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Arnhem Arnold of Citeaux

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

die of the fifteenth century a Jew was appointed city physician, and in 1449 a riot took place in Arnhem

Early History,

before the house of a Jew, in which the Jew Isaac was so energetically defended that the authorities, fearing re-

moval from office, agreed to resign in a body if any one of them were dismissed. On Ash Wednesday, 1450, a Jew was baptized in Arnhem, and in 1460 it was announced that all meat sold by Jews must be provided with a little yellow marker disobe;

dience entailed a fine of ten groschen (" Alle vleesch dat de Joeden gehandelt hebben, en sal men nyet verkoopen, daer en sy een gheel Vaenken by den vleesch daer men 't mercliken bi kennen mach. Die anders dede verloer 10 gr."). On September 21, 1451, Cardinal Nicolaus de Cusa preached in Arnhem on absolution, and declared that none should ever receive absolution who permitted a Jew practising usury to dwell alongside of or below him. At the same time he ordered, under penalty of expulsion, that all Jews should register at the burgomaster's office, and in future wear a Jew -badge upon their outer garment. They were not allowed to exact interest on pledges, nor henceforth to lend money to Christians at all every transgression of this regulation was punishable with a fine of 4 g. to be paid byboth Jew and Christian. Within the space of a year all existing loan-offices must be closed without stringency upon borrowers; and Jews must leave the city, unless they earn their bread by labor and honest commerce without usury, and wear a badge for recognition by all (" Oir broet met hoeren Arbeide verdienen of regtveerdige koomanschap sonder woekeren, doen wolden, en mits zy dat Teyken boven heur Cleeden dragen, daer men se bi kennen mach "). Meanwhile it was ordered that no one should do them any injury by day or night, openly or secretly ("dat nyemant an den Joeden enich arch sou keeren by dage off by nacht, heymelich On Jan. 10, 1571, Alba notified the off openbaer"). authorities of Arnhem that all Jews living there, and all their property of which an inventory was to be made should be seized and held inward until further disposition be made. This demand was, Jews but as far as is known, not complied with Tolerated, by the authorities of Arnhem, while the authorities of Zutphen replied that no Jews lived there. Probably as a result of Charles V. 's cruelty the Jews left Holland they returned, however, in the seventeenth century, when Jews were found in the eastern portion of Gelderland and Holland. Immigrants from Poland also arrived, usually by sea, and settled preferably in the western harbortowns. Not until the end of the seventeenth century were traces of Jews again found in Arnhem. A resolution dated March 20, 1663, denied citizenship to Jews, and forbade them to follow the butcher's trade it shows that they had at least the right to

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settle there.

The first mention of a synagogue was made in when the physician Levi Heymans registered a

1735,

complaint with the burgomaster and the assessors, in which he petitioned that the congregation " be compelled to afford him peaceable possession of his On Feb. 7, 1765, sitting in the Jewish synagogue. " three Jews, as wardens of the Jewish congregation, presented a petition stating that the congregation

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in numbers, and that their meeting-place for prayer in the house of Solomon Cohen, which they had used a number of years, had become too small. In response they were requested to prepare a plan and submit a conSynastitution and by-laws for the government of an incorporated congregagogues. tion. The plan submitted was officially approved April 17, 1765, the congregation was estab-

had greatly increased

wardens were elected, and the constitution was read at a meeting of the congregation. Among the first wardens was Samuel Jacob Hanau, who was lished,

associated with a Catholic named Kerkhoff in a large china and pottery factory, the products of which were used by the city authorities and were famous for taste

and

finish.

In the Walstraat, close to the

was set aside for the synagogue the approach to it was by a narrow lane which still It was bears the name " Joedengang " (Jews' way). leased for twelve years, from April 1, 1769 and in 1782 another house close to the wall, by the Velperpoort, was hired and fitted up as the synagogue. At first the Jews of Arnhem buried their dead in town

wall, a house



the neighboring village of Huizen. Later they used the more distant cemetery in Wageningen, where Two a considerable Jewish congregation existed. Jews, Solomon Cohen Jacobs and Samuel Levie, on Sept. 22, 1755, petitioned the authorities for a suitable burial-place. By a resolution of Cemeteries. Oct. 13, 1755, a lot forty feet by one hundred was assigned to them, to be fenced in by them, but otherwise free of all expense. On April 11, 1808, a larger tract was purchased (adjoining this), and continued in use till 1865, when a general city cemetery was laid out, and a distinct portion was assigned to the Jews. An agreement was made that the Jews should not alienate their part of the cemetery, and that the city should never disinter the bodies. benevolent society was established, possibly only a burial society, although, according to a provision of the by-laws, all fines collected were to be paid partly to the town hospital, partly to the Jewish poor. When the congregation became too large for this synagogue, a site for a new building was purchased in the Kerkstraat for 5,000 florins in 1798. It is evident that at the end of the eighteenth century the congregation of Arnhem was prosperous, and that it contained many wealthy Jews. This fact is shown by an event mentioned in only one place (Van der Aa, " Aardrykskundig Woordenboek, " under " Arnhem "). In 1783 a riot took place in Arnhem because the city authorities sold a portion of the old burial-place surrounding the large church on the " Marktplein " to a Jew, who erected thereon a mansion. Public indignation was allayed only by the restoration of the cemetery, properly fenced in, to its original purpose. In 1852 another site was purchased, upon which the present synagogue stands, the former building being used for a school. On Aug. 19, 1853, a new synagogue was consecrated. model bath-house was established in 1885 through the efforts of Chief Rabbi T. Tal. In 1891 the school was removed to an elegantly appointed building belonging to the congregation, adjacent to the syna

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gogue.