Dutch Jewish Immigration and Religious Life in the Nineteenth Century

Between 1800 and 1880 approximately 6,500 Dutch Jews emigrated to the United States. ¹ Although they numbered less than one-tenth of all Dutch and a mere fraction of all Jews in America in these years, the Dutch Jews helped build American Jewry and did so with a nationalistic flair. It is well known that Dutch Calvinists, and to a lesser extent Catholics, transplanted their communities and churches. So did Dutch Jews. ² They, too, emigrated in families, brought special work skills and religious values, and founded Dutch synagogues led by Dutch lay rabbis. ³