The only country in Europe still without its own Chabad representatives, Portugal will soon be welcoming a new addition to its 300-member Jewish community.
Rabbi Eli and Raizel Rosenfeld of Brooklyn, will be moving to Lisbon after the holidays, where they will settle with their two small children, and work to complement the achievements of Lisbon’s proud Jewish community.
In a statement released by lubavitch.com, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky of Lubavitch World Headquarters, said the decision is “thanks to a grant by our cherished Mr. George Rohr,” and the result of the enormously successful Merkos Shlichus, or summer internships. In 2006, Eli visited Portugal, and he developed friendships with many in Lisbon’s Jewish community that endured and grew over the years.
“I’ve gone back many times since, and the warm reception we’ve received has had a lot to do with our decision to move there,” says Rosenfeld, 26.
The couple, who finalized their plans on a visit to Portugal prior to Rosh Hashana, point out that Lisbon has a beautifully restored synagogue—Shaarei Tikvah, a newly restored mikvah, and a very active community, made up of both Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews, many of them in the medical and other professions.
“We feel blessed to be joining this strong community. We’ll be focusing on reaching out to Jewish people who are not affiliated, or who may be reluctant to get involved, and we also hope to work with Jewish tourists,” says Raizel, 23, who comes with life experience as the daughter of Chabad representatives in Connecticut.
Portugal has a long Jewish history, but its population numbers never rebounded from the infamous expulsions of the 15th century. In 1917, one hundred Jewish families of Marranos were discovered in Belmonte, in northeastern Portugal, and according to some statistics, a quarter of the country’s population is of Jewish descent.
To the Rosenfelds, the city has special interest because Lisbon was the point of departure for the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, when he left Europe for the United States in 1941. “The Rebbe made a public address here before he left, and for us, this connection is a big inspiration,” says Eli.
Once they settle in their apartment, they expect to be studying one-on-one with individuals and sharing their Shabbos table with guests. The local supermarket carries a line of kosher products, “but we’ll be asking family and friends, to bring staples such as kosher meat and dairy foods whenever they visit from abroad,” chuckles Raizel.
The Rosenfelds are parents to Mushka, age one and a half, and three-month old Menachem Mendel. While most of the community converses well in English, Eli and Raizel are determined to study Portuguese “so that we’ll be able to talk to our children.”
Portugal is indeed lucky to have you.
I am Portuguese but live with my family in London. I visit regularly and look forward to meeting you. Happy to bring supplies from London.
Hatzlacha rabba with your amazing job.
Boa sorte
The Kurzers
I would like to share one particular experience that I think may help the new shluchim. May I please have the street address of the new Chabad House in Lisbon. I wish you’d been there this last summer!
Jeremy Sachs, Bloomfield, CT e-mail: [email protected]
FYI: I’m Conservative, and my son and his family are Lubavich. Rabbi Gopin knows us. js
Chabad is always a better reception for travelers like myself. Several months ago I went to that same synagogue in Lisboa and had a very hard time with the “macho head of security” after I had already been cleared by administration. He was probably better suited for being a bouncer at a rough night club in New York than security for a holy place of prayer. I was dealing with his male ego, nothing more, but it left me very humiliated on Shabbat.. I never wanted to go back. But, if Chabad is there I will return. I live in… Read more »
WE WISH YOU A GREAT JOB IN LISBON. REGARDS FROM VALENCIA SPAIN. MOSHIACH NOW!
eli and raizel, we are so happy you guys are taking the leap. we know you’ll be very successful be”H! and im excited to be able to have a nice kosher home cooked meal there that’s not from me! hatzlacha!
Que voces tenham muita haztlacha cumprindo o trabalho enorme do Rebbe!!!
We just returned from Lisbon a couple weeks ago, and the only thing missing from that beautiful city is a Chabad shaliach. Best of luck to the Rosenfelds. Gmar chasima tova.
You are amazing -Lisbon is lucky to have you
Ella
Happy to have more Rosenfelds in Europe.
who says mesiras nefesh is dead… Eli, your fan in PHiladelphia. Go have much hatzlacha!!!!
Go BBQ some steaks there, but don’t get burned by the stake…
Portugal is so lucky!
Rosenfeld is an amazing family!!!!
There is a lucky community in Portugal. Eli, We’ll miss you here.
Boruch Sholom Wolf
we know that you will be amazing shluchim…. bringing much nachas to the rebbe by bringing people closer with your warm style and deep understanding of what life is about…. wishing you all the mazal in the world as you set out on this critical mission…. yasher koach for seeing the glass half full where others saw it half empty…. salute to you both for this example of true mesirut nefesh…. hatzlacha raba!
I think I may move to portugal now
Binmyomin ahron
wow thats amazing!!!
much hatzlocha on ur shlichus!
thanks for making klal isroel proud!
mazal tov! we are so happy for the rosenfeld and Gopin families! Portugal is indeed very lucky to have Eli and Raizel join their community!!! Hatlacha rabba, and you should have only nachas & brachos in everything you do.
go raizy
a lot of haotlocho for u and ur family
Mazel Tov! Portugal is lucky 🙂
amazed, awed, touched, humbled.. when I see the mesiras nefesh, the strength, the dedication and sacrifice with such cheer and good humor. That could be me easily, yet I dont think I have what it takes.
Better late than never, right? I mean, I was jsut a little baby when they moved but hatzlacha rabbah even now! Y’know, how when move on shlichus, you get all the haltzcha rabbah messages. After you’re there for a few months already, no one says it anymore. So I’ll say it! Hatzlacha rabbah Mushka and family.
(PS: This is what happens when you are bored and sifting through COL archives….)
An Online School friend