The Early Modern Rabbis of Amsterdam : Urban Dynamics, Communal Tensions, and Diasporic Entanglements Introduction to the Special Issue

Amsterdam was one of the locations where an early modern urban rabbinate
emerged. Next to the Sephardic rabbinate, an Ashkenazi rabbinate was
established from 1639 onwards. The new urban model involved a shift away
from the traditional medieval Ashkenazi model, in which the parnassim
(lay leaders) and rabbis came from the same social class and could even
swap roles. As the community grew, changes in the profile and status of the
rabbinate ran parallel to changes in the administration of the community.
While governance gradually became more oligarchic, reflecting similar
patterns in city administration and within the Portuguese community, the
rabbinate came to form a distinct translocal class. Rabbis were now recruited
from elsewhere, bringing prestige, status and networks spanning Ashkenaz.
This reflected Amsterdam’s evolving status within the Ashkenazi world,
from a new hub in the 1640s to one of the most prominent urban centres
in Western Ashkenaz by the end of the century. The rabbinate evolved
from being very local and subservient to their Portuguese counterparts,
becoming an authority initially established within the city but which
gradually spread beyond its borders. The Amsterdam Ashkenazi rabbinate
acquired a respected position within the rabbinic world.