Journey to Holland

Following a 91-day voyage aboard the Rotterdam, a beautiful Holland America cruise ship, I disembarked at the city of Rotterdam, and then made my way to Amsterdam. I stayed for several weeks, visiting local museums, the Jewish community and other sites in the city.

The Jewish community in this city has special historic importance. Following the expulsions of Jews from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497, Jewish refugees made their way to other receptive countries, finding refuge in these countries, distant from the harsh anti-Semitism prevailing in the two Iberian Peninsula countries. And one of the places these refugees came to was to the city of Amsterdam.

The transition to the Netherlands was not easy. Those who were able to leave Spain or Portugal with their wealth, found that business opportunities abounded as European powers expanded their horizons in the Far East, to access the trade routes for the importation of silk and spices to Europe. But many other co-religionists lived in dire circumstances, barely eking out a living in this new, colder, but welcoming clime.

Inevitably, there were clashes. Rabbinic and communal authority was wielded harshly, with those not complying with leadership ideology, finding themselves excommunicated and shunned from all community interaction. I review two such persons, both whose ancestry hails from Portugal but finding that their ideas and questions caused the leadership to oust them. These are the unfortunate members, who were unable to bridge the divide between communal mores and dictates and their desire for individual expression.

Amazingly, the original structures still stand, in mute testimony to the enduring commitment Jews made to withstand both the pressures and persecutions of anti-Semitic authorities and transplant themselves in other more hospitable settings. I hope I have done some measure of justice by reviewing this painful history and its enduring message.