HISTORY

 

The presence of Jews in the Iberian Peninsula dates back to the 3rd century BCE. They arrived together with the Phoenicians and in even greater numbers during the Roman occupation of Palestine. 

 

From the earliest days of Portuguese nationhood, Jews made contributions to the Kingdom, serving as financial advisors, doctors, and men of letters. During the period that preceded expulsion, there were two synagogues, the famous Esnoga and the Synagogue of Monchique, and a large number of Jewish families lived and worked in Oporto.  

 

Following the expulsion order, the greater majority were forced to lives as new Christians although in the secrecy and privacy of their homes, they continued to follow their faith and the Law of Moses.

 

In the early 20th century, the city of Oporto witnessed events that will forever be linked to the history of the Jews in Portugal and in the world, by means of the action undertaken by an officer from the Portuguese army converted to Judaism: Captain Barros Basto. He was the founder of the Jewish Community of Oporto, together with Jewish merchants recently arrived from Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Russia.

 

In the time of Captain, there were cripto-Jews in Portugal. Determined to turn Oporto into the "religious lighthouse" for the Portuguese crypto-Jews, Barros Basto raised funds from Dutch, British, and American Sephardi communities -- including the Kadoorie family -- to build, in the city, a synagogue. of which the crypto-Jews could be very proud. The synagogue Kadoorie Mekor Haim was inaugurated in1938, at the height of Nazism in Germany.

 

The Jewish Community of Oporto today includes 200 Jews from 21 countries, including Israel, Turkey, Yemen, India, Russia, England, Belgium, Italy, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Morocoo, Egypt, Canada, United States, Colombia, Mexico, Brasil and Venezuela.

 

The synagogue includes a prayer room and a museum, but also spaces destined to studying, a mikveh, a school, a library, a typography, a board room, a community dining room, a kitchen, a pantry to house kosher food, a patio to build the Sukkah during the Sukkot, as well as apartments for the Rabbi and the Shamash of the Community.

 

Source: synagogue blog