There is already a planned date. Another community cleanup action is scheduled for Elul at the Isaac Aboab Jewish cemetery. Similar actions occurred throughout the year. Developed by community members acting as volunteers, these actions have proven to be a strong factor in unity and camaraderie within a community that represents the present, past, and future of Judaism in Porto.
Although the Jewish Community of Porto has a professional cleaning team hired to carry out a large cleanup action every three months, in the meantime other actions are developed by community members. In recent actions, community members donated vegetation clearing equipment and purchased graves for themselves and their families. Others suggested that important events on the Jewish calendar could occasionally take place in that beautiful cemetery.
The Isaac Aboab Jewish cemetery cost three million, six hundred and seventy-three thousand euros (€3,673,000), including the purchase of two plots of land and construction materials.
A Jewish cemetery is considered one of the most sacred and important institutions in a Jewish community, often taking precedence even over building a synagogue. Jewish law permits selling a synagogue building to buy land for a cemetery.
Cremation is forbidden, making physical burial plots an absolute necessity for every community member. Jewish law (Halakha) requires that a grave never be disturbed or reused, meaning the community must own the land permanently. Caring for the dead is viewed as the ultimate act of selfless kindness (Chesed shel Emet), because the recipient can never repay the favor.
