Shaare Tikva is home to Lisbon s Sefardim, who constitute the vast majority of the Jewish population. The synagogue has regular holiday and Shabbat services, but tourists often help make a minyan. Lisbon s other congregation, Ohel Jacob, is at Avenida Elias Garcia 110, on the second floor of a rundown building. The synagogue occupies a three-floor apartment with peeling paint, exposed pipes and a threadbare carpet, but what it lacks in charm it makes up in soul. Spiritual home to Lisbon s dwindling Ashkenazic population, in recent years it has been infused with life by anousim, who now account for about a third of the congregation.
Services are irregular, so it s best to call in advance.
An hour to the northeast is Tomar, a charming city with narrow, flower-lined streets around its central square, Pra a da Republica. The old Jewish quarter is one block from the square on Rua Dr. Joachim Jacinto. At No. 73 is the oldest synagogue in Portugal, built in 1438. Behind a plain white fa ade, the small sanctuary is as simple as it is beautiful. Its four stone columns stand for the Matriarchs of Israel and its 12 capitals stand for the tribes of Israel.