Over the last decade and a half, the Jewish Community of Porto has sought to regenerate itself in all its statutory dimensions. The Portuguese Dreyfus affair in the 1930s did not break the organization forever.
In 2012, an almost abandoned and moss-covered building was completely rehabilitated. Ten years later, the then coordinator for the promotion of Jewish life praying among a thousand people, stated that neither ordinary citizens nor Portuguese elites had the slightest idea of how strong Jewish life is in the country.
Today, the Jewish Community in Porto is about to complete 11 years of uninterrupted minyan in the central synagogue and also manages a study center with daily minyan. The construction of the Chabad Centre in Cascais – the largest in Europe and the source of the Lubavitch movement's work in the north and south of the country – owes much to the Community's sponsorship.
In culture, the Jewish Community of Porto is the world leader, as no other single organization manages museums, art galleries, produces historical films, and much more. The Rosh Pinah Library has become the largest in Iberia and a leading European center for Jewish literature. The cemetery, once destroyed by antisemites in 1497, was rebuilt.
In Holocaust education, the specialized museum in Porto received 30% of the country's teenagers in a six-year period. The Community practically monopolized the teaching of the subject in Portugal.
In the area of tzedakah, the Community's work has been equally meticulous. Synagogues, mikvahs, and cemeteries have been built in 14 countries, and Shabbat meals have been distributed to needy families.
Throughout this time, the State of Israel has never been forgotten or abandoned by the Community. Its defense was carried out through multiple complementary institutions, from museums to the newspaper The Portuguese Jewish News and even B'nai B'rith Portugal, which is one of the most active in continental Europe. Half a million euros in donations were granted to Keren Hayesod and to the cultural and philanthropic activities of the Israeli embassy in Portugal.
When a Jewish community away from Vanity and Gossip grows, and with it various Jewish communities of all continents and the Jewish state itself, this is a clear sign that worldwide Jewish solidarity is alive. Life, for some, is about eating and sleeping; for others it's about buying for two and selling for three. In Porto there are those who dedicate their lives to studying and creating a full Jewish life.
