- The Jewish Community of Monnickendam
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The Jewish
Community in Monnickendam
Names mentioned in this article (in
the order of their appearance):-
Before the
names adoption:- Comphrigh (Gompert)
Moses,
Barent Jacobs Cohen,
Gerzon Salomons(Mol), Eliazar Philip Levie,
Salomon Gerson , Rebecca Salomon Gerson,
Samuel Ijsaacks, Abraham Levy of Amsterdam,
Maritgen Jacobs Levi, Jacob Vos,
Leendert Askus,
Joseph Gerson,
Pieter Vos,
Benjamin Salomons,
Rebekka Ysaacks, Mighiel Salomons,
Jacob de Spinoza of Amsterdam, Jacob Ijzaaksz.
After the
names adoption:- Hartog
Salomon Mol, Gerson Salomon Mol ,
J. Vredenburg (Amsterdam),Aaltje van der Goen,
Nathan Emanuel Leuw,
Moses Leuw, Emanuel Leuw,
Andries Witmond, Lou Cohen.
During the first half of the 17th
century Jewish refugees were not interested in
Monnickendam. The first registration only took place in
1685. This was also the year in which the first wedding
between a Jewish male and a non-Jewish female took
place. Among the Jews in Monnickendam were butchers,
fish mongers, dealers in textiles and before that they
were also money/currency dealers.
In 1680 the first sale of a house to
Comphrigh (Gompert) Moses, Jew and butcher in this town’
was transacted.
Bad times
During the period of 1690 – 1720
things did not fare well in Monnickendam. Among others
this is evident from the rent people had to pay for
their houses. Only three Jews owned their homes.
The Synagogue
In September 1686 Comphrigh Mozes
bought a house and a yard in one of the oldest streets,
the Groote Noord, which was frequented by fishermen and
merchants because it was a short distance from the
harbor. Very soon, in December, he bought another house
and yard which upon its sale in 1689 was already called
“Jodenvergaderplaetse” (Jewish meeting place),
In 1687 a dispute erupted about
whether to have synagogue services or not as there would
not be a
minyan (10 grown-up men). There was also a discussion
between Gompert Mozes and Barent Cohen about the cost of
maintenance. These questions were submitted to the
Jewish Council in Amsterdam.
The officials in Amsterdam decided
that services were to be held in the synagogue which
Gompert founded. The expenses for the establishment of
this synagogue would be borne by Gompert and not by
Barent Cohen. Furthermore,
a rapprochement between the two parties would be
affected.
Thus Gompert
Mozes’ synagogue on the Grote Markt became the only one
in Monnickendam. From the notes of the mayors for the
year 1766 it is clear that a house was rented in order
to store goods and also to serve as a synagogue. In 1767
Gerzon Salomons (later called the family Mol) buys a
house and yard on Noordeinde for
180 guilders.
Among the Jewish community Gerson Salomonsz and
Eliazar Philip Levie were appointed supervisor and
treasurer .
In 1770
Gerson Salomonsz
was replaced by his son, Salomon Gerson as
supervisor. In 1785 the house and yard on Noordeinde
which belonged to Rebecca, the daughter of Salomon
Gerson, were
sold. It is
not clear whether the end of the existence of this
second synagogue could be attributed to lack of finances
or a lack of grown-up Jewish males.
In 1733 there were no more than 4
Jewish families who owned 7 properties. This was still
so in 1747, but there is more known about the number of
Jewish inhabitants: 8 grown-ups and 6 children. One
could therefore not have held any synagogue services ,
even if one
had been available.
Salomon Gerson Mol died in 1813.
Religious services were regularly held at his home, as
he was the man who succeeded his father, Gerson Salomon
as supervisor of the Jewish community in
Monnickendam in 1770. The son of Salomon Gerson Mol,
Hartog, sold his part of that house to his brother
Gerson who had inherited the other part of the house.
However, Gerson Salomon Mol sold the house in 1814 to
the Jewish community. Nothing is known about
refurbishing or of the furnishings of the building as
the one standing on this place now dates from 1894.
On March 27th, 1894 the
synagogue which was inaugurated in 1814 in Monnickendam
went up in flames. Very soon afterwards, on May 4th
the leaders of the Jewish community wrote to the
municipality that they were planning to build a new
synagogue and house on the same place,
now entirely from stone.
On Wednesday, September 26th,
1894 the new synagogue was ceremoniously inaugurated.
The building now had its characteristic stepped gable.
For the inauguration the building was decorated inside
and outside with flowers and flags. Several local
personalities took part at the ceremony. The festive
speech was held by Mr. J. Vredenburg of Amsterdam. He
gave an explanation about the inauguration and talked
about the significance of a synagogue for Jews. He also
noted with pleasure the presence of the Mayor and
Aldermen, as well as clergymen. He also paid tribute to
the free Netherlands and the Dutch nation, because of
the example she gave to other nations.
The Jewish Religion School and Bath
House
In 1846 Aaltje van der Goen died and
she left her house in the Kerkstraat to the Jewish
community in order to refurbish it into a school for
religious tuition and a ritual bath house. It is known
that fire broke out in the building in 1883, but this
was quickly extinguished. In 1886 it was decided that
the building should be torn down.
The Jewish Cemetery
In 1677 it is mentioned that three
Jewish families requested a place “to bury their dead”.
We know that it
concerned the earlier mentioned Comprich Mozes,
the butcher and Barent Jacobs, the
pawnbroker at
the Loan Bank. The mayors allotted a plot of land
for this purpose near the Zuiderpoort. At the request of
the Jewish community permission was given in 1783 to
build a wall around
this cemetery plot.
The Loan Bank of the “Lombard”
On March 1668 Samuel IJsaacks
requested permission to establish a Loan Bank. Only in
1670
Samuel IJsaacks and Abraham Levy of Amsterdam received
the permit to establish a money lending Bank or
pawnbroker shop, under certain conditions. In February
1674 they renounced this permit and in August of the
same year it was transferred to Barent Jabobsz. Barent
Jacobsz Cohen had taken over the bank from Samuel
IJsaacksz and Abraham Levi by contract until 1678 for
the amount of 50 guilders per year. This amount was
later increased to 275 guilders per year.
In 1685 we hear about Barent Jabobs
again, as
licensee of
the Bank van Leningh, or Loan Bank. It seems, therefore
that trading in money was done by Jewish money lenders.
After the death of Barent Jacobs in
1690 his widow, Maritgen Jacobs Levi, had difficulties
in paying the yearly sum of
275 guilders . She pays it until 1693 and then
there is a new contract for 8 years and she pays only
150 guilders, because of
‘bad times’.
Later, in 1705,
Comprigh Moijsis (the founder of the synagogue)
leased the bank.
The next mentioning of
the existence of a bank is in March 1717. A
certain Jacob Vos made an offer of
150 guilders, but it is not known whether this
was accepted. In April 1733 Leendert Askus (perhaps from
Ashkenasim) rented the Lombard together with the
previously mentioned Joseph Gerson,
instead of Pieter Vos (son of Jacob Vos?) whose
rent or lease had been cancelled. The new contract was
intended to run until May 1740. At the time, the
loan bank was established on the corner of
Zuideinde and Goijse Kaij. Joseph Gerson kept the bank
almost until the end of the contract. He dies in April
1740 and his widow
waives the opportunity to continue leasing the
bank. The town mayors then decide to lease the bank
publicly – publishing an announcement in a newspaper,
but persons of the Jewish belief were not to be accepted.
Foreigners
In times of declining business
foreigners are not welcome. On top of that the sheriffs
and aldermen were
pressured to tell Jews to leave and not to let
them pursue their trades. However, it turns out that in
spite of this,
almost all the 46 Jews who requested permission
from the city council to come and live in Monnickendam
with their families or who wanted to buy citizenship,
were granted this permission.
In 1696 the sheriffs and councilmen
found it necessary to take action against the use of
abusive language. As from September 1696 measures were
taken, focusing on many but
“especially the young youths who did not take
into consideration all kinds of people and mainly those
of the Jewish belief who live here, to point at them,
call them names, make fun of them, to beat them and
throw stones at them, against all right and reason – and
which should not be so” with the prospect of a 12
guilders fine as punishment.
Departure of Jewish inhabitants
In 1720 the city council of
Monnickendam tried to breathe new life into the city’s
economy by offering the Sefardic Jews freedom of
religion if they would settle in this town, but this
suggestion had no results and therefore it were mainly
Ashkenazi Jews who resided in the city. These, however,
also departed and so there was no sign anymore of a
Jewish community. Nevertheless in 1717 and 1718 there
were Portuguese Jews who bought houses in the town, but
between 1719 and 1723 these were sold to Monnickendam
citizens as the Portuguese Jews remained in Amsterdam.
The progress/evolvement of settlement
There exists a list of buying and
selling data of houses indicating how long Jewish
inhabitants lived in their respective homes. Thus we
know that Benjamin Salomons bought a house near the
harbor in 1726, but in 1727 he was banned from Holland
and West Friesland for ten years because he had acted
against the laws of the land. He was married to Rebekka
Ysaacks, who died in 1726. He then asked permission to
marry her sister and this request was turned down.
Thereupon he married her anyway, which was against the
local laws and that is why he was banned for 10 years
from the
region.
Mighiel Salomons, the butcher, lived
in another house. He was sent away from the town because
did not adhere to hygienic regulations. In the end this
house was bought by Jacob de Spinoza of Amsterdam,
presumably as an investment, as he never came to
Monickendam.
Jacob IJzaaksz was the only Jew who
had a hunting barge ferry with which he sailed to
Buiksloot and back on a regular daily basis. He kept
this up until 1751, when he sold the barge.
The processing of cheese making
In 1770 Gerzon Salomonsz, a Jew living
in Monnickendam
informed the mayor that either he or his son
had to go twice a day to Zed (Zedde) in order to
make cheese for the Jews and that the toll collector
near the Zedde wanted to collect toll each time they had
to pass the toll-gate.
He therefore asked to mayor whether some
arrangement could be made so he wouldn’t have to pay
each time.
The following
decision was made: -
“According to
the law in use by the Jews, the
farmers are obliged to make cheese
by themselves, and therefore the
Jews
have to stay with the farmers
and to go there and back. Because of
these reasons it has been approved
and according to articles 31e and
32e of the convention for roads of
1660, to declare him [Gerzon
Salomonsz ]released of the necessity
to pay tolls twice daily, mornings
and evenings from here to Zedde and
back again and be allowed to pass
the concerning toll-gate and in case
he goes a different route he will be
obliged to pay the full amount of
the toll.”
Changes
After the
establishment of the Batavian
Republic in 1795 the national
assembly decided to end the special
status of the Jews: “no Jew will
be excluded from any rights or
privileges connected to the Batavian
civil rights and which he requests
to acquire”.
Amazing was,
however, that the majority of the
Jews was against the granting of
complete equal rights because this
would mean an end for the Jewish
leaders of a centuries-long autonomy.
Jews were tolerated in most of the
towns in Holland, but they remained
strangers because of their way of
life and their behavior. They lived
according to their own standards and
vested rights, like synagogues, own
cemeteries, circumcisions, ritual
baths, butchers, kosher bakers and
cheese makers and not to forget the
care for the poor which was
completely dependent on the richer
Jews and which had nothing to do
with any of the communities of other
beliefs and whose interference was
not tolerated.
On September 2nd,
1796 however, the equalization of
the Jews was a fact and the
so-called clerical laws of the ‘Jewish
Nation ’ were canceled by public law.
The Ashkenasi parnassim felt that
this was a reduction of their power
and resisted these laws. In
Monnickendam, though, this had
hardly any impact.
The promised civil
equalization in 1796 gave the Jews a
substantial impetus. The
establishment of a new Jewish
community in Monnickendam started
with the transaction of seven houses.
A list of Jewish inhabitants from
the year 1808 shows there were 9
men, 11 women and 30 children of
whom several above the age of 13. In
1811 the names adoptions were added
to the list.
The consistory of
Amsterdam and surroundings
The French regime
established a consistory, a kind of
rabbinate and the consistory of
Amsterdam was also in charge of the
Zuiderzee department to which
Monnickendam belonged as well. In
1813 a representative of the
consistory visited Monnickendam who
was satisfied with the local state
of affairs as managed by a ‘chief
rabbi’. He was, however, worried
about the great poverty.
What worried him mostly was
the fact that there was no Jewish
education teacher for the children –
a problem to which there seemed to
be no solution. Religious services
were apparently held at the home of
one of the community members, as the
synagogue was closed down in 1785.
The question of a synagogue
building probably came up in a
discussion with the chief rabbi.
Decrease in the
number of Jewish community members
50 Jews lived in
Monnickendam in 1808
and in 1815 there were only
30 left. Originally there were only
20 Jews registered in 1815, but that
was by mistake, as a number of them
had been placed by accident on a
list of Baptists.
Land registry data
The land registry
was introduced in 1832 and shows
that Jewish real estate property was
minimal. Of the eight Jewish
families living at that time in
Monnickendam only five owned real
estate.
Objets d’art/precious
objects
From a letter
addressed to the mayor and aldermen
of Monnickendam it appears that in
1867 Nathan Emanuel Leuw owned
several valuable objects. It seems
that during that period Jews had a
keen interest in such objects, like
for instance the staff and sword of
an admiral and the large silver
commemorative medallion of Bossu.
The first years of
the 20th century
Around 1920 only
sixteen Jewish families still lived
in Monnickendam. This was enough for
minyan, on condition they all
attended. That was not always the
case because of all kinds of reasons.
The Jewish leadership did not want
to run the risk that synagogue
services could not be held on High
Holidays, so they found the
following simple solution. They
invited students of the Dutch
Israelite Seminary in Amsterdam to
stay over the Holidays.By doing so
they helped both the Monnickendam
Jewish community as they now were
sure to have a minyan, as well as
the students,
because they saved them a few
days
cost and living expenses.
More and more Jews
left. The kehilla lost its reason
for existence. The synagogue changed
hands,
and was transferred to
families Langendijk and Oostveen –
according to a newspaper report of
October 1949. The last synagogue
service was held in 1934 on the
occasion of a chuppa (wedding).
The tax of a
quarter per week was still being
collected.
On Shabbath/Saturdays
messrs. Moses Leuw and his cousin
Emanuel Leuw stayed to learn (laynen).
The community possessed three “Sifrei
Torah” (Torah Scrolls). Before 1940
– after German refugees settled in
the Netherlands – these scrolls were
transferred to the Jewish community
in Zandvoort at the request of the
permanent commission. The second
synagogue of Zandvoort, however, was
blown up in 1940 so
these were forever lost.
The Jewish
community of Alkmaar received the
ornaments of worship. Mr. Schoonheim
writes in his booklet ‘the Jewish
community of Edam’ that the
synagogue ornaments of Edam were
probably transferred to the Jewish
community in Monnickendam because
those of Monnickendam had been lost
during the fire of 1894. The
dilapidated synagogue and ritual
bath house in Edam had already been
demolished in 1887, whereas the
three remaining Jewish families
resorted under the community of
Monnickendam.
On enquiry at the
Jewish community in Alkmaar it
turned out that the Monnickendam
ornaments
(silver
towers, crowns and
candelabra’s) were loaned to the
Jewish Historical Museum in
Amsterdam.The Torah coats and
parochet remained in Monnickendam,
in safe- keeping by Messrs. Andries
Witmond and Lou Cohen, the last
parnassim of the community. In 1940
these possessions were given for
safe-keeping to the non-Jewish
garage owner, Mr. J. van de Gier,
but before they could be returned
after the war, there was a fire in
the garage, where the items were
being kept.
From the
historical summary in
“Pinkas” (published in Deventer by
Kluwer) for the period between the
17th and 20th
century it can be concluded
that there were 17 Jews in
Monnickendam in 1942.
Of
those only one returned after the
war.
Source:-website http://www.oudmonnickendam.nl/
download:Joden in Monnickendam
bestandsnaam:VOM 1996 - 3 van 4
bestandstype:doc
Auteur : L. Appel ; Bron :
Jaarboek 1996
Extracted from source Yael (Lotje)
Ben Lev-de Jong
Translation from Dutch into English:-
Nina Mayer
End editing English:- Trudi Asscher
Coordinating of final version:- Ben
Noach
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