Jewish Netherlands
Here are some examples of the customized luxury tours that European Jewish Tours is organizing in and around the Netherlands.
Jewish Amsterdam
While the Dutch have always been known for their tolerance towards other religions, the first synagogue was not opened in Amsterdam until 1612. 
Yet, by 1657 both Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews were recognized as full-fledged citizens. In fact, the Dutch authorities order that they behave as Orthodox Jews, which in turn grants sizeable power to Jewish leaders of the community. By the middle of the 17th century, 20 percent of Amsterdam’s Stock Market traders were Jewish. Dutch Jews’ linguistic and business skills gave them the chance to work in both banking and commerce, including the silk industry, sugar refining, and diamond-cutting. In addition, Holland was the first country in Europe to accept Jews in its Parliament and to give them governmental posts.
With the Nazi Occupation of Holland, Jews paid a very heavy price: out of 140,000 Jews residing in Holland, 104,000 were killed. After the war, the community slowly rebuilt itself to 30,000 citizens on a total population of over 15 million. Today there are 30 synagogues in a country that once counted over a hundred.
European Jewish Tours’ visit of Amsterdam starts with a half-day visit of the Historic Jewish Museum, located in a complex of four different synagogues that have been brought together in a structure of glass and metal. The tour enables visitors to understand both the fundementals of Zionism and Judaism, and the daily life of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews in previous centuries. The museum’s highlight is the Great Synagogue, inaugurated in 1671, after the community gave up on the false Messiah of Sabbatai Zevi.
You will then explore the ancient Jewish quarter, which from the 18th century until the Second World War, was the hub of Jewish life in Amsterdam. One of the high points of this walk is a visit to the Rembrandt Museum, the home and studio where the Dutch artist lived and worked from 1639 to 1658. The influence of his Jewish environment courses through his etchings and paintings and this tour shows why the world’s greatest portrait painter was so taken with the local Jewish population.
Other Jewish-themed masterpieces can be seen at the Rijksmuseum, including the Jewish Bride and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and a visit of this outstanding institution can be included on the tour.
One of the most moving visits that you can take with European Jewish Tours is to the Portuguese Synagogue (inspired by the Temple in Jerusalem), the largest synagogue in the world when inaugurated in 1675.
For those visitors who to understand the compromises that were faced daily by Dutch citizens under the Nazis, European Jewish Tours can also organize a visit to the Verzetsmuseum, which documents the choices and dilemmas that were confronted during the Nazi Occupation. Not only are their poignant displays of objects, but also eyewitness accounts of those Dutch who had the courage to save Jews and those who did not. At the same time, they can visit the moving Anne Frank Museum, whose eloquent story speaks for itself.
See Fees to book your tours.
