Newspaper Page Text
July 29, 1977
Jews of Amsterdam
•Homemade Dough
Sicilian or Thin Cruat
•Spaghetti Dinners
•Laaagna
•Antipasto
•Italian
Sandwiches
•Draft Beer
& Wine
bella
I pizzai
phone 255-9122
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6435 Roswell Road
1.3 Miles North of 1-285
-the
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by Tavl Volk
As far back as the 18th cen
tury there have been Jews living
in tiie Netherlands, though they
were subjected to periodic ex
pulsions and persecutions dur
ing these early years. The
Jewish population substantially
increased when Marranos flee
ing the Inquisition in Spain and
Portugal began trickling into
Holland. Due to the climate of
tolerance that developed in the
Netherlands, large numbers .of
Ashkenazic Jews also began
settling in the country during
the 1600’s and afterwards.
Holland’s Jewish community
grew and prospered.
Before World War II, there
were about 140,000 Jews living
in the Netherlands. Today, there
are about 20-30,000, about half
of whom live in Amsterdam.
Stories behind people with
names like Soetendorp, Van
Dyck, and Cardozo can tell the
Jewish tourist a lot more about
the history of .Amsterdam’s
Jewish community.
Leah Soetendorp’s family is
originally from Eastern Europe,
but she was born in Israel in the
late 1940’s. Her family came to
Amsterdam in the early ’50’s,
and her father founded one of
Amsterdam’s first non-
Orthodox synagogues. He died
last summer, but her brother is
continuing the family tradition.
Ha is a rabbi in the Hague, and
is becoming one of the chief
spokespeople for Dutch Jewry.
Leah has been to Israel
numerous times and, like many
of her North .American contem
poraries, often travels back and
forth. For the present, she la
content living in Amsterdam
and visiting Israel, although she
admits this feeling may change
and she may decide to make
aliyah. It was while talking to
her one night that I realised one
of the fundamental differences
between European and
American Jews: European Jews’
proximity to Israel. The distance
from Amsterdam to Israel is less
than half that of the East Coast
to Israel. As s result, people go
beck and forth with ease.
As a European, Leah sees
Israel in a very interesting light.
First of all, her relationship to
the Holocaust is more direct
than that of many Americans.
Secondly, having grown up in a
small country, she is concerned
about the massive economic and
emotional support Israel
receives from the West.
Sometimes, she told me, she
thinks that Israel is intent on
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Amsterdam synagogue circa 1841.
becoming another America, only bench between
in the Middle East. She hopes
that Israel’s independence can be
maintained despite rising
economic pressures.
Leenike Mouwes is Leah’s
roommate. Jewish travelers to
Holland may recognise the fami
ly name because Leenike
operates Amsterdam's glatt
kosher restaurant Her parents
run a kosher sandwich and
grocery store, and her brother
has a delicatessen in the Hague.
Leenike’s family goes back
almost 200 years in Amsterdam
and, through most of that time,
they have been in the food and
grocery business.
Leenike went to Israel in the
mid-1960s to learn the kosher
restaurant business at the
restaurant school in Netanys.
When you enter the
restaurant, chances are that
Leenike will be ia the back cook
ing. She is, however, always
willing to greet customers.
For Hashana Rabba, I was in
the Portuguese synagogue, one
of the world’s most beautiful
synagogues. I was sitting next to
a very pious-looking ;man who
had put his talit bagdown on the
People are forever asking, How do the Halpema do
it? How do they menage to have so few vacahcies?
The answer, of courea, Is simple: Give a tenant a
good location with low rant, and ha’ll stay put Our
motto still stands: We’d rather rent a building at
$300 and keep it occupied, than have it vacant at
$500.
4-fcJlpjm/CK
' | 1 ENTERPRISES Inc
"The Inflation Fighters"
451-0318
P.S. Should we not have a building for you at this
^time please place your^iama^on^outjvaitingjlrt^
us. I tried
reading the name embroidered
on the beg, but couldn’t. After
the service, I asked his name:
Lopez Cardoso. He is a rabbi
who, born in Amsterdam and
currently living in Jerusalem,
was visiting his family for the
holidays. The Cardosos are
members of Amsterdam’s
Sephardic community which
began emigrating to Holland
during the Spanish Inquisition.
The services at the Portuguese
synagogue are impressive for
their stateliness. The immensity
of the building adds to the
grandeur. From the bima, lit by
tall candles at each corner, to the
candelabra suspended from the
ceiling, to the intricate wood
decoration throughout the sanc
tuary, it’s almost a magical ex
perience to daven there.
Unfortunately, because the
synagogue is downtown, it is no
longer within walking distance
for most of Amsterdam’s Jews.
As a result, the synagogue rare
ly has a minyan. Because of the
synagogue’s beauty and history,
the congregation cannot move to
a different building.
Amsterdam’s other syn
agogues are newer — built since
the war. For Kabbalat Shabbat
and then for the Simchat Torah
hakafot, I went ;to an Orthodox
Ashkenazi synagogue on Jacob
Obrechtplein, where the people
were friendly, but the services
were somewhat restrained.
Shabbat morning, I accom
panied Leah and Leenike to the
congregation Leah’s father
helped found. It’s called “liberal”
— meaning that its services fall
somewhere between American
Reform and Conservative.
Besides having sp many sites
of Jewish interest, Amsterdam,
a beautiful city rich in culture
and history, offers the visitor
numerous possibilities for ex
ploration and enjoyment.