2001-03-16: Ezratty |
||||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
By
Donald H. Harrison
San Juan, Puerto Rico (special) -- Harry A. Ezratty, lawyer, lecturer and author of 500 Years in the Jewish Caribbean, says there is a strange ambivalence toward American Jews in Puerto Rico: As Jews, they are well accepted, whereas there is an undercurrent of political resentment towards mainland Americans.
There are two established Jewish congregations in San Juan, as well as a new Chabad House, which Ezratty reports is still at the stage of working hard to ensure a minyan. What religious controversies there are in Puerto Rico seem to be those dividing the Jewish community itself.
Eventually, the desire for more egalitarian practices led to the creation in 1967 of a Reform Congregation, Temple Beth Shalom, which initially rented quarters in a house across the street from Shaare Tzedek. Later the congregation purchased a warren of buildings, including one that had been the "Tenth Inning Lounge," a sports bar owned by a former pitcher for the old Washington Senators, Rudy Hernandez. The structures were converted into a sanctuary, social hall and educational center complex.
Differentiation by language is breaking down somewhat, as more and more Spanish-speaking persons are joining the Reform congregation. Many of these are either spouses of members, who have decided to convert, or are representatives of a relatively new phenomenon in Puerto Rico: Actual or possible descendants of Conversos deciding to rejoin the religion their forbearers abandoned under duress during the Spanish Inquisition.
* * *
Plantains, a banana-like fruit, are a Puerto Rican staple. "You make them like you were going to make candied potatoes--with a little butter," she said. "I had lived in Puerto Rico for seven or eight years and I went back to New York to work at the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies on 59th Street. There was this little tiny grocery store at 59th and 2nd, where I walked every day and that is where I did my grocery shopping. One day I saw platinos, ripe plantains, in a box on the floor. So I take them and go to the cash register and the guy says to me, 'You don't want those: they are rotten." I said, 'No they are not rotten; they are perfect.' So I made some, and I brought him some the next time, so he could taste it. You don't throw them away." After she returned to Puerto Rico, she had a craving for stuffed cabbage. "I went to my local grocery store, which is still here, and I am looking at all the cabbages, and they are all cleaned so they are just a hard piece of cabbage. And I am thinking, 'Oh, how am I going to get leaves off that?' when all of a sudden I see a box with leaves--tons of leaves in this box." She asked a man in Spanish how much he wanted for the leaves, and he replied, "just take it." When she got to the cash register, she tried to explain in broken Spanish that the man had told her the leaves were free. The cashier didn't understand, until "finally the woman in back of me says, in Spanish, 'it's okay, let her take it: it's garbage!' So that is how I got my cabbage leaves." * * * Puerto Rico recently elected its first woman governor, Sila Calderon, who campaigned on maintaining Puerto Rico in its present status as a "commonwealth" rather than having the island become either a state of the United States or an independent country. Harry Ezratty admits to being fascinated by Puerto Rican politics. About 49 percent of the electorate favor becoming the 51st state of the United States, about 4 percent want independence, and the balance, like the new governor, believe in keeping Puerto Rico in the Commonwealth status it has occupied since 1952. What a "commonwealth" is has never exactly been defined. "We have a Commonwealth of Kentucky and a Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but they are really states," Ezratty said. "Creating a Commonwealth out of a territory without making it a state was not like anything they had. But they entered into what they called the 'compact' and at that time Puerto Rican began electing its own governors and began putting its own people into positions like the Judiciary." During territorial days, when officials were appointed by the administration in Washington D.C., some Jews had served in important offices. Cecil Snyder was the chief justice of the Puerto Rican Supreme Court. Max Goldman administered the Operation Bootstrap program to attract investors to Puerto Rico. But after Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth, such appointments usually went to Spanish-speaking, native-born Puerto Ricans, Ezratty said. The independence movement "is very emotional and very cultural," Ezratty said. "They are not anti-American, but they feel that they are a culture apart from the United States. They feel that they don't fit into the American system, and that they want to retain and maintain their own culture." On the other hand, he said, "The Statehooders feel that America is a melting pot; no matter who you are, you can always fit into an American system. America has always had Latinos and they work out well; there hasn't been any problem. The Statehooders also feel that Puerto Rico will not advance until and unless it integrates into the United States. They also feel it is a question of dignity. If a man goes into the Army and spills his blood in a war the United States is fighting, he should have the opportunity to be a citizen so he can control (by his votes for President and members of Congress) whether the United States enters a war or doesn't." Commonwealthers occupy the middle ground, as Ezratty describes it. "They like the situation the way it is. Food stamps is a good example. Every state receives grants-in-aid; there is a percentage that a state has to put up in order to enter into the Food Stamp program. If they put up, say, $100 million, the (federal) government will match it. I don't know what the exact numbers are for states, but Puerto Rico doesn't have to put up anything. We get the maximum under the Food Stamp program. We are building now a rapid transit system, and we fell $350 million short, and they just went to the federal government to ask them for money."
About a year and a half ago, a civilian guard who was watching the gate was killed by a ship-launched aerial bomb that missed its mark. "That was the signal for the independentistas to launch large demonstrations to get the Navy out of Vieques," Ezratty said. The demonstrations "got a little nasty and we had a large, large mass of people marching in protest, including the Catholic Church, taking the position that the United States should get out of Vieques. This has become the focus for a lot of anti Americanism." Although Ezratty is sympathetic to the independence cause, he along with most of the other 2,000-2,500 Jews of Puerto Rico try to remain aloof from the controversy. "Most Jewish people who live here are not Puerto Ricans, so they don't feel it is something they have a stake in," he said. "It is not our fight." Nevertheless, "there are Jewish people in our synagogue who are married to Puerto Ricans and get involved. There is one woman who is very involved, she went to Vieques and protested there. And one of the guys who is the biggest protestor, lives on Vieques, his name is Rabin, and he is Jewish. But this is very rare. Most of us have no stake in the outcome of what happens." Symptomatic of the general mood, the new governor wants the Navy to leave Vieques, and also wants to end Spanish-English bilingualism in favor of a policy of Spanish-only for people dealing with the government. Ezratty attributed much of the emotionalism to the fact that matters are so up in the air. "There are many Puerto Ricans who are burning to become citizens of the United States -- obviously because 49 percent of them are always voting for statehood. But my feeling is that many Puerto Ricans have a feeling about Puerto Rico that is different than an Irishman has for Ireland or a Jew has for Israel. "I think the reason for this is that they are on the brink of having to make a decision, and they are faced with it," Ezratty said. "Jews have already made their decision about Israel. The Irish are in Ireland; they have their country, although they are fighting for an additional piece. Many Puerto Ricans realize that they are on the brink of something that may radically alter their lives. I really believe that most Puerto Ricans feel that they have a culture apart; they have a history different from the United States..." |