Sephardic Jews In The Netherlands
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The community of Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands, particularly in Amsterdam, was of major importance in the seventeenth century. The Portuguese Jews in the Netherlands did not refer to themselves as "Sephardim", but rather as "Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation." The Portuguese-speaking community grew from ''
converso 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 ...
s'', Jews forced to convert to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal, who rejudaized under
rabbinical Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
authority, to create an openly self-identified Portuguese Jewish community. As a result of the expulsions from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1496, as well as the religious persecution by 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 ...
that followed, many
Spanish and 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 ...
left 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 ...
at the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th century, in search of religious freedom. Some migrated to the newly independent Dutch provinces which allowed Jews to become residents. Many Jews who left for the Dutch provinces were
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 ...
. Others had been sincere
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 ...
, who, despite their conversion, were targeted by Old Christians as suspect. Some of these sought to return to the religion of their ancestors.
Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...
began migrating to the Netherlands in the mid-seventeenth century, but Portuguese Jews viewed them with ambivalence.


State of the community before the large-scale migration

Many Jews migrating from the
Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...
, where Spanish Jews had fled after the
Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...
had been introduced in Spain in 1478, followed by the
expulsion of the Jews from Spain The Expulsion of Jews from Spain was the expulsion of practicing Jews following the Alhambra Decree in 1492, which was enacted to eliminate their influence on Spain's large ''converso'' population and to ensure its members did not revert to Judais ...
in 1492. In 1497, the Portuguese forcibly converted all Jews in Portugal, including many who had returned to Judaism after fleeing Spain and its Inquisition. Following the establishment in 1536 of the
Portuguese Inquisition The Portuguese Inquisition (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal in 15 ...
, descendants of Jews who had converted to Catholicism dating back to a forced conversion in Spain in 1391 through the Portuguese forced conversion, were looked upon with suspicion by Old Christians. In search of greater religious and economic freedoms, many crypto-Jews left Portugal for places with more lenient religious legislation and opportunities where their unique skill sets could thrive. Many left for
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, where Europeans were Portuguese-speaking, and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. A couple of decades later, groups of crypto-Jews started reaching 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 ...
.


Migration to 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 ...
became one of the most favored destinations in the Netherlands for Sephardic Jews. Because many were merchants and traders, Amsterdam benefited economically from their arrival. However, the reason to settle in Amsterdam was not merely voluntary; many crypto-Jews or
marranos ''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 ...
had been refused admission in trading centers such as
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
and
Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
and because of that settled in Amsterdam. Soon many Jews settled at
Vlooienburg Vlooienburg or ''Vloonburg'' was a filled-in island in the River Amstel, Amstel river on the site of the Stopera in Amsterdam. In the seventeenth century, a lively migrant neighborhood emerged here with timber traders, Jewish merchants from the Me ...
. There were three struggling congregations. In 1638 a reconciliation was achieved, whereby one synagogue was sold, one remained in existence and the third continued to be used as a schoolroom which merged to
Talmud Torah Talmud Torah (, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew language, H ...
, a united Sephardic congregation. Several Sephardic Jews supported the
House of Orange The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of O ...
and were in return protected by the
stadholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...
.


Relationship with Amsterdam officials

Many types of discriminatory laws commonplace in Europe and previously in medieval times were no longer in place in Amsterdam starting ca. 1600; to the extent such laws were on the books, they weren't always followed strictly. In part, such general religious toleration arose before Jews came to Amsterdam, as city officials adopted a policy of freedom of conscience in joining the
Union of Utrecht The Union of Utrecht () was an alliance based on an agreement concluded on 23 January 1579 between a number of Habsburg Netherlands, Dutch provinces and cities, to reach a joint commitment against the king, Philip II of Spain. By joining forces ...
. Despite voiced challenges toward the loose legislation tolerating Jews, Burgomasters continued to enact laws tailored to their own pragmatic vision of society, even if they were contrary to popular opinion disfavoring Jews. Much of the toleration expressed by the Amsterdam officials was rooted in the economic assets the new Portuguese Jewish community could provide, as well as the officials’ lack of prior experience with Jewish residents. These factors made Amsterdam officials and even residents less susceptible to labeling the entire Jewish community by their negatively perceived history in Christian tradition. While the Jews of Amsterdam enjoyed greater freedoms in the religious and economic spheres of everyday life, which helped them assimilate more quickly and efficiently into Amsterdam society, they were denied certain political privileges, like participation in municipal government.


Religious identity and community in Amsterdam

The Jewish community of Amsterdam was self-governing, with the Imposta board overseeing communal and individual conduct until the establishment of the unified ''
Ma'amad Ma'amad or Mahamad () is the Council of Elders (or "the board of directors") of the communities of Sephardi Jews ( Spanish-Portuguese Jews) corresponding to ''qahal'' of the Ashkenazi Jews. Ma'amad was described as conservative and authoritarian. ...
'' or governing committee in 1639, seven prominent men who had final say over all that happened in the Jewish community. The ''Ma'amad'' was self-sustaining, with members appointing their successors, thus keeping the communal power in the hands of the merchant elite among the Portuguese Jews. Besides providing for and overseeing the institutions of Portuguese Jewry in Amsterdam, the ''Ma'amad'' also closely controlled the process of rejudaization, helping those who were outwardly Catholic return to a Jewish life. In this process, several individuals rejected Rabbinic Judaism or advanced ideas outside of the norms of Judaism at that time and were disciplined by the ''Ma'amad'' through the process of ''
ḥerem ''Herem'' ( ''ḥērem'') is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning and is similar to ''vitandus'' "excommunication" in the Catholic C ...
'', which could be anything from denial of
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
honors to an outright ban on the individual. The most famous of those to receive a full ''ḥerem'' was philosopher
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 ...
, whose intellectual contributions were very important in his time and continue to influence thinkers to this day. Less influential were
Solomon Ayllon Solomon Ayllon (ca. 1655 or ca. 1660 – 10 April 1728) was ''Hakham, Haham'' of the Sephardic congregations in London and Amsterdam, and a follower of Shabbethai Ẓebi. His name is derived from the town of Ayllon, in what is now the province o ...
and
Tzvi Ashkenazi Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi (; 1656 – 2 May 1718), known as the Hakham Tzvi after his responsa by the same title, served for some time as rabbi of Amsterdam. He was a resolute opponent of the followers of the self-proclaimed messiah, Sa ...
, who had Romaniote origins. Ayllon was connected to
kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
, a mystical aspect of
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 ...
, and Tzvi Ashkenazi to the
Sabbateans The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) are a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676), an Ottoman Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza. Vast ...
, a significant Jewish messianic movement. In
Salonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
, Ashkenazi witnessed the impact of
Sabbatai Zevi Sabbatai Zevi (, August 1, 1626 – ) was an Ottoman Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turkey). His family were Romaniote Jews from Patras. His two names, ''Shabbethay'' and ''Ṣebi'', mean Saturn and mountain gazelle, ...
, the Jewish messiah claimant, on the community. This experience became a determining factor in his whole career. On 30 June 1713,
Nehemiah Hayyun Nehemiah Hiyya ben Moses Hayyun (, – ) was a Bosnian Kabbalist linked to Sabbateanism. His parents, who were Sephardic Jews, lived in Sarajevo in the Ottoman Empire, where he was most likely born; later in life, he pretended that he was a ''me ...
arrived at Amsterdam and requested the permission of the Portuguese Congregation or ''Esnoga'' to circulate his writings, which had been published in Berlin. Tzvi Ashkenazi thought Hayyun was an old enemy of his from
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
and Salonica, and immediately requested Ayllon, who was 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 ...
of the Esnoga and was also from Salonica, not to accord patronage to Hayyun, who was unfavorably known to him. On 23 July Tzvi Ashkenazi pronounced the ban of exclusion upon Ḥayyun and his heretical book. Ayllon was no doubt the rabbi who laid charges against Tzvi Ashkenazi before the Amsterdam magistrates, and thus made an internal dissension of the Jewish community a matter of public discussion.


Commerce


International commerce

The migration of Jews from Portugal and Spain to many places other than Amsterdam allowed them to build a strong international trading network that was unique to diaspora members. Because of the business and family relations many Amsterdam Jews had in light of their former community’s dispersal, they established trading connections with the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
and
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. For instance, the Jewish-Moroccan merchant
Samuel Pallache Samuel Pallache (Arabic: صامويل آل بالاتش, ''Samuil al-Baylash'', Hebrew: שמואל פלאצ'ה, ''Shmuel Palache'', c. 1550 – 4 February 1616) was a Jewish Moroccan merchant, diplomat, and pirate of the Pallache family, who, as ...
(ca. 1550-1616) was sent to the Dutch Republic by Sultan
Zidan Abu Maali Zidan Abu Maali () (died September 1627; or Muley Zidan) was the embattled Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1603 to 1627. He was the son and heir of Ahmad al-Mansur by his wife Lalla Aisha bint Abu Bakkar, a lady of the Chebanate tribe. He ruled on ...
of
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
in 1608 to be his ambassador at
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
. In particular, the relations between the Dutch and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
were established by Sephardic Jews; they contributed to the establishment of the
Dutch West Indies Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was g ...
in 1621, and some of them were members of its directorate. The ambitious schemes of the Dutch for the conquest of
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
were carried into effect through Francisco Ribeiro, a Portuguese captain, who is said to have had Jewish relations in
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
. After the Dutch in Brazil appealed to Holland for craftsmen of all kinds, many Jews went to Brazil; about 600 Jews left Amsterdam in 1642, accompanied by two distinguished scholars —
Isaac Aboab da Fonseca Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (or Isaak Aboab Foonseca) (February 1, 1605 – April 4, 1693) was a rabbi, scholar, kabbalist, and religious writer. In 1656, he was one of several elders within the Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam and for a time ...
and Moses Raphael de Aguilar. In the struggle between Holland and Portugal for the possession of Brazil, the Dutch were supported by the Jews. The Jews of Amsterdam also established commercial relations with various countries in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. In a letter dated November 25, 1622, King
Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...
invited Jews from Amsterdam to settle in
Glückstadt Glückstadt (; ) is a town in the Steinburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Lower Elbe at the confluence of the small Rhin river, about northwest of Altona. Glückstadt is part of the Hamburg ...
, where, among other privileges, the free exercise of their religion would be assured to them.


Commerce and occupations in Amsterdam

Besides merchants, a great number of physicians were among the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Amsterdam, including Samuel Abravanel,
David Nieto David Nieto (1654 – 10 January 1728) was the Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community in London, later succeeded in this capacity by his son, Isaac Nieto. Nieto was born in Venice. He first practised as a physician and officia ...
,
Elijah Montalto Elijah Montalto (1567 – 1616) was a Marrano physician and polemicist from Paris who became the personal physician of Maria de Medici. He had been reared as a Christian in Portugal and openly returned to Judaism on settling in Venice. His ''Suita ...
, and the Bueno family. Joseph Bueno was consulted in the illness of
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange (; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Lordship of Frisia, Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became P ...
(April 1623). Jews were admitted as students at the university, where they studied medicine as the only branch of science which was of practical use to them, for they were not permitted to practise law, and the oath they would be compelled to take excluded them from the professorships. Neither were Jews taken into the trade guilds: a resolution passed by the city of Amsterdam in 1632 excluded them. Exceptions, however, were made in the case of trades which stood in peculiar relations to their religion: printing, bookselling, the selling of meat, poultry, groceries, and drugs. Jews tended to involve themselves in newer industries in Amsterdam, like the importation of colonial products, that just so happened to not have as many guild restrictions attached to them. In 1655, a Jew was permitted to establish a sugar refinery. Jews also became heavily involved in the jewelry and tobacco industries. While occupational status did not differ greatly between Jews and the rest of the Amsterdam population, Jews were far more concentrated in particular lines of commerce.


Decline

The migration of Portuguese Jews from the Netherlands to the Caribbean Antilles began in the mid-17th century, after the Dutch fleet captured the island of
Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...
from Spain in 1634. One generation later, several waves of migrant Jewish and Protestant families from the Netherlands had established a shipping and trading settlement in
Willemstad Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...
, a natural harbor controlled by the
Dutch West Indies Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was g ...
. The Dutch troops lost the Brazilian colony of
Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...
to the Portuguese in 1654, which forced many Dutch Sephardic refugees from Brazil to move to Curaçao or to the colony of
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...
(Manhattan). By the 1680s, the Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam went into decline, in spite of having built a new synagogue, the monumental
Esnoga The Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Mr. Visserplein 3 in Central Amsterdam, Amsterdam, in the North Holland region of The Netherlands. The synagogue was com ...
, which was inaugurated in 1675. With the Netherlands experiencing economic difficulty (in part due to loss of New World colonies) some Jews left and immigration slowed. The Ashkenazic community became the larger Jewish community in Amsterdam, even as the Sephardic Jews kept positions of power and remained the significantly wealthier community. The process of
emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...
, granting Jews full Dutch citizenship in the late 18th and early 19th century, continued the erosion of power the ''Mahamad'' held over the community.


Holocaust

On the eve of
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 ...
, approximately 4300 Sephardic Jews were living in the Netherlands out of a total Jewish population of some 140,000 (3%). After
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 ...
, the Sephardic community had declined to some 800 people, 20% of the prewar population. The Holocaust ended the existence of the Sephardic community in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, with its Jews deported to
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
and with no post-war resettlement in any numbers.


Current era

The Sephardic community in the Netherlands, called the '' Portugees-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap'' "Portuguese-Israelite Religious Community" (PIK), has a membership of some 270 families (approximately 600 persons), and is concentrated in Amsterdam. They constitute now some 2% of the Dutch Jewish community. The PIK also has a youth movement, J-PIG (''Jongeren Portugees-Israëlitische Gemeente'' - Youth Portuguese-Israelite Community). Amsterdam is still home to works of its once vibrant Sephardic community. The ''Esnoga'', which was inaugurated in 1675, is located at the heart of Amsterdam'
Jewish Cultural Quarter
and it is still in use today. The venerabl
Library Ets Haim - ''Livraria Montezinos''
was founded in 1616 and it is the oldest functioning Jewish library in the world. Also, the Sephardic cemetery
Beth Haim of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel The Beth Haim of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel is the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Netherlands. History The land was purchased for use as a burying ground by the Jewish community of Amsterdam in 1614 and is located in the village of Ouderkerk aan d ...
, in a village on the outskirts of Amsterdam, has been in use since 1614 and is the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Netherlands. Another reminder of the Sephardic community in Amsterdam is the Huis de Pinto, a residence for the wealthy Sephardic family de Pinto, constructed in 1680.


Notable Portuguese Jews

*
Abraham Blauvelt Abraham Blauvelt was a Dutch privateer, pirate and explorer of Central America in the 1630s, after whom both the Bluefield River and the neighboring town of Bluefields, Nicaragua were named. One of the last of the Dutch corsairs of the mid-17th c ...
, a 17th century Jewish privateer and explorer of
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
and the western
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 ...
, after whom the towns of
Bluefields Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Reg ...
,
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
, and
Bluefields, Jamaica Bluefields is a settlement in Westmoreland Parish on the Caribbean island of Jamaica. It contains a major beach, Bluefields Beach. In Spanish Jamaica, Bluefields was known as Oristan. The town was named after Abraham Blauvelt, a Dutch- ...
, were both named *
David de Aaron de Sola David de Aaron de Sola or David Aaron de Sola (1796–1860) () was a rabbi and author, born in Amsterdam, the son of Aaron de Sola. Family history and education David Aaron De Sola was descended from a distinguished family of Sephardim, wh ...
– rabbi and author (1796–1860) * Abraham Cohen Pimentel – rabbi Amsterdam Synagogue (died 1697) *
Jacob Abendana Jacob Abendana (1630 – 12 September 1685) was ''hakham'' of London from 1680 until his death. Biography Abendana was the eldest son of Joseph Abendana and brother to Isaac Abendana. Though his family originally lived in Hamburg, Jacob and h ...
– rabbi and philosopher (1630–1695) *Jacob Israel Belmonte – poet, co-founder of the Sephardic community of Amsterdam (1570–1629) *
Isaac Aboab da Fonseca Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (or Isaak Aboab Foonseca) (February 1, 1605 – April 4, 1693) was a rabbi, scholar, kabbalist, and religious writer. In 1656, he was one of several elders within the Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam and for a time ...
– rabbi, kabbalist, scholar, writer (February 1, 1605 – April 4, 1693) *
Hedy d'Ancona Hedwig "Hedy" d'Ancona (; born 1 October 1937) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) who served as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture between 1989 and 1994. Biography Education and early career Hedwig d'Ancona was born ...
– female politician, well-known feminist (b. October 1, 1937) *
Abraham Bueno de Mesquita Abraham "Appie" Bueno de Mesquita (, ; July 23, 1918 in Amsterdam – August 19, 2005 in Lelystad) was a Dutch comedian, actor and stage artist, well known for his ability to make funny faces. In World War II, Bueno de Mesquita was imprisoned ...
– comedian, actor (July 23, 1918 – August 19, 2005) *
Benjamin Cardozo Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the New York Court of Appeals from 1914 to 1932 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1932 until his deat ...
– Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
(May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) *
Uri Coronel Maurice Uriel "Uri" Coronel (24 December 1946 – 18 July 2016) was a Dutch sports director and chairman of Ajax, a position he held at the club from April 2008 to 25 July 2011. He was born in Amsterdam. Career Uri Coronel was a board member fo ...
– sports director and chairman of
Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...
(December 24, 1946 – July 18, 2016) *
Daniel De Leon Daniel De Leon (; December 14, 1852 – May 11, 1914), alternatively spelt Daniel de León, was a Curaçaoan-American socialist newspaper editor, politician, Marxist theoretician (Marxism), theoretician, and trade union organizer. He is regarde ...
– American Socialist leader (December 14, 1852 – May 11, 1914) *
Isaac da Costa Isaäc da Costa (14 January 1798 – 28 April 1860) was a Jewish Dutch poet. Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Portuguese Jew, Daniel da Costa, a relative of Uriel Acosta, was a promi ...
– poet (January 14, 1798 – April 28, 1860) *
Manasseh ben Israel Manoel Dias Soeiro (; 1604 – 20 November 1657), better known by his Hebrew name Menasseh or Menashe ben Israel (), was a Jewish scholar, rabbi, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer, publisher, and founder of the first Hebrew printing pr ...
– rabbi, influential in the readmission of the Jews to England (1604–1657) *
Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (6 June 1868 – 11 February 1944) was a Dutch graphic artist active in the years before the Second World War. His pupils included graphic artist M. C. Escher (1898–1972). A Sephardic Jew, in his old age he was se ...
– graphic artist, mentor of
M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; ; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made woodcuts, lithography, lithographs, and mezzotints, many of which were Mathematics and art, inspired by mathematics. Despite wide popular int ...
(June 6, 1868 – February 11, 1944,
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
) * Abraham Lopes Cardozo
hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...
of
Congregation Shearith Israel The Congregation Shearith Israel (), often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 2 West 70th Street, at Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, Unit ...
(1914–2006) *
George Maduro George John Lionel Maduro (15 July 1916 – 8 February 1945) was a Dutch law student who served as an officer in the 1940 Battle of the Netherlands and distinguished himself in repelling the German attack on The Hague. He was posthumously award ...
– resistance fighter, distinguished officer (July 15, 1916 – February 9, 1945,
Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...
) * Balthazar (Isaac) Orobio de Castro – philosopher (1617–1687) *
Samuel Pallache Samuel Pallache (Arabic: صامويل آل بالاتش, ''Samuil al-Baylash'', Hebrew: שמואל פלאצ'ה, ''Shmuel Palache'', c. 1550 – 4 February 1616) was a Jewish Moroccan merchant, diplomat, and pirate of the Pallache family, who, as ...
– Moroccan envoy to 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 ...
, co-founder of the Sephardic community of Amsterdam (ca. 1550–1616) *
Samuel Sarphati Samuel Sarphati (31 January 1813 – 23 June 1866) was a Dutch physician and Amsterdam city planner. Biography Sarphati's ancestors were Spanish and Portuguese Jews who arrived in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Though middle-class, his p ...
– physician, city planner (1813–1866) *
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 ...
– philosopher and optician (November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677), excommunicated 1656 * Jacob Tirado – merchant and shipowner, co-founder of the Sephardic community of Amsterdam (ca. 1540–1620) *
Joseph de la Vega José or Joseph Penso de la Vega, best known as Joseph de la Vega (ca. 1650 — Amsterdam, 13 November, 1692), was a Sephardic Jews, Sephardic Jewish merchant in diamonds, financial expert, moral philosophy, moral philosopher and poet, residing i ...
– author, poet and economist (1650–1692) *
Isaac de Pinto Isaac de Pinto (10 April 1717 – 13 August 1787) was a Dutch merchant and banker of Portuguese Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish origin who was one of the main investors in the Dutch East India Company, as well as a scholar and philosophe who co ...
– merchant/banker, political philosopher (1717–1780) * Joseph Teixeira de Mattos – watercolor painter and pastellist (1892–1971) * Joseph Mendes da Costa – sculptor and teacher (1863–1939) *
Rehuel Lobatto Rehuel Lobatto (6 June 1797 – 9 February 1866 ) was a Dutch mathematician. The Gauss-Lobatto quadrature method is named after him, as are his variants on the Runge–Kutta methods for solving ODEs, and the Lobatto polynomials. He was ...
– mathematician (1797–1866) *
Nathan Lopes Cardozo Nathan Lopes Cardozo (; born 1946) is a Dutch-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi and Jewish philosopher, founder of the David Cardozo Academy in Jerusalem. Childhood and education Nathan Lopes Cardozo was born in Amsterdam and named after his father's ...
- contemporary rabbi, philosopher and scholar of Judaism


Persons of partial Dutch Jewish descent

*
Frieda Belinfante Frieda Belinfante (May 10, 1904 – March 5, 1995) was a Dutch cellist, philharmonic conductor, a prominent lesbian, and a member of the Dutch resistance during World War II. After the war, Belinfante emigrated to the United States and continued ...
– cellist and conductor, Jewish father (May 10, 1904 – April 26, 1995) *
Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (; born October 3, 1973) is a Canadian actress. After working in Canadian and American television, Campbell emerged as a scream queen for her starring roles in horror and thriller films. She has also appeared in blockbu ...
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
actress, daughter of an Amsterdam-born mother of Portuguese Jewish descent (October 3, 1973) *
Abraham Pais Abraham Pais (; May 19, 1918 – July 28, 2000) was a Dutch- American physicist and science historian. Pais earned his Ph.D. from University of Utrecht just prior to a Nazi ban on Jewish participation in Dutch universities during World War II ...
– particle physicist, science historian, Portuguese Jewish father,
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
mother (May 19, 1918 – July 28, 2000) *
Ophir Pines-Paz Ophir Pines-Paz (; born 11 July 1961) is an Israeli former politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Science, Culture & Sport, and as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party from 1996 until 2010. Biography Ophir P ...
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i politician, Dutch-Sephardic father (July 11, 1961)


See also

*
History of the Jews in Amsterdam The history of the Jews in Amsterdam focuses on the historical center of the Dutch Jewish community, comprising both Portuguese Jews originally from both Spain and Portugal and Ashkenazi Jews, originally from central Europe. The two separate gro ...
*
History of the Jews in the Netherlands The history of the Jews in the Netherlands largely dates to the late 16th century and 17th century, when Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain began to settle in Amsterdam and a few other Dutch cities, because the Netherlands was an unusual ...


Notes


Sources

*Bodian, Miriam, ''Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam'': Indiana University Press 1997.! *da Silva Rosa, J. S., ''Geschiedenis der Portugeesche Joden te Amsterdam 1593-1925'' (History of the Portuguese Jews in Amsterdam 1593-1925): Amsterdam 1925 (Dutch) *Katchen, Aaron L., ''Christian Hebraists and Dutch Rabbis: Seventeenth Century Apologetics and the Study of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah'': Harvard University Press 1985 *Sorkin, David, ''Beyond the east-west divide: rethinking the narrative of the Jews’ political status in Europe, 1600–1750'': Jewish History 2000 *Swetschinski, Daniel M., ''Reluctant Cosmopolitans: The Portuguese Jews Of Seventeenth-century Amsterdam'': Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation 2004 *Tammes, Peter., ''“Hack, Pack, Sack”: Occupational Structure, Status, and Mobility of Jews in Amsterdam, 1851–1941'': Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2012


External links


The Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sephardic Jews In The Netherlands Jewish Dutch history
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 ...
Spanish-Jewish diaspora in Europe Portuguese-Jewish diaspora in Europe Religion in the Dutch Republic Jewish Portuguese history