Cuban Jewish leaders meet with Alan Gross

(JTA) – Cuban Jewish leaders who met with Alan Gross said the imprisoned American-Jewish contractor “was in better spirits.”

Havana community President Adela Dworkin and vice president David Prinstein met with Gross on the last day of Hanukkah, two days after Gross marked his fourth year in jail in Cuba, according to The Associated Press, citing a statement from the Beth Shalom Temple in Havana.

The Cuban Jewish leaders have met with Gross for other Jewish holidays throughout his imprisonment.

“During the encounter we could see that he was in better spirits, more physically recovered,” the statement reportedly said.

Gross, 64, a subcontractor for the State Department on a mission to hook up Cuba’s small Jewish community to the Internet, was arrested in December 2009 as he was leaving Cuba. The Maryland resident is serving a 15-year sentence for “crimes against the state.”

Gross says he has lost 100 pounds since his imprisonment and suffers from painful arthritis. He reportedly leaves his shared cell once a day for one hour. In a letter sent last week, Gross asked President Obama to personally help secure his release.

The Cuban government has indicated that it wants the United States to allow the return to Cuba of five spies in prison or on probation in the U.S. in return for negotiations on Gross.

Jewish and faith groups, and Gross’ wife, Judy, demonstrated on behalf of Gross last week at Lafayette Park outside the White House along with officials from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.