Europe seeks to enhance Jewish life as a way of honoring its history, which is entirely linked to the collaborative partnership between Jews and Christians. The strengthening of Jewish life is intrinsically linked to Chabad and not only to the efforts of the communities in each country.
Chabad is not only the birthplace of the 5,000 emissaries of Rebbe Menachem Shneerson Z”L around the world, nor is Chabad only the organization that regenerated Jewish life in the territories of the Soviet empire and wherever it had died. There is no global Jewish organization as powerful as Chabad, whose presence is effective and successful in more than half of the countries around the globe.
It is no coincidence that Chabad emissaries have been persecuted, attacked, and even killed in the world today. Chabad emissaries received a letter last month from the Israeli Foreign Minister, who asked them for courage and resilience.
One noteworthy fact is that the largest Chabad synagogue in Europe is located in the country founded by Dom Afonso Henriques and Yaih ben Yahia, specifically in Cascais. It is managed and overseen by the President of Chabad-Portugal, Rabbi Eli Rosenfeld. Jewish life continues to greatly benefit from the Chabad emissaries established in Cascais, Porto, and Algarve.
Another fact associated with this context highlights the name of Portugal. In 2025, the International Observatory of Human Rights paid tribute to the memory of Harav Baruch Portugali, the great-grandfather of the Alter Rebbe Zalman of Liadi, in a ceremony that coincided with the 250th anniversary of the official founding of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
Harav Baruch Portugali, also known as Reb Baruch Batlan, was a distinguished descendant of Portuguese exiles and the father of Rebbetzin Rachel, the grandmother of the Alter Rebbe. A devoted disciple of Reb Yoel Baal Shem of Zamoshch, Reb Baruch served as a leader of Reb Yoel’s chassidim in Pozna, earning renown for his scholarship, piety, and leadership.
When the International Observatory of Human Rights paid tribute to the memory of Harav Baruch Portugali, the tribute placed him among the great guardians of Jewish tradition, underscoring the resilience of Portuguese Jewry and the global reach of Chabad, now spanning six continents. Speakers highlighted Chabad’s multinational character and its deep Iberian Sephardic roots. Isaac Assor of the Lisbon Jewish Community emphasized the connection between Portuguese Jewry and the United States, recalling Haim Solomon – a Portuguese Jew who became a principal financier of the American Revolution – and noting that Chabad’s role in U.S. society is formally recognized each year on Education and Sharing Day, commemorating the Rebbe’s birthday.
