Congregants > Prayer in Amsterdam
Selichot van de 40 dagen die men smorgens selichot.
Manuscript in Dutch, on paper.
Netherlands, 1714.
MS X893 J71
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Amsterdam was a haven for Jews from both eastern and western Europe in the early modern period. Sephardic Jews moved to Amsterdam in the late sixteenth century to take advantage of trading opportunities, Jews from Germany fled there following the Thirty Years’ War, and Polish and Russian Jews arrived after the Chmielnicki pogroms in 1648-49. Because the majority of Amsterdam Jews were not native to the land, Dutch was not the lingua franca of these Jews until the second half of the 18th century. Jews from the eastern lands spoke Yiddish, and Jews from the Iberian lands spoke Spanish or Portuguese. It is therefore unclear who may have used this manuscript, as its contents, penitential prayers (seliḥot) and Psalms, are in the Dutch language.
Gift of Congregation Temple Emanu-El, 1892.
Thanks to the generosity of the National Library of Israel, this manuscript is available in its entirety here.