Livro de ascamot (Book of Regulations): On Purim

The Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam

1640

Decision Taken Not to Wield Hammers in the Synagogue on Purim

Inasmuch as the members of the mahamad [board of governors] consider it a vile practice among us today for youngsters to strike with hammers in the synagogue, when the scroll of Esther is read, causing a great racket, which is offensive to the place, and, in so doing, helping to wreck the synagogue, by smashing benches and acting seemingly more like barbarians than sensible people, the mahamad has decided that this practice must be stopped. It has thus ordered all the teachers to prohibit in their schools that any of their pupils bring a hammer to the synagogue or strike anyone or anything with it. Should this ruling not be heeded, the teacher of the youngster in question will be fined half a florin for tzedakah [charity] for each youngster who acts contrary to this decision. And youngsters who are not from the Talmud Torah and wield hammers or any other instrument will be fined a half florin each. And if there be men or adults who wield a hammer or wood or any other instrument, that person shall be fined one florin. These penalties are to be executed without hesitation. And the gabbai [beadle] in charge of tzedakah shall enter them in his accounts. And this ruling was made public from the tevah [reading platform] on the first day of the month of Adar, at which time this decision was so ordered.

Abraham Salom. Semuel Athias. Abraham Pharar. [ . . . ] Manuel France. [ . . . ] Jeossua Jesurun

Translated by
Marvin
Meital
.

Credits

The Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam, Livro de ascamot (Book of Regulations): On Purim, Ms. Municipal Archives (Amsterdam), PA 334, no. 19, ff. 143.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

The Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, as the Netherlands was engaged in a war to free itself from Spanish rule, New Christians began to settle in Amsterdam. There they found religious freedom and personal safety. The first to arrive did not live openly as Jews, but a group that settled in Amsterdam in 1602 conducted religious services in a private home. Initially, the legal status of the Jews was unclear; the Reform Church opposed their residence in the city, while civic authorities favored it. The first congregation, Beth Jacob, was founded in 1607. Another was founded the following year, and together the two established charitable foundations. Amsterdam became a center of Jewish learning and intellectual life, and its Talmud Torah (religious school) gained a reputation for excellence. Likewise, many works intended for Sephardic communities were written and published in the city. Many Spanish and Portuguese Jews engaged in international trade, tobacco production, printing, and the diamond industry.

You may also like

Elihu Speaks

These three men ceased replying to Job, for he considered himself right. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry—angry at Job because he thought himself…
View Source
Page with French and Arabic text.
Tooltip info icon

The Death of Moses

Excerpts from The Death of Moses, a legendary account of the death of Moses from the literature of the Beta Israel community, in Arabic and Ge’ez, researched by scholar Jacques Faïtlovich in Ethiopia.
View Source