Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech, which is read on Saturday, September 5, 2026 (21st of Elul 5786), offers deep timeless blueprints for societal governance. When read through the lens of Portugal’s contemporary challenges, this dual text offers profound insights into achieving sustainable justice (Tzedek) and prosperity (Sechel).
Real economic prosperity is not merely a high GDP or a booming tourism industry; it is the collective wisdom of how a society manages its resources. Nitzavim commands the people to keep the covenant "that you may prosper in all you do". In the original Hebrew, the root word used for prosperity is sechel, which means to act wisely, consciously, and skillfully.
The portion opens with all of Israel standing together: "your heads, your tribes, your elders... from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water" (Deuteronomy 29:9-10). The lesson for Portugal is clear. True institutional justice cannot exist without Catholics and Jews, the same who founded the country.
Vayeilech teaches that for a stable state, prosperity must outlive political cycles and individual administrations. Portugal benefits most when its public policies are built on long-term institutional consensus and valorous people rather than shifting political winds and corrupt games of power. The unbelievable way in which the Portuguese socialist state rejected the Jews and the extension of the continental shelf led an Asian Jewish billionaire to comment: "They are poor and ungrateful."
Portugal's long-term economic health relies on nurturing a specialized, highly educated workforce and investing in transparent, forward-thinking infrastructure. Reform does not require an impossible, distant miracle; it requires practical, ethical actions executed daily at the community and state levels.
True wealth comes from building a resilient system based on ethical, intelligent choices (sechel) rather than short-term financial bubbles. How can a country that was an empire reject what could enrich it and still import the third world?
Moses institutes the Hakhel assembly, demanding that the law be read publicly to the entire populace every seven years to ensure institutional memory. The lesson for Portugal: Who knows what the law is today, when thousands of conflicting and nonsense diplomas are published every year?
Moses also transitions his leadership to Joshua, demonstrating that no leader—no matter how vital—is indispensable. True governance requires preparing the next generation of leadership and maintaining radical public transparency (Hakhel) so that the "rules of the game" remain open and accessible to all.
The Jewish Community of Porto has already formed a new generation of people in their 30s. The older members accept that they will die and have already bought plots in the cemetery they themselves built in honor of Isaac Aboab.
