An usual meal in the Kadoorie synagogue library is not for "eating," but for respecting a sacred space of history, literature, painting, and good taste. Everything that is ugly, animalistic, impolite, slang, is rejected by the Jewish tradition, which focuses on the beauty of life in every act and detail. A Jewish table is not a pile of dishes with lots of food on it, with the aim of "feeding" people, but rather a divine ritual accompanied by blessings and useful and productive conversations.
Jewish culture has emphasized intellectual pursuit, moral law, and the creation of beauty within a religious context, as no one is nothing without God. A core principle in Jewish thought is tikkun olam, or "repairing the world," which encourages social action and justice. Jewish history is rooted in a moral code that emphasizes kindness, justice, and the sanctity of life rather than savagery.
Beyond visual art, the Jewish tradition places a high value on the beauty of language, evidenced by intricate poetry, philosophy, and Talmudic commentary. Jewish aesthetic and cultural splendor is profoundly influential and it is celebrated for its deep intellectual, artistic, and historical contributions, from illuminated manuscripts to significant modern contributions in film and literature.
The Jewish Community of Porto is the world leader in the promotion of Jewish culture, as it acts simultaneously as the owner of synagogues and museums, a film producer, promoter of a male choir, and curator of the library and art gallery. Although cities like New York, Tel Aviv, or Paris have "more" in absolute terms, in them the promotion of culture is divided among dozens of specialized institutions. If the criterion for comparison lies in the diversity of high-level cultural and educational assets managed by a single local community organization, the Jewish Community of Porto stands out.
With good taste, feeling, belief, courage and total dedication of its servers, the Community manages two synagogues operating simultaneously, a minyan that has been uninterrupted for 11 years, kosher facilities, and a new cemetery. It manages two museums – the Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Museum – and is among the five largest Jewish organizations in the world that produce films about Jewish history. It has a painting gallery dedicated to its history, integrated into a Jewish library with 10,000 works in thirteen languages, and oversees a male choir dedicated to Jewish liturgy.
Jewish culture has a deep-seated tradition of aesthetics and ethics that has contributed to, and been influenced by, surrounding societies for thousands of years. Historically, while large-scale idolatrous imagery was forbidden, Jews created extensive decorative art, including synagogue architecture and ceremonial objects, a tradition explored by publications like Jewish Renaissance. And the Jewish renaissance often happens in unexpected latitudes, such as in the city of Porto which recovered even after the state assassination that targeted the Portuguese Dreyfus.
