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Portuguese Synagogue

King Willem-Alexander (Center, walking) at the celebration the 350th anniversary of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, September 7, 2025 (Esnoga/Noesha)
September 13, 2025, 12:56 pm
In face of rising antisemitism, Amsterdam’s Portugese synagogue celebrates 350 years
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands attends anniversary event for what was once the largest synagogue in the world
By Zev Stub
From left to right: A page from a 1607 edition of the Shulchan Aruch printed in Krakow; a brightly colored cover page of a religious text from Venice, 1674; and a page from a 1540 edition of the Arba'ah Turim by Jacob ben Asher. (From the 'Encyclopedia of Jewish Book Cultures'/ Courtesy of Brill Publishers)
July 10, 2023, 5:12 pm
Built by conversos fleeing Spain, Amsterdam’s ancient Ets Haim library gets an update
Massive Encyclopedia of Jewish Book Cultures also underway by Dutch publisher Brill, who says 31 institutions already purchased access to the compilation to be complete in 3 years
By Martin Rosenberg
Illustrative: Congregants praying at the Kadoorie – Mekor Haim synagogue in Porto, Portugal, May 2014. (Courtesy of the Jewish Community of Porto)
July 16, 2020, 3:06 pm
Portugal’s government steps back from plan to change ‘law of return’ for Jews
After months of threatening to derail the 2015 nationality law with draconian requirements, Socialist Party says it will instead insist on applicants showing a ‘genuine connection’
By Melanie Lidman
Famous photograph of services at the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam on May 9, 1945, with Holocaust survivors in attendance (public domain)
January 19, 2020, 4:43 am
How a volunteer Jewish fire brigade saved the Dutch Portuguese Synagogue in WWII
16-year-old with chutzpah convinced Nazis not to use Amsterdam’s Esnoga as a collection point for deportation as his comrades helped rescue building from plunder — and a bomb plot
By Matt Lebovic
Portuguese army captain Arthur Carlos de Barros Basto (Rodrigo Santos) presides at the head of the table with his wife Lea and child in a scene from the new historical drama 'Sefarad.' (Courtesy Miami Jewish Film Festival)
January 15, 2019, 1:04 pm
Historical drama depicts untold story of the 1930s ‘Portuguese Dreyfus Affair’
Premiering January 15 in Miami, ‘Sefarad’ is the tale of a real-life Marrano WWI war hero who converts to Judaism, revives Oporto Jewry, and is expelled from the military for it
By Rich Tenorio
The olive trees outside of Amsterdam’s Portuguese synagogue get wrapped up every year. They are shown here in February 2018. (Hans Kaljee/via JTA)
December 30, 2018, 11:22 pm
By Amsterdam’s Portuguese Synagogue, Spanish olive trees endure northern winters
The grove is an homage to the Jewish community’s Sephardic roots, but increasingly presents a challenge for ethical landscaping and sustainability
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Rabbi Elisha Salas, right, instructing a baker in Belmonte, Portugal, in the preparation of kosher challah, April 2012. (Courtesy of Shavei Israel/via JTA)
December 28, 2017, 6:26 am
Food makers in Portugal are going kosher — and not why you think
With about 20% of Iberians thought to possess Jewish ancestry, factory owners seek to get closer to Judaism through the products they make
By Cnaan Liphshiz
A Kristallnacht commemoration at the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, November 9, 2016. (Courtesy of Jonet.nl)
September 29, 2017, 1:57 pm
A Yom Kippur tradition in Amsterdam dates back to the discovery of electricity
The famed Portuguese Synagogue sees some 200,000 tourists annually, but one day a year worshipers are privy to a stunningly beautiful sight
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Dutch Portuguese Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo arguing for the lifting of the ban on Baruch Spinoza, December 6, 2015. (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)
December 12, 2015, 1:21 pm
Centuries after excommunication, time to void ban on Spinoza?
History’s first secular Jew was banished by Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jews for heresy in 1656. Now the community’s shop flogs his books
By Cnaan Liphshiz
The Sahar Hassamain synagogue on the island of Sao Miguel (screen capture: YouTube)
April 24, 2015, 10:38 am
Portugal’s oldest standing shul reopened
On remote island of Sao Miguel, the Sahar Hassamain synagogue has been restored with help of US donors
By JTA
Queen Beatrix delivers her abdication speech on Dutch TV in April. (photo credit: YouTube)
August 23, 2013, 2:08 am
Dutch royals nix plans for party on Yom Kippur
Queen Beatrix reschedules event after death of her son; chief rabbi had called choice of previous date ‘painful’
By JTA
Built in the 17th century by refugees from the Inquisition, Amsterdam's Portuguese Synagogue withstood the Nazi occupation to remain a center of Jewish life. (Matt Lebovic)
January 28, 2013, 2:51 pm
New cultural quarter resurrects Amsterdam’s Jewish past
Dutch capital earns international notice for efforts to rebuild a presence almost entirely wiped out during the Holocaust
By Matt Lebovic
January 9, 2013, 8:09 pm
EU boss: Jews exemplify cultural integration
Preserving Jewish tradition is ‘part of our European Union,’ Barroso says
August 15, 2012, 1:04 pm
Amsterdam to name bridge for WWII savior of 350 Jewish children
As a student in Amsterdam in 1942, Pieter Meerburg was in charge of a network that smuggled Jewish children to safe houses across the Netherlands
Amsterdam has a rich Jewish history, including architecture. Pictured is the interior of Amsterdam's Portuguese Synagogue illuminated by candlelight. (photo credit: CC BY-SA Massimo Catarinella, Wikimedia)
March 26, 2012, 6:50 pm
Dutch synagogue wins EU restoration prize
Amsterdam’s Portuguese Synagogue lauded for facelift that preserves its history and character
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