The Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located at Mr. Visserplein 3 in Central Amsterdam,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, in the

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

region of

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The synagogue was completed in 1675. ''Esnoga'' is the word for synagogue in

Judaeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: ), also known as Ladino or Judezmo or Spaniolit, is a Romance language derived from Castilian Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading ...

, the traditional Judaeo-Spanish language of

Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

. The Amsterdam Sephardic community was one of the largest and richest Jewish communities in Europe during the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

, and their very large synagogue reflected this. The synagogue is an active place of worship and has been a popular tourist attraction since it was constructed in the late 17th century, when it drew Christian tourists from many countries. The congregation allowed visitation of non-Jews and its opulence was a reflection of the importance of sacred worship to the congregation as well as signaling to all the wealth of the Portuguese Jewish community.

History

The

Sephardim Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendan ...

(Hebrew for "Jews of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

") were issued with the Spanish royal

Alhambra Decree The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdi ...

in 1492, whereby they were given the choice of exile from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, or conversion to Catholicism, or failing to do either, execution. Of Spain's estimated 200,000 Jews at that time, around half converted; many by coercion, others because of social and financial pressures preventing their departure, and a few out of genuine religious conviction. They became Spain's Jewish-origin

New Christians New Christian (; ; ; ; ; ) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction referring to the population of former Jews, Jewish and Muslims, Muslim Conversion to Christianity, converts to Christianity in the Spanish Empire, Spanish and Po ...

conversos A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...

(i.e. "converts" to Catholicism). Of the other half of Spain's Jews who did not convert, and instead chose exile, some sailed south (becoming the

North African Sephardim North African Sephardim are a distinct sub-group of Sephardi Jews, who descend from exiled Iberian Jewish families of the late 15th century and North African Maghrebi Jewish communities. Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and th ...

), others went east (becoming the

Eastern Sephardim Eastern Sephardim are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews mostly descended from Jewish families which were exiled from the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century, following the Alhambra Decree of 1492 in Spain and a similar decree in Portugal ...

), but most crossed the border west to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. In Portugal, Jewish life was interrupted only a few years later, when there too they were issued with the Portuguese decree against the Jews in 1496. While in theory, the Jews now in Portugal who chose not convert to Catholicism also had the option to be expelled (or executed) by 1497, the Portuguese king, in practice blocked Portugal's ports of exit, and subsequently reasoned that those who stayed behind agreed to become Christians by default. Thus the Jews in Portugal were forced to convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1496 after the decree and, all but a few who did manage to flee, became Portugal's Jewish-origin

. For the next few centuries, the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

in Spain and Portugal continued to investigate the conversos and their descendants on suspicions that they continued to practice

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

. Many in fact did continue to practice Judaism behind closed doors while publicly professing to be Catholics; in Spanish and Portuguese these were called

marrano ''Marranos'' is a term for Spanish and Portuguese Jews, as well as Navarrese jews, who converted to Christianity, either voluntarily or by Spanish or Portuguese royal coercion, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but who continued t ...

s. The persecutions and trials by the inquisition against conversos lasted well into the late 1700s. The legal distinction between so-called Old Christians and New Christians was maintained for centuries, with a person's genealogy always on record. Both those

crypto-Jews Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden'). The term is especially applied historically to Spani ...

, who actively maintained Jewish practices in secret, and also some sincere ''conversos'' or

, who had converted fully to Catholicism, were at times hounded, persecuted and executed on charges of practicing Judaism. This was often a pretext for the confiscation of their property. Many of them wished to have

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

again and to be free from this institutionalized

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Amsterdam, then one of the greatest cities in the world, offered both of these things. In this historical context, a substantial migration of ''conversos'' from the Iberian Peninsula to Amsterdam took place from the 1600s to the early 1800s. Once in Amsterdam, many returned to Judaism openly and publicly. They called themselves

Portuguese Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the fe ...

, even those who came directly from Spain. They wanted to avoid being identified with Spain, which was at war with the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

at the time during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

. This branch of Judaism is also known as the Western Sephardim. The

Sephardic Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

in Amsterdam were known as the "first modern Jews" because they were the first to distinguish between religious and secular spheres of their individual and collective lives. Their religious life was focused primarily on the synagogue, the religious calendar of Jewish life, and an eagerness to provide a Jewish education for their children. The early 17th Portuguese Jewish community of "the nation" (''naçao'') formed three separate congregations, which merged into one, the Talmud Torah. In 1670 they purchased a site in Amsterdam and planned the construction of a large synagogue, which was inaugurated in 1675. The construction of the Portuguese Synagogue, the Esnoga, was a heavy burden on the congregation as a whole.

World War II

During the Nazi campaign to systematically murder Jews in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, the facility was slated to become a deportation center for Jews, but Leo Palache and a team of volunteers managed to dissuade the Nazis from this plan. Instead, the building concealed Jewish ritual items for deported Jews in the sanctuary ceiling and attic floor. The

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

diary of executive director Salomon Coutinho was discovered in Amsterdam and details the synagogue's works and efforts to protect the building during the war.

Recent history

In November 2021 Yitzhak Melamed, an expert on

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

, requested to visit the synagogue to film Melamed conducting research in the library’s archives. Amsterdam-3438-Portugiesische Synagoge-innen-2008-gje

Amsterdam-3438-Portugiesische Synagoge-innen-2008-gje

Serfaty banned Melamed from visiting the community’s synagogue and library due to his research of the “heretic.” Responding to Melamed in a letter, Serfaty not only forbade Melamed to film in the building but declared him to be a persona non-grata, essentially even denying Melamed to participate in prayer services in the Esnoga. "The chachamim and ''parnassim'' of Kahal Kados Torah excommunicated Spinoza and his writings with the severest possible ban, a ban that remains in force and cannot be rescinded. You have devoted your life to the study of Spinoza’s banned works and the development of his ideas,�
Serfaty writes
"Your request to visit our complex and create a film about this Epicouros eretic�� is incompatible with our centuries-old ''halachic'', historic and ethical tradition and an unacceptable assault on our identity and heritage... “I therefore deny your request and declare you persona non grata in the Portuguese Synagogue complex." Pinchas Toledano, the ''

Hakham ''Hakham'' (or ''Chakam(i), Haham(i), Hacham(i), Hach''; ) is a term in Judaism meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He who says a wise th ...

''-Emeritus (Chief Rabbi-Emeritus) of the Esnoga and the former Chief Rabbi of the Beth Din in The Netherlands supported Serfaty. I
a letter to Melamed
Toledano writes: "I hereby inform you that ten professors from all over the world, including Israel, came to a symposium on December 6, 2015. The Spinoza case has been widely discussed. Myself, as the ''Chacham'' of the congregation, gave a lecture on the subject and the conclusion was that the cherem animposed on him by our previous rabbis must be maintained. In light of the above, there is no opportunity to discuss Spinoza with you in our complex.” On November 30, 2021 th
board of the Esnoga
sent
letter
to its members. In the letter, they stated that both Serfaty and Toledano do not agree to retract their words. However, the board did not fire them. On December 2 the board of the Esnoga sent
second letter to its members
with attache
a letter to Melamed
with an invitation to Melamed do research and film in the Esnoga complex.

Architecture

On December 12, 1670, the Sephardic Jewish community of Amsterdam acquired the site to build a synagogue and construction work began on April 17, 1671, under the architect . On August 2, 1675, the Esnoga was completed and opened with great ceremony. The design is based on the plans for King Solomon's temple. The inscription above the entrance is from

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

5:8: "In the abundance of Thy loving kindness will I come into Thy house". The sign also contains "1672", the year the building was intended to be completed, and " Aboab", the name of the chief rabbi who initiated the construction project. The building is free-standing and rests on wooden piles; the foundation vaults can be viewed by boat from the canal water underneath the synagogue. The entrance to the main synagogue is off a small courtyard enclosed by low buildings housing the winter synagogue, offices and archives, homes of various officials, the rabbinate, a mortuary, and noted Ets Hayim library. During the 1955–1959 renovation, the former Ets Hayim seminary auditorium was redesigned as a winter synagogue; central heating and electric lighting were added. The benches were taken from a synagogue originally built in 1639 and the

Torah ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

dates from 1744. The ark is made from a solid piece of

jacaranda ''Jacaranda'' is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas while cultivated around the world. The generic name is also used as the common name. The species ' ...

wood from Brazil. The main sanctuary does not have an internal electric system; two chandeliers that hold 1000 candles are lit when necessary.

Interior

The interior of the synagogue is a single, very high rectangular space retaining its original wooden benches. The floor was covered with fine sand, in the old Dutch tradition, to absorb dust, moisture and dirt from shoes and to muffle the noise. Only five synagogues in the world had a sand floor, and this was the only one with such a floor surviving outside the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. The interior of the Portuguese Synagogue is of the longitudinal Iberian-Sephardic type. The ark is situated in the south-east corner of the building and faces Jerusalem. On the other side of the room, opposite of the ark, is a tebah. The

women's gallery The Women's Gallery was a collectively established and run art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, showing only the work of women, that ran for four years between 1980 and 1984. History In 1977, artist Joanna Paul developed a project called ...

is supported by twelve stone columns, each which represents one of the

Twelve Tribes of Israel The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( , ) are described in the Hebrew Bible as being the descendants of Jacob, a Patriarchs (Bible), Hebrew patriarch who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Jacob, later known as Israel (name), Israel, ...

. In addition to these columns, there are four large brass chandeliers that hold a total of a thousand candles. All of the candles are lit in the synagogue during worship services, shining out through the 72 windows.

Depictions in art

In the seventeenth century, Western European art saw a shift from exclusively pejorative depictions of Jews and Jewish culture to one that was more realistic and observational. Two Dutch artists, engraver Romeyn de Hooghe and painter Emmanuel de Witte produced multiple images of the Portuguese Synagogue. De Hooghe produced multiple engravings of the interior and exterior of the synagogue, as well as exteriors of wealthy Portuguese Jewish merchants residences, and scenes of ordinary cultural life in the Jewish community. De Witte painted three scenes of the interior of the synagogue. Emanuel de Witte produced three paintings of the Esnoga. One is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, another in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. There was one in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, apparently no longer extant, but it was photographed prior to its 1945 disappearance. It is unclear for whom these paintings were made, but de Witte painted many works of houses of worship in Amsterdam, not necessarily from direct observation. Both de Witt and de Hooghe produced works that show the synagogue with worshipers and visitors, not merely as architectural depictions. De Hooghe engraving of the inauguration of the synagogue brings together many elements. The names of major contributors to the creation of the synagogue are listed in medallions on either side of the engraving along with some other information. The medallions on the engraving list the following names: top left, Isack Leuy Ximenez, Moseh Curiel, Daniel Pinto, Abraham Iesurun espino ?, Moseh Pereyra, Ioseph Dazeuedo, Abraham Zagache; middle left: Isack de Pinto, Abraham da Veiga, Dauid Salom Dazeudo, Iacob Aboab Osorio, Semuel Vaz, Isack Henriques Coutinho, Iacob Pereyra; bottom left: Isack Belmonte, Selomoh Salom, Dauid Abendana Osorio, Iacob Bueno de Mesguita, Abraham Touro, Iacob de Pinto, Samuel Abarbanel Seuza. Medallions on the right are headed “H.R.”, top right: Isack Aboab, Isack Mendes da Silva, Iacob Ergas Henriquez, Abraham Gomes Gutieres, Isack Gomes Neto, Dauid Drago, Semuel de Elijah Abarbanel; middle right: Ioseph Iesurum, Abraham Semah Ferro, Iacob Ximenez Cardozo, Ieosuah Abas, Iacob Nunes Henriques, Dauid Franco da Costa; lower right: Abraham Franco Mendes, Isack de Miranda, Abraham Teles, Iacob Teles da Costa, Benyamin Baruch Mendes, Iacob Franco da Silua, Abraham Israel Zagache; bottom right ignedAmsterdam, Auctore, Romano de Hooghe. The description in Dutch by the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

of De Hooghe's elaborate image contains considerable information about the iconography and text, here translated to English.

Ets Haim (Tree of Life) Library

The Portuguese Synagogue has one of the oldest Jewish libraries in the world, filled with original and rare texts and constantly called upon for academic and rabbinical research. It was founded in 1616 and has been housed in the historical complex of the Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam since 1675. In 1889 the private library of the then librarian David Montezinos was donated to Ets Haim, and the library has been known since then as Ets Haim/Livraria Montezinos. In the 1940s, the library's contents were shipped to Germany by the Nazis, but the books were returned to the Netherlands after the war; the books were sent to Israel in 1979 and returned to Amsterdam in 2000. In 2003, the library, totalling 500 manuscripts and 30,000 printed works, was added by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

to the

Memory of the World International Register UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...

, which recognises documentary heritage of global importance. In 2014, in partnership with the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...

, a majority of the manuscripts were digitized, making the catalog available online and free.

Image gallery

File:Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam).jpg, General view with the synagogue at left, 18th century File:Synagogo1.jpg, Exterior, side view File:BlaDSCF7310.jpg, The exterior of the Esnoga File:Esnoga.jpg, Interior, lit up with candles File:Portuguese Synagogue 1.jpg, Looking up File:Windows with Natural Light .jpg, Windows with natural light File:Foundation memorial stone.jpg, Foundation memorial stone File:Port 4.jpg, Ark (''hekhál'') File:Port 5.jpg, Ark from upstairs Amsterdam-3436-Portugiesische Synagoge-innen-Thoraschrein-2008-gje.jpg, Ark Amsterdam-3442-Portugiesische Synagoge-innen-2008-gje.jpg, The interior of the Esnoga Amsterdam-3444-Portugiesische Synagoge-innen-2008-gje.jpg, Benches in the Esnoga Amsterdam-3440-Portugiesische Synagoge-Traubaldachin-2008-gje.jpg, Wedding canopy File:Port 6.jpg, Chapel in the compound File:Port 7.jpg, Memorial plaques in the chapel File:Port 8.jpg, Memorial chapel File:Port 9.jpg, Silver Torah decorations File:Port 10.jpg, Cloth Torah cover File:Port 11.jpg, Books from the Ets Haim Library on display File:Port 12.jpg, Detail of basin File:Port 13.jpg, Detail of cloth from Torah decorations File:Port 14.jpg, Room for mourning where the body is watched over until burial File:Port 15.jpg, Mourning room File:Port 16.jpg, Rabbinical costume for services File:Port 17.jpg, Books from Ets Haim File:Port 19.jpg, Books from Ets Haim File:Port 20.jpg, Books from Ets Haim File:Hizkiah Da Silva close up.jpg, A close-up of Hezekiah da Silva, as portrayed in a drawing found in the Rabbis' room

Notes

References

External links

* *
Archive of the Portuguese-Israelite community in Amsterdam
in the Archives Database of the Amsterdam City Archives

August 2, 1675. Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana
Website of Ets Haim, Sephardi library
* {{Authority control 1675 establishments in the Dutch Republic 17th-century synagogues in the Netherlands Baroque architecture in the Netherlands Baroque synagogues Buildings of the Dutch Golden Age Jewish Dutch history Orthodox synagogues in the Netherlands Portuguese-Jewish diaspora in Europe Religion in the Dutch Republic Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam Sephardi Jewish culture in the Netherlands Sephardi synagogues Spanish-Jewish diaspora in Europe Synagogues completed in 1675 Synagogues in Amsterdam