Jewban refers to small community of Cuban Jews 🇨🇺 ✡️That's my family. Both my parents were born in Havana, Cuba and came to America shortly after Castro came into power. I relate strongly to both parts of my heritage, and why I am raising Julia to be bilingual.
Growing up miami was a second home to my brother and I. We ran around around the beaches before the Delano, was the Delano it is today, eating Cuban sandwiches for lunch while my grandparents worked selling "Shmattes" across the street on Collins Ave.
Every Jewish holiday we would split between NYC and miami. Celebrate the first Seder in NY and fly down and have the second Seder in miami with my grandparents. I loved it. My grandma was a working bee 🐝 (much like me) and didn't cook a stitch of food (guess I take after her) 🥘 🍗🍜She would get the whole Seder catered for 50 plus people!!! Ha ! (PS she never cared what anyone thought that she had no interest in cooking, and I still respect that!)
So when I decided to have a Mikvah (conversion ceremony/baptism) for Julia there was no question it would be on the beach in Miami, where so much of the roots of my Jewish culture came from. I'm sad to say my grandpa missed it, by just a few months. He lived until 92. Today, the first night of Passover, in Miami, I find myself missing him and wishing he could see Julia run around the same beach my brother and I did for so many years.
Tonight we will eat homemade matzah ball soup (my mom cooks ✨✨) and one day Julia will say the four questions, and well always think of grandpa and his love for Judaism. These are pics of Julia's Mikvah given by the Cuban-Hebrew congregation in Miami.
XOXO, Jackie