THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Amsterdam years, the tiirbcii
Nowcli Slmloni
by discord ammi);
was
Ci)njrri'j;ulioii
its
dis-
nicmiifrs. Sharp rehakaiii L'/./.iel in his
proofs adniiiiistircd by the serinons, aii(l<lilTiriii<-(sof opinioiiconccrniiig divers ritual matters, alienated a mimber of lliem, who aeeordingly. uixler the liadersliip of David ih' Heiito Dsorio, formed a third eoiiirregation. entitled " IJet Their rabbis were David I'arilo (inYisrael " (ItilS). stalled ItiltS), Samuel Tardiola (in ollice from 1019 to his departure for Jerusalem), uud Isaac Aboab da Foiiseea (installed 1020). Thus far the Jewish services had been tacitly rather than openly i)erniitted by the city authoriDurin^rt lie contests between the Hemnnslnuits ties. and the conlralJemonstnints frequent allusion was made to the liberty of worship enjoyed by the
Accordingly the States General appointed a commission to make statutes coneeniini; the Jews (101.")), and a city ordinance, dated Xovend)erS, 1010, prohibited them from s|)eakini; jiublicly ajrainst the Jews.
Christian religion or publishinj; anythintr ajrainst
and forbade them to intermarry with Cliristians. the same time sjieeial forms of oath for Jews were drawn uj) in Spanish (see " Ilandvesten." 1T4S,
it,
At ii.
47~).
The
result of the coinmissiim
was
a resc.lu-
supplement (Iluishoudelyk Hc.clemenI) it plainly reveals the traditional autocmcy of the "parnasim" (presidents and wardens); in all dispites they aUaie coidd decide. The followinir nibbis of the dilTeri'nt synaiioirues were reinslali'd in the order of priority Saul Levi Morleira (died UiOO), of ap|>ointnunt its
David
I'.'irdo
D>' Caotro,
" De Synagoge der
tion (1619), granting" each city authority to
make
its
own re.gtilations concerning .Tews. The Portuguese Jews, as above
described, had founded three congregations. AVhen, in the beginning of the fourth decade of IhesevenAmalga- tecuth century, numerous .Jews from mation. other countries came to Amslerdam. those from Spain and Portugal wished to provide for a closer imion with each other; after long negoliiilions, the three congrcsations were consolidated (1088). The synagogue"" Beth Ya'akob" was sold; that of "15et Yisrael " was remodeled and used as a school (Talmud Torah). and '•Neweh
Shalom " was retained as the common place of worA constitution of forty-two articles, which had received the sanction of the city authorities, was proclaimed in this synagogue (1688). AVitli ship.
(died
lO.")?),
Manasseh ben
Israel
(in
Middelburjr lO.'iT. on his journey back from London), and Isiuie Aboab da
ollice until
Ki.")."!,
anil died in
Theimjiorlanceof the Amstercongregation in thi' middle of the seventeenth century may be seen from the following Wliile Manasseh ben Israel was in Lonincident. don, endeavoring to secure from Cromwrll the rcadmission of Jews to England, Charles II. notified tlic Jewish congregation in Amsterdam (lOoO), that if they would support him with money and arms in his projected invasion of England, he woulil willingly grant them permission to settle there when he should have coni|uered the country. Though outwardly tlourishing, the tniiled congregation was not wil him tits internal troubles. Inld4()Unii-;r, AcosTA, and in IO.")G B.Mti cii Si'ixoz., were placed under the ban of excommunication. Now came a time whireinall Judaism was set in a
Fonseca
(ilicd 109:5).
dam Jewish
Sephardic Syxagoglk at Amstkiu>am. Showixg (From
538
Its Positio.n o.n Ca.nal.
Portugutfa Israel.
GemwnU-.")
Shabbethai Zebi, the false MesThe great majority of the PortuAmsterdam in lOtiO were infected with
state of ferment, siah, appeared.
guese Jews
in
the prevailing maina. and conditions might have become serious had not Jacob Sasportas (a member of the rabbinical board) stepped forward to combat with all his energy the insanitj- which The Shab- had seized upon everybody. It had bethaiZebi already gone far indeed; prayers had Movement. n offered in the svnagogue for the I
"King Messiah Shabbethai Zebi"; prayer-books had been lu'iuted in which the date was given as "the year one of the Messiah," and adorned with frontispieces portraying Shabbethai Zebi. JIany of the congregation had even journeyed to Adrianople to .see the " Messiah." Reaction, however, soon set in; Shabbethai Zebi's career
