Amsterdam אמסטרדם
The city where the descendants of the anusim returned openly to Jewish life for the first time in generations — and where books were printed for all of Europe.
Holland did not require newcomers to change their faith, and Portuguese 'New Christians' came to Amsterdam. Here, for the first time in generations, they could live openly — and here it turned out that returning to observance after generations of hidden life was harder than it looked: hence the community's disputes and its famous excommunications.
Amsterdam's presses printed the Talmud, prayer books and Yiddish works for all of Europe, and the community built the Esnoga, the synagogue that still stands. From Amsterdam R. Menasseh ben Israel appealed to Cromwell to let the Jews back into England.
On the timeline
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- The Hope of Israel (Menasseh ben Israel) — the appeal to Cromwell for the return of the Jews to England
Documents of the period
- The Amsterdam editions of the Talmud — the presses that supplied books to all of Europe
Basis: documents and evidence.