Studia Rosenthaliana - Volume 51, Issue 1/2: The Early Modern Rabbis of Amsterdam, 2025

In seventeenth-century Amsterdam, Christian Hebraism was a widespread phenomenon. In proximity to one of the most important Jewish communities of the Western hemisphere, Christians not only studied and edited Hebrew sources, they also approached Jewish scholars in their search for Jewish knowledge. Amsterdam rabbis responded in a variety of ways. In my essay, I propose a set of models to systematize the responses of Menasseh ben Israel, Saul Levi Morteira, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, and Moshe Raphael de Aguilar. To our knowledge, only Menasseh ben Israel developed the project of an Abrahamic theology. Morteira was highly versed in Christian denominational difference but used his knowledge to mimic (and subvert) Christian Hebraism. Aboab and Aguilar were less concerned with Christian Hebraism than with Jewish distinctions and traditional replies to Christian anti-Jewish polemics.

In this essay, I examine, from a primarily philosophical perspective, Menasseh’s views on human freedom, and especially freedom of the will, as these emerge in De Termino Vitae and other writings by the celebrated Amsterdam rabbi, teacher, author and printer. In light of Maimonides’ historical importance on this question (as on other philosophical topics), especially for the Sephardic Jews of Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, a comparison of Menasseh’s account with that of his illustrious twelfth-century forebear contributes to illuminating both the consistency and possible pedigree of that account, as well as its easily overlooked complexity. Moreover, the account shared, with some differences of detail, by Menasseh and Maimonides has as good a license as any to count as at least an authoritative ‘Jewish’ view, something that Beverwijck wanted so badly to know.

Upon his return to Amsterdam from Recife in 1654, Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was forced to once more display leadership under crisis, but of a different kind than the one that he had displayed in Dutch Brazil. The leadership he had to demonstrate was far more challenging and demanding than it was in Brazil. He had to deal with the controversial affair of Spinoza and with the disruptive influence of the Sabbatian movement. Aboab’s involvement in those two crucial events marking the history of Amsterdamʼs community provide some inkling about the character of his leadership in times of disruption. This article discusses how Aboab faced these two incidents which threatened to undermine the internal solidarity of the community and how, despite the ideological and emotional tension that these challenges caused, both of his fateful decisions manifest a coherent view of the rabbinical leadership required to lead his congregants in periods of crisis.

This article reexamines rabbinic-lay relations in seventeenth-century Amsterdam through a close analysis of a little-studied constitutional provision of the Kahal Kadosh Talmud Torah: Article 42, which established a standing committee of six representatives empowered to amend the community’s founding agreements. Shifting attention away from questions of personality and temperament that have shaped some earlier portrayals of relations among the community’s rabbis, the study reads bureaucratic records as evidence of structural tensions within communal governance. By tracing invocations of Article 42 in conflicts involving Menasseh ben Israel and other rabbis, the article shows that disputes centered not merely on discipline or decorum, but on competing conceptions of what authority and legitimacy were conferred by communal office. The committee of six functioned as a constitutional ‘escape hatch,’ preserving a form of collective authority that could limit the Ma’amad’s power over officially appointed rabbis. This overlooked mechanism complicates prevailing assumptions about rabbinic subordination and reveals persistent contestation of the rabbinic role for the better part of the seventeenth century.

Amsterdam was one of the locations where an early modern urban rabbinate emerged. Next to the Sephardic rabbinate, an Ashkenazi rabbinate was established from 1639 onwards. The new urban model involved a shift away from the traditional medieval Ashkenazi model, in which the parnassim (lay leaders) and rabbis came from the same social class and could even swap roles. As the community grew, changes in the profile and status of the rabbinate ran parallel to changes in the administration of the community. While governance gradually became more oligarchic, reflecting similar patterns in city administration and within the Portuguese community, the rabbinate came to form a distinct translocal class. Rabbis were now recruited from elsewhere, bringing prestige, status and networks spanning Ashkenaz. This reflected Amsterdam’s evolving status within the Ashkenazi world, from a new hub in the 1640s to one of the most prominent urban centres in Western Ashkenaz by the end of the century. The rabbinate evolved from being very local and subservient to their Portuguese counterparts, becoming an authority initially established within the city but which gradually spread beyond its borders. The Amsterdam Ashkenazi rabbinate acquired a respected position within the rabbinic world.

Although historians have illuminated Portuguese Jewish identity in social, political, and cultural contexts, the community’s religious development is less clearly understood. Emerging from Iberian converso backgrounds, Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jews lacked direct continuity with rabbinic life and initially depended on rabbis from Ashkenazic and Italian backgrounds. This paper examines how the community evolved into what became the Western Sephardic ‘tradition,’ focusing on the formation and standardization of liturgy as recorded in seventeenth-century prayer books printed in Amsterdam. These texts reveal how printers, rabbis, and lay leaders together shaped a new religious culture for former conversos adapting to rabbinic Judaism. Considered alongside the community’s growing educational and institutional framework, this process marks the gradual consolidation of a distinctive identity within early modern Jewish history.

In the seventeenth century, the governing body of the Portuguese congregation (Ma’amad) monitored the publications of its members. Authors and printers had to obtain permission from the Ma’amad to print their works. Even the congregation’s most renowned rabbis had to navigate the delicate balance between the policy of the Ma’amad, their aspirations for intellectual or religious reflections, and their roles as spiritual leaders of the newly established congregation.

The policy and regulations of the Ma’amad had a profound impact on printing and publishing in the seventeenth century and on congregational life in general. The policy on printing seems to have been based on a set of regulations, drafted in Haarlem in 1605, that in turn were influenced by Jewish lay leaders in Venice. The strict policy was a challenge for the rabbis, who had to touch base with the parnassim, the members of the Ma’amad, every step along their way to find a tolerated middle ground. This article will shed light on the dynamics at play in seventeenth-century Amsterdam Jewish book production. It will explore how the rabbis dealt with the tension between the knowledge that they wanted to gain, pass on, or publish and the perspective and authority of the parnassim. It will also look at printing and manuscript production as a powerful tool for the congregation’s leaders to visualize and strengthen Sephardic identity.

The Portuguese Jewish community of early modern Amsterdam was a male-dominated, patriarchal society, led by secular authorities, with rabbis subordinate to them. Yet, as in other communities, many Portuguese women managed to navigate these constraints, acting independently and attending to their own affairs while also actively participating in communal life. This was especially true of women connected to the religious elite, who often worked behind the scenes but played vital roles in education, charity, ritual practices, and the management of communal institutions. They educated women and children, oversaw kosher food and ritual baths, produced ceremonial textiles, and supported orphanages and charitable societies. Despite the frequent criticism from both lay and religious leaders of the behavior of Portuguese women in general, there are notable instances of praise and respect, also between religious leaders and their wives. Overall, the female religious elite made essential contributions to the cohesion and success of the community, complementing the male leadership without challenging the patriarchal hierarchy.

Hakham Solomon Ayllon was the Chief Rabbi of the Amsterdam Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ congregation from 1700 until his death in 1728. This article explores some episodes during his tenure in Amsterdam, including aspects of his participation in the Sabbatean movement.