User:Carolinerose/sandbox

Outline: Portuguese Synagogues
=== I.              Significance of a Synagogue in the Jewish Religion === A.   Serves as a place of prayer and worship

B.   Where the assembly and congregation of Jews takes place

C.    Where Jews go as a safe place to pray or in time of need

D.   Place of interaction with other Jews from an individual’s community

E.    Where the Torah is read

F.    Praised as a “house of God”

=== II. History about Sephardic Jews in Amsterdam === A.   Known as “The First Modern Jews”

1.    Distinguished between religious and secular spheres of their individual and collective lives

B.   Religious life was focused primarily on the synagogue and religious calendar of Jewish life

1.    Still eager to provide a Jewish education to their kids

C.    Used the Portuguese and Spanish languages

1.    Portuguese was the main spoken language in the community

=== III. The Jewish Neighborhood in Amsterdam === A.   Amsterdam referred to as the “New Jerusalem” because of the Jewish life it was fulfilled with

B.   Jewish Neighborhood was called the “Joodse buurt”

C.    Very important to the urban landscape that existed in Amsterdam

D.   Center of Jewish settlement in the city of Amsterdam

1.    Easy for visitors/tourists to know that this was a Jewish community based on its buildings

·     Spanish-Portuguese synagogue

·     German-Jewish synagogue

E.    Made visitors feel welcomed

1.    Christians were showed a great sense of openness

IV.           The Portuguese Synagogue
A.   Known as the Esnoga: house of worship (synagogue)

B.   In 1670 Amsterdam’s population was approximately 2,500 people

C.    “Wealth was given concrete expression in the form of an elegant and monumental new synagogue

1.    Still a landmark in Amsterdam

D.   Inauguration of the new Portuguese-Jewish synagogue in Amsterdam in 1675

E.    Consisted of Jews who had behaviors and customs that were refined and cultured

1.    The Portuguese Jews challenged the belief that Jews were a disgraceful, stubborn breed

2.    Engaged in international commerce and maintained economic relationships with Gentile elites

F.    Transformed from converted warehouses that were unnoticeable to the public to monumental structures that provided Jewish worship

G.   Became the public markers of the prosperity, sense of comfort, and prestige city’s that the Jewish communities enjoyed during these years