Jews in the Synagogue

The etching of the Jews in the Synagogue is a visual document of Jewish life in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century. The Dutch people who had struggled for centuries to free themselves from Spanish rule and the Catholic church felt their fight for religious and political freedom paralleled the history of the ancient Jewish nation. The emerging Dutch Republic saw itself as the spiritual descendent of ancient Jewry. Recent scholarship suggests, however, that Dutch tolerance of the Jews who emigrated to Amsterdam reflects rather the insignificant numbers of new arrivals, relative to the expanding native population. Secondly, the Jews lived together in new parts of the city, away from the major centers, and tried to remain obscure in their daily activities.

Rembrandt lived on the Jewish street, the Jodenbreestraat, as did other artists, and it is known that he employed Jews as models for many of his biblical paintings. A keen observer of daily life, he may have considered the "Semitic" looks of his Jewish neighbors to be appropriate for the biblical heroes and heroines he was portraying.

Spanish and Portuguese Jews began to settle in Amsterdam in the 1590s, Ashkenazi Jews came from Germany in the 1620s; and in 1648-49, Polish Jews fled the infamous Chmielnicki pogroms and sought refuge there. With each new wave of immigration, those Jews already established in the Dutch community felt uncomfortable and embarrassed by the awkward newcomers. By 1648, the Jewish community of Amsterdam was a large and diverse group.

Rembrandt examines the theme of isolation, perhaps the isolation felt by newcomers within the established Jewish community, in this etching of Jews in the Synagogue. A lone figure, seated on a stone ledge with his back toward the viewer, is the focus of the composition, visually and thematically. Rembrandt renders his body in full light, whereas the other figures, four pairs of men, move into and out of the light. They wear the costumes of German and Polish Jews and the artist has made no attempt to divide the groups by their native dress. Thus, the theme of isolation is directed at the single figure. Lost in his own thoughts, he is unaware that he is being observed by the viewer or by some of the other men who mill around him. They gather in an undefined space, which some scholars have suggested is the interior of a synagogue. Though no such structure existed in Amsterdam in 1648, the space is probably meant to evoke a religious setting. Rembrandt's treatment of Jews in this etching is a sympathetic but astute observation of individuals within the diverse community.

Source: Norman L. Kleeblatt and Vivian B. Mann. TREASURES OF THE JEWISH MUSEUM. New York: The Jewish Museum, 1986, pp. 68-69.