The Portuguese Synagogue
Sephardic Jews fleeing Spain and Portugal during the persecutions of the 16th and early 17th centuries settled in an eastern Amsterdam neighborhood that became known as the Jewish Quarter. In light of the ongoing conflict between the Dutch Republic and Spain, the community referred to themselves as "Portuguese Jews."
In the early 17th century, there were three Sephardic communities in Amsterdam: Beth Jacob (founded as early as 1602); Neve Shalom (1608-12); and Beth Israel (1618). In 1639, the three communities merged to form Talmud Torah, or the Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam, which still exists today.
In 1665, the Portuguese Jewish Community commissioned the Portugees-Israëlietische Synagoge, an elegant brick structure within an existing courtyard. Construction took place from 1671 to 1675 under Elias Bouwman and Danield Stalpaert.
The total cost of the building was 186,000 florins, a princely sum. When completed, the Portuguese Synagogue was the largest synagogue in the world.
Miraculously, the synagogue survived the Nazi invasion in 1940 unscathed. It is still not known why it was left intact when virtually all other synagogues were destroyed. Before the Nazis occupied Holland, 120,000 Jews lived in Amsterdam, around 2,300 of which were Sephardi Jews. After the war, only 20,000 Jews were left in all of the Netherlands, including just 800 Sephardi.
Today, there are 15-20,000 Jews living in Amsterdam and the Portuguese Jewish Community has around 600 contributing members.
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