Symposium The Rabbis of Early Modern Amsterdam: Challenges, Achievements and Legacies

In this symposium we will consider the individuals who made up the rabbinate of Amsterdam in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the particular challenges (and successes) they had in building and preserving Jewish communities in the Dutch Republic.

These rabbis faced formidable new challenges to their authority, unlike what their medieval predecessors encountered. Among these were building a religiously, intellectually, socially, and economically thriving community on the banks of the Amstel while integrating immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula and Central and Eastern Europe; the reintegration of former conversos into normative Judaism; the greater separation of administrative and religious leadership, with lay leaders taking over communal responsibilities and prerogatives formerly held by rabbis; new organization of rabbinic training; and changes in titles. The early modern rabbi was thus, in very interesting ways, quite distinct not only from his medieval predecessors, but also from his modern successors, and Amsterdam was one site where the institution of the rabbinate found its rearticulation.

The symposium will be held May 15th and 16th at the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam.  For more information and inquiries about tickets and other matters contact mbii@jck.nl