The history and contributions of Sephardic Jews in Amsterdam
The proposal had been won, the deal signed, and I was deep in research world. As the protagonist of the story is a Sephardic Jew, I got to dive in and learn about a whole new fascinating world.
In this Substack I’m recounting the journey of my film adaptation of The Coffee Trader - an epic undertaking that delivered a great script about a forbidden Jewish love story in 1650 Amsterdam in a world of double crosses, hidden agendas, murder, excommunication - and coffee, of course!
If you’re new to the journey, here are the posts about what’s happened so far: getting approached about doing an adaptation (and the hesitation of doing one); being in the room where it happens (about pitches and being human); writing the proposal (the full proposal and thoughts about making strong choices); waiting for the Go (about deadlines and retaining one’s balance); research in Amsterdam (where that Golden Age history is still omnipresent; and finally, if you’re can’t wait to discover The Coffee Trader - here are both the first and the final script.
When reading David Liss’ wonderful novel, and then researching further into the topic of Sephardic Jews, I discovered insight after insight - it was simply joyous, because what I found offered so much to make the script burst with great characters, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, loaded back story, treacherous opposition - and color, so much color!
In won’t go too much into history, my focus was on the Golden Age of Amsterdam. In brief. The term Sephardic Jews might also be called Hispanic Jews - it refers to the Jewish Diaspora from the Spanish Peninsula. During the centuries of Muslim rule on the peninsula, Jews (and Christians) were allowed to co-exist freely. When Christians retook Spain, things quite dramatically changed for the Jewish population. The expulsion of Jews was proclaimed - and that meant that, either they immediately converted to Christianity, or they left for Portugal. Just a few years later, however, the King of Portugal did the same. Once again, Jews either had to convert, hide or leave the kingdom.
Jews had prospered during Muslim times, with many of them living in the cities as scholars, philosophers, poets, physicians - and especially also merchants. Many left, some went East, others went West - and many of these Spanish/Portuguese Jews heard about the freedom to be found in The Netherlands. When they came, in the late 16th century, they brought far more than their religion (which they were free to practice), they also brought their insights as merchants, the trading connections, and their considerable wealth.
During the time of inquisition and persecution in the Spanish Peninsula, many Jews became so-called Crypto-Jews. On the surface, they converted to Christianity. In secret, however, they continued to practice their own faith. In David Liss’ novel there’s the wonderful character of a young Jewish woman (the aforementioned heroine), who was brought up in Portugal in the belief that she really was Catholic (her father thinking that she couldn’t keep a secret). Now she’s arrived in Amsterdam, is married to a Jew - and understands nothing of language, customs, rituals. In a curious reversal from what her parents experienced, she now secretly visits a Catholic church that’s hidden away in the attic of a townhouse (it still exists today). Just imagine life for that young woman - and how great to be able to have her as a heroine with a wonderful arc in this story.
While the Dutch made sure they would stay in charge (Jews were denied participation in government), they were open to most other things. Jews were given freedom in religious and economic spheres. While Catholics were not even allowed to build churches in Protestant Amsterdam, Jews were given the right to build large synagogues (as long as they didn’t look ostentatious). Jews themselves put rules in place to ensure that Amsterdam would remain that place of freedom from persecution for them - they built a close-knit community and established the Mahamad, basically a committee of elders who would meet out harsh punishment if any Jew violated the rules. Worst punishment was the Cherem, excommunication, something that most prominently happened to famed philosopher Baruch Spinoza.
Sephardic Jews, with their trading connections in many ports, became indispensable merchants and helped to bring goods and wealth to Amsterdam. The House of Orange had their support (and so they have quite a bit to do with the history of England, Scotland and Ireland, too) and they also helped to establish the Dutch West India Company. This was also the time when, in Amsterdam, the world’s first stock exchange was founded! For the basics, go here - for more insights about that exchange, and trading at that time, get yourself a copy of Confusion of Confusions, written in 1688 by Sephardi Jew Joseph de la Vega (fascinating read - dive in here).
All in all, as the Jewish Virtual Libary states: “While in general, European Jews isolated themselves economically and socially as well as politically, the Jews of the Netherlands enjoyed, as early as the seventeenth century, economic and social integration that the rest of European Jewry would not know for hundreds of years.”
