34 Facts About Dutch Jews

Reliable documentary evidence dates only from the 1100s; for several centuries, the record reflects that the Dutch Jews were persecuted within the region and expelled on a regular basis.

Dutch Jews have been settled in Nijmegen, the oldest settlement, in Doesburg, Zutphen and in Arnhem since 1404.

The Dutch Jews were held responsible for the epidemic and for the way it was rapidly spreading, because presumably they were the ones who had poisoned the water of springs used by the Christians.

When Dutch Jews settled in the diocese of Utrecht is unknown, but rabbinical records regarding Jewish dietary laws speculated that the Jewish community there dated to Roman times.

Until 1789, Dutch Jews were prohibited from staying in the city overnight.

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Dutch Jews were admitted to Zeeland by Albert, Duke of Bavaria.

Dutch Jews repeated such edicts in 1545 and 1549, trying to suppress the Protestant Reformation, which was expanding.

In 1571, the Duke of Alba notified the authorities of Arnhem that all Dutch Jews living there should be seized and held until their fates were determined.

Sephardim or Sephardic Dutch Jews, were native to Sepharad, the Hebrew name for Spain and Portugal.

The newly independent and tolerant Dutch provinces provided more favourable conditions for observant Jews to establish a community, and to practice their religion openly.

In 1642 about 600 Dutch Jews left Amsterdam for Brazil, accompanied by two distinguished scholars, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca and Moses Raphael de Aguilar.

Dutch Jews were admitted as students to the university, where they studied medicine as the only branch of science that was of practical use to them.

Several Sephardic Dutch Jews stood out during that time, including Menasseh Ben Israel.

Dutch Jews was known for corresponding widely with Christian leaders and helped to promote Jewish resettlement in England.

Over time, many German Dutch Jews gained prosperity through retail trading and they became specialists in diamond-cutting and sales.

Dutch Jews had close relations with the head of the DePinto family, at whose villa, Tulpenburg, near Ouderkerk, he and his wife paid more than one visit.

Dutch Jews attended the marriages of offspring of various prominent Jewish families.

Dutch Jews had desired to establish schools for Jewish children, who were excluded from the public schools; even the Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen, founded in 1784, did not willingly receive them or admit Jews as members.

Many Dutch Jews fought at Waterloo, where thirty-five Jewish officers died.

The Dutch Jews prospered in the independent Netherlands throughout the 19th century.

Dutch Jews were a relatively small part of the population and showed a strong tendency towards internal migration.

Nevertheless, as a result of the lack of understanding, mental and physical health problems, too many missing relatives and general administrational difficulties, thousands of surviving Dutch Jews emigrated, or made aliyah to Mandatory Palestine, later Israel.

Since the late 20th century, a number of mostly Israeli and Russian Dutch Jews have immigrated to the Netherlands, the latter after the Soviet Union eased emigration and after its dissolution.

Orthodox Dutch Jews do not accept them as Dutch Jews unless they undergo a religious conversion through an Orthodox Bet Din.

Esther Voet, director of the Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israel, advised the Knesset in 2014 that Dutch Jews were concerned about what they perceived as increasing antisemitism in the Netherlands.

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The survey revealed that antisemitism is more prevalent among Muslims: 12 percent of Muslim respondents expressed a "not positive" view of Dutch Jews, compared to two percent among Christian respondents.

Notably, in the early days when small groups of Dutch Jews were attempting to establish communities, they used the services of rabbis and other officials from either culture, depending on who was available.

Close proximity of the two cultures led to intermarriage at a higher rate than was known elsewhere, and in consequence many Jews of Dutch descent have family names that seem to belie their religious affiliation.

All Dutch Jews have for centuries named children after the children's grandparents, which is otherwise considered exclusively a Sephardi tradition.

In 1812, while the Netherlands was under Napoleonic rule, all Dutch residents were obliged to register surnames with the civic authorities; previously only Sephardim had complied with this.

Certain Yiddish words have been adopted into the Dutch Jews language, especially in Amsterdam, where there was a large Jewish population.

Several other Hebrew words can be found in the local dialect, including: Mazzel from mazel, which is the Hebrew word for luck or fortune; Tof which is Tov, in Hebrew meaning good ; and Goochem, in Hebrew Chacham or Hakham, meaning wise, sly, witty or intelligent, where the Dutch Jews g is pronounced similarly to the 8th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet the guttural Chet or Heth.

However, all the major colonial powers were competing fiercely for control of trade routes; the Dutch Jews were relatively unsuccessful and during the 18th century, their economy went into decline.

Dutch Jews were obliged to live in specified Jewish quarters, there was severe overcrowding.