Ceremonial Objects in Early Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam:
[Article]
Three Inventories of Bet Israel Dated 1619, 1620, and 1635
Julie-Marthe Cohen
Leiden
Brill
Three inventories of ceremonial objects were compiled by the Portuguese Jewish community of Bet Israel in Amsterdam in 1619, 1620, and 1635. This article presents the original Portuguese text, its translation, and a commentary, preceded by an introduction discussing the process of the congregation's acquisition of ceremonial objects. The information in these early inventories, along with additional data from contemporaneous sources, increases our otherwise limited knowledge about early Dutch Sephardic customs, about the types and shapes of various objects, and about the people who donated them. Three inventories of ceremonial objects were compiled by the Portuguese Jewish community of Bet Israel in Amsterdam in 1619, 1620, and 1635. This article presents the original Portuguese text, its translation, and a commentary, preceded by an introduction discussing the process of the congregation's acquisition of ceremonial objects. The information in these early inventories, along with additional data from contemporaneous sources, increases our otherwise limited knowledge about early Dutch Sephardic customs, about the types and shapes of various objects, and about the people who donated them.