150 renowned Rabbis from Europe and Israel inaugurated Monday a memorial bearing the names of those who were brutally murdered on the Shabbat the 7th of October and Simchat Torah.
The inauguration, which took place at the cemetery of the Jewish community of Oporto, Portugal, was organized by the European Jewish Association (EJA) and the Jewish community of Oporto together with the European Kashrut Conference.
The tefila was presided over by Rabbi Simcha Steinberg of Eindhoven, Netherlands and speakers included Rabbi Binyamin Jacobs (Chairman of the Dutch Rabbis’ Committee) and Rabbi Netanel Lev (member of the rabbinical committee of Lubavitch, Paris, and father of the late Benyamin OBM.)
In a speech, Rabbi Netanel Lev, member of the rabbinical committee of Lubavitch in Paris, and father of the late Benyamin Lev, said: ‘’My son Binyamin fell in battle on the 7th of October, when he went out to defend the people of Israel with his body. He was an outstanding soldier in the paratrooper, and was specially chosen to go to the Gaza Strip that morning. One thing comforts me, is knowing that he gave his life to protect and save other Jews. May the memory of my son and the rest of the soldiers who were killed be blessed.’’
He added that “Benjamin came out of his hiding to help rescue a wounded and injured. The last words I got to speak with him a few days before that were, that I am proud that he gives his body for the defense of the people of Israel, and he answered me briefly in his own way, I know.”
Rabbi Binyamin Jacobs, Chairman of the Rabbis’ Committee in the Netherlands, spoke about the mix of feelings that the inauguration of the memorial inspired. “We witness here today the combination of the normal and the abnormal, the acceptable and the not acceptable, a regular new Jewish cemetery and the awful 7 October monument. And we see with tears in our eyes that the world accepts the non-acceptable by condemning Israel and by accepting antisemitism.’’
The main Lubavitch emissary in Portugal, Rabbi Eli Rosenfeld also spoke emotionally to those present.”The tribute today expresses the truth of the resiliency of the Jewish People. Notwithstanding the pain experienced on Simchat Torah, the Jewish People will continue to live and thrive. Am Yisrael Chai!”, he said.
The memorial stabnds in the cemetery of the Jewish community of Oporto, which was inaugurated last year.
In general, cemeteries are not known for their beauty. But the aesthetics that surround all the details in this Porto cemetery really impress any visitor. There are trees, grass, a lake, the chirping of carefree birds. And silence. It is set in a quiet location on the outskirts of the city of Oporto. There are no high-rise buildings, no streets, no traffic lights, no sound of cars passing or people’s loud and constant chatter. It is as peaceful as it can possibly be.
Its name is “Isaac Aboab Field of Equality”. The name of the cemetery is a reference to Chief Rabbi Isaac Aboab, who lived and died in Oporto following the expulsion of the Jews from Castile. “We do not even know where he is buried because the Edict and the Inquisition destroyed all traces of the Jewish community of the time”, stressed Oporto’s Chief Rabbi Daniel Litvak.