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Series II: Ashkenazic Jewish letters, 1820-1870
1.25 linear feet; 550 documents in 3 document boxes
This communal archive of the Ashkenazic Jewish community provides a window into the day-to-day proceedings and official communal interactions, both within the membership of the community itself, as well as with other Jewish communities in Holland, and across the European continent. Religious functionaries, such as Rabbis and religious court judges, as well as lay leaders are represented within this archival collection.
Although Sephardic Jews outnumbered Ashkenazic Jews in the late 16th, early 17th centuries when both groups began to reside in Amsterdam, by the early 19th century Ashkenazic Jews had become the overwhelming majority of the city's Jewish population and played an ever increasing role in that city's becoming the largest and most important Jewish community in Western Europe.
This archive was deaccessioned from Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (under the auspices of the University of Amsterdam) in the 1990s. All of the items in the archive are marked with the Rosenthaliana deaccession stamp and a letter confirming the terms of acquisition, is in the collection file.
Box 2 Folder 1
A local authorization for Rabbi Abraham Solomon Zalman Alfandari of Jerusalem to solicit and collect funds among the Ashkenazic Jews of Amsterdam, to support the building of a synagogue in Jerusalem, 1822
Box 2 Folder 2
Entreaty to the various outlying communities to engage in prayer, recitation of psalms, and acts of charity, to avert the evil decree of the raging Cholera Epidemic sweeping through the community., 1832 or 1849
Box 2 Folder 3
Text of a special prayer to be recited honoring Moses Montefiore and Adolphe Cremieux in recognition of their herculean efforts to marshal a worldwide effort to combat the heinous accusations of a blood libel against the Jews of Damascus, 1840
Box 2 Folder 4
An effusive letter of praise for King William I, 1840
It should be noted that during the reigns of William I (1814-1840) and William II (1840-1849), Jews were politically active in various cities, and in Amsterdam Jewish representation in the city council was nearly continuous in this period.
Box 2 Folder 5
A letter from the Jewish Community of Cuijk (app. 100 miles away) entreating the Jews of Amsterdam for assistance in providing for Jewish soldiers in the town, 1832
Box 2 Folder 6
Communal regulation concerning smallpox stating that no unvaccinated children could enter the synagogue, 1821
Box 2
Nos. 1-180
Box 3
Nos. 180-380
Box 4
Nos. 380-550