two Cuban Jewish leaders met with jailed American Jewish contractor Alan Gross.

U.S. lawmakers call on Cuba to release Gross

Published on December 5, 2011

Nearly 100 U.S. lawmakers called on the government of Cuba to release imprisoned Jewish U.S. contractor Alan Gross.

Alan Gross’ wife urges activism on his behalf

Published on November 29, 2011

The wife American contractor Alan Gross called for increased pressure on Congress and President Obama to get her husband released from a Cuban jail.

Opinion: Losing our way

Published on November 17, 2011

Picture this if you will. During the time when US citizens were prohibited from traveling to Cuba, a member of the House of Representatives decides to disobey US law and travel to Cuba to speak at the annual observances there of the January 1 1959 overthrow of the Batista government and the rise to power of Fidel Castro and his Communist buddies.

Richardson leaves Cuba, fails to meet Gross

Published on September 13, 2011

Bill Richardson is leaving Cuba after failing to secure even a meeting with imprisoned American contractor Alan Gross.

Richardson to Cuba to seek Gross’ freedom

Published on September 7, 2011

Bill Richardson is traveling to Cuba in an attempt to free Alan Gross.

Cuban court upholds Alan Gross sentence

Published on August 5, 2011

Cuba's Supreme Court upheld a 15-year sentence for Alan Gross, the U.S. contractor held for what the Obama administration has said was his Jewish outreach.

Will Carter press for Gross’ release on Cuba visit?

Published on March 28, 2011

Jimmy Carter is scheduled to visit Jewish leaders during a trip to Cuba, leading to speculation that the former U.S. president will ask the Cuban government to release jailed American contractor Alan Gross. Carter, who is well known for his activism on behalf of human rights, will spend three days in Cuba on a private visit to discuss ways to improve U.S.-Cuba relations, according to reports. He is scheduled to meet with President Raul Castro and other Cuban officials.

Jewish leaders appeal to Cuba to free Gross

Published on March 8, 2011

Jewish leaders have called on the Cuban government to release Jewish U.S. government contractor Alan Gross, jailed for more than a year, for time served. Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Monday issued their humanitarian appeal to the Cuban government following the completion of Gross' two-day trial over the weekend. A verdict has not been released but is expected within the next few days.

Jesse Jackson appeals to Cuba to free Gross

Published on March 2, 2011

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has called on Cuba to release Jewish U.S. citizen Alan Gross from prison and reunite him with his family. Jackson, who has been to Cuba several times and met with former President Fidel Castro and current President Raul Castro, offered to go to Cuba to negotiate the release of American contractor Alan Gross, according to a statement issued Tuesday from his Rainbow PUSH coalition.

Cuba announces trial date for Alan Gross

Published on February 24, 2011

A U.S. government contractor that the State Department says was assisting Cuban Jews will go on trial in Cuba next month. Alan Gross was charged on Feb. 4 with "Acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the State." The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence; he could have faced the death penalty according to Cuban law.

D.C. clergy pray for release of Alan Gross

Published on January 11, 2011

Washington-area clergy joined an interfaith prayer service for the release of U.S. government contractor Alan Gross from a Cuban prison. Tuesday's service, organized by the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, was held as U.S. State Department officials in Cuba to attend meetings on migration were set to press for Gross' freedom, the Washington Post reported. Cuban authorities detained Gross on Dec. 3, 2009 on his way out of the country, saying he was a spy. Gross' family and State Department officials say he was in the country on a U.S. Agency for International Development contract to help the country's Jewish community of about 1,500 to communicate with other Jewish communities through the Internet.

Gross marks year in Cuban jail

Published on December 3, 2010

Alan Gross, a contractor that the U.S. State Department says was assisting Cuban Jews, marked a year in a Cuban jail. Cuban authorities detained Gross on Dec, 3 2009 on his way out of the country. Gross' family and State Department officials says he was in the country on a U.S. Agency for International Development contract to help the country's Jewish community, numbering about 1,500, to communicate with other Jewish communities through the Internet.

Books: Part history, part mystery—the passengers of the S. S. St. Louis

By Michael Berenbaum
Published on April 12, 2007

Sarah Ogilvie and Scott Miller set a difficult task for themselves. Writing their book was easy. So, too, was researching what happened on the voyage of the St. Louis, the Hamburg-American line ship that traveled from Germany to Cuba in May 1939, carrying 937 passengers who were escaping Nazi Germany. The authors' greater challenge was to uncover the fate of the passengers after the ship had been turned away from numerous ports. Their dogged pursuit of all leads yielded some surprising results.

Mojitos and Matzah Balls in Havana

By Larry Luxner
Published on November 6, 2003

Care for an authentic Cuban mojito at the L'chaim bar? How about Israeli salad, matzah ball soup and cheese blintzes?

They're all now on the menu at the Hotel Raquel, Cuba's first boutique hotel catering specifically to adventurous Jewish tourists.

Cuban Jews’ Plight Sparks Drive to Help

By Andrea Adelson
Published on January 2, 2003

Tourist Cuba is a bit like a time-machine ride through a Cold War theme park. Vintage Detroit autos rumble past charming Havana hotels refurbished to their pre-revolutionary glory. Posters for featured movies at a film festival keep company with ones that blare slogans like, "La Revolucion Siempre," or the revolution always.

Yet, when Roe Gruber and her daughter took a Havana apartment for a month last summer, the Tustin residents were able to escape the tourist cocoon. They learned new skills, like coping with Third World shortages by offering bribes for tomatoes and theater tickets.

Passover in Cuba

By Judy Zeidler
Published on April 20, 2000

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Cuba. We were on a cultural-art mission with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and one of the highlights was a visit to Cuba's largest Conservative synagogue, the Casa De La Comunidad Hebrea De Cuba, also known as Patronato.

The Havana Jewish Social Club

By Charlotte Hildebrand
Published on September 2, 1999

My husband and I arrived in Havana in the early hours of Sunday morning; we had flown to Cuba via Tijuana to spend a week exploring and, hopefully, to find someone in the Jewish community to speak with.