A growing number of Jewish tourists have been impressed by the painting gallery that the Porto synagogue displays. It depicts its entire Jewish history up to the present day. Yet, the messages that the canvases display as a whole show more than work, culture, science, wealth creation, and good taste. "Living Jews are never honored," declared a distinguished visitor from the United States last week.
"The Jews controlled the city's commerce and yet were expelled from the country. Who honored them? Nobody. The Portuguese Dreyfus officially refounded the community and was expelled from the army. Who honored him? Nobody. The community is today the European leader in the promotion of culture and yet had to endure police shouting inside the synagogue. Who honored it? Nobody," she added.
This is not the first visitor to make this thinking. In fact, this opinion has been constantly repeated.
Is Present a reflection of the past?
The problem is serious. Only the Jews killed en masse are honored, and not all of them. Only the victims of the Monarchy, Inquisition or the Nazi regime are honored. No one honors the Jewish victims of the Soviet regime.
In Portugal, no one outside the Jewish world today honors Yaish ben Yahia, Isaac Abravanel, Abraham Zacuto and any other figure of this quality and magnitude in Portugal. Much less honor is given to those who produce religion and culture today.
Within Jewish leadership circles, accusations that modern states and even Portugal prioritize honoring deceased mass murder Jews through heritage events instead of supporting living Jews stem from concerns over performative remembrance and the erasure of active religious identity.
State-sponsored events sometimes reduce Judaism to a historical artifact or a universal lesson about "tolerance". They use generic Jewish cultural events to signal moral progress and virtue without supporting the practical needs of the living community. This effectively strips Judaism of its actual religious laws, practices, and distinct identity.
Governments easily fund memorial days, as they view this as a sanitized way for societies to atone for past sins while doing little to protect contemporary Jewish communities. States deliberately ignore the tangible needs of the living.
The surrounding campus
The Painting Gallery of the Jewish Community of Porto features twenty large paintings depicting the Jewish presence in the city, serving as a central point of artistic expression within the community. Besides, the gallery does not show the entire narrative on its own, but rather serves as a focused artistic component within a much larger local network of historical sites. The surrounding campus is composed of two museums and cinema rooms to uncover the complete.
