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Non-Profit Association has born - Association of Fiends of the Synagogue of Tomar, Portugal

Tomar, 07/04/2011

The Association of Friends of the Synagogue of Tomar (AAST) was formed on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 28, 2011, in Tomar, Portugal in a ceremony that was attended by the Israeli ambassador in Lisbon, Ehud Gol. The ceremony was the signing of cooperation agreements with the City of Tomar, the Tourism Authority of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, and the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, entities that are also associated with this initiative.

It is a nonprofit organization that has "objectives of technical, cultural and scientific" through their priorities to preserve the unique religious and cultural identity of the synagogue, "in keeping with the aims for which it was built" as well as preserve, conserve and restore cultural property associated therewith, and cooperate with similar organizations, national and international.

For chairman of the board of the association was appointed John Schwarz da Silva, grandson of Samuel Schwarz, donor of the synagogue to the Portuguese State, the second reads the scripture dated March 28, 1939. Among the founding members of the AAST are Joshua Ruah (former president of the Jewish Community of Lisbon, CIL), José Oulman Carp (now president of CIL), Esther Mucznick (researcher), and the rabbi of Lisbon, Eliezer Shai di Martino.