João Taborda da Gama is not limited to being a family man, married, father of children, Catholic. He is a prominent jurist and the son of the well-known and renowned Portuguese senator Jaime Gama, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of Parliament. His career spans several high-level roles in Portuguese public service and academia.

Appointed by the Portuguese government in February 2025, Taborda da Gama is the National Coordinator for the European Strategy to Promote Jewish Life in Portugal and Combat Antisemitism. His mission is actually a set of distinct but complete missions.

1. Promoting Jewish Culture

Unlike heritage, which is related to what no longer exists except in terms of memory, Jewish culture is about present-day Jewish life. Gama's mission is now easier. In Porto, the Jewish community is a cultural powerhouse – the most complete in Europe in this domain by far, bringing together such different traditions, cultures and arts as religion, cinema, painting, music, literature, videography, gastronomy and the promotion of Jewish history, opening new horizons for lovers of a more polished and urban world. The community manages two museum spaces, produced history films (including the most internationally awarded Portuguese film ever, in a country with a film industry that has existed for 150 years) and managed a YouTube channel, with 3 million views, that exceeded more than twice the number of joint views of the channels of the Cultural Center of Belém – the largest concert hall in the country – and the Serralves Foundation, which holds the largest Portuguese museum of contemporary art.

2. Promoting religious life and state protection of synagogues

Regarding the protection of synagogues and Jewish sites, Gama's mission is not easy. A decade of socialist governance based on a "Palestinian question," disinterested in the real Jewish world and even hostile to it, has led to a situation where even the main synagogues depend on their own security. Reversing this situation is increasingly difficult, as the state is undermined by a totally irresponsible mindset that will only be broken when a terrorist attack occurs, which is a matter of time.

Not all is bad. Chabad Lubavitch has built the organization's largest European center in Portugal, and already has emissaries throughout the country. This is at least a sign that Jewish religious life has returned to the country.

In Porto, there are two synagogues. On the way to completing eleven years of uninterrupted minyan, something never recorded in any other Portuguese Jewish community, much less in recent times, the largest synagogue in the Iberian Peninsula is known for Yom Kippur that is celebrated annually, with hundreds of people singing in unison. Some years ago (2021), a Jewish traveler who has visited more than 55 countries, said to the local community saying that "I wrote to several friends and family afterwards to tell them how deeply moved I was. I don't think I've ever heard such passionate prayers and songs in a synagogue. It was not only the power of the voices praying in unison that touched me so deeply, but also the symbolism of so many Jews gathered in a synagogue in a country heavily impacted by the Inquisition."

There are also Jewish communities in Lisbon, Albufeira, and Belmonte.

3. Overseeing Holocaust education, research, and memory programs

Gama has already identified and reflected on what really exists in Portugal. Episodic lectures for an audience of dozens of tired and sleepy old people may have some interest, but they make no difference in educational terms.

In Porto, thousands of students from schools across the country sign up monthly to visit the Shoah museum. Some years ago (2021), the Prime Minister of Sweden visited the community to learn from its leaders how the Oporto Holocaust museum had been built in only two months from initial concept to its inauguration, as he intended to build a similar one in Malmo. Nothing has been done in Sweden since that day. No museum has been built. Plans, projects, meetings, construction, and real success are very different realities.

4. Monitoring Antisemitism

Antisemitism is a negative perception of Jews. Although the Portuguese population associates the Jewish community with the word money, a stereotype that has persisted for centuries, Gama knows that in Portugal anti-Jewish hatred does not usually come from ordinary citizens, but rather from elites, who must be brought to their senses by the President of the Portuguese Republic.

Taborda da Gama's role also involves representing Portugal in international forums. As the Portuguese Jewish community is the only one in Europe that is growing in numerical, cultural, and religious terms, the challenges facing Gama, while difficult to resolve, seem to be attractive.