The Sidra for the coming Shabbat begins with the commandment to “appoint judges and law enforcement officers at all your gates.” When I follow the news, look around me, and see how our society is threatened by anarchy, I can only say that this ancient Jewish Torah commandment may be old, but it is far
Diary of the Chief Rabbi August 27, 2025 Read More »
The last few days I have been a full-time sjnorrer. A sjnorrer sounds exciting, but it’s just a beggar. In modern times, we no longer have sjnorrer, because begging is not proper, but in the Jewish world we are referred to as fundraisers. And because more than two hundred children have registered for the Chabad
Diary of the Chief Rabbi of July 14, 2025, The immoral blue envelope. Read More »
Binyomin, a non-Jewish politician, told me the day after the infamous PvdA-GL meeting that the PvdA-GL’s hatred of Israel affects not only the Jewish community, but also me, your non-Jewish Dutch fellow citizen. In 1948, the State of Israel was established as a refuge for Jews, survivors of the gas chambers. We, the Dutch, had
Diary of the Chief Rabbi, June 25, 2025 Read More »
Benoit Wesly from Maastricht, former chairman of the Jewish community in Limburg, has written an open letter strongly criticising his fellow citizen Frans Timmermans. ‘As long as you persist in your anti-Israeli rhetoric and thereby encourage anti-Semitism, our friendship will come to an end.’ OPEN LETTER TO MY FRIEND FRANS TIMMERMANS Dear Frans, Although I
Benoit Wesly lashes out at Timmermans, ‘end of friendship’ Read More »
I have just returned home from a lecture given by the former director of the National Monument Camp Amersfoort about the history of the camp, before and after the war. I went there with the expectation and hope of finally hearing the secret of Camp Amersfoort. Why was there such enormous opposition from the government
Diary of the Chief Rabbi of June 18, 2025 Read More »
There really are people who don’t like me, and one of these non-fans was going around saying that I swim in my spare time and that’s why I write my diaries, as a kind of occupational therapy, just to keep myself busy. I don’t know exactly what is true and what isn’t, but I’ve been
Diary of the Chief Rabbi June 16, 2025 Read More »
After my recent visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau with more than two hundred and fifty European rabbis, I was asked the (usual) question of how it had affected me. My (usual) answer was: not much! My visit to the Hamas Tunnel replica in Eindhoven also left me cold. Am I insensitive, I wondered, is there something wrong
Diary of the Chief Rabbi June 9, 2025 Read More »
It is possible to take a guided tour of the Synagogue. The cost per tour a minimum of €115, for which a group of 20 people will have access. If the groups are larger, €5.50 per person is added. Groups have a maximum size of 35 people. This is always for the entire group, including
Tours in the Synagogue of Maastricht Read More »
Here you can access the catalog of the library of the Jewish community of Maastricht. The collection and catalog are still under construction. We use the software of librarything, a network of individuals and institutions who wish to share their book holdings with like-minded book owners. Members of the Jewish Community of Maastricht and donors
Maastricht had various synagogues over the centuries. A letter from the aldermen dated 1295 mentions a platea judaeorum, now Jodenstraat, where, according to a manuscript from 1377, there must have been a synagogue, probably on the corner with the former Bokstraat, now Kesselskade. Nearby was the Jodenpoort, which gave access to the Maaskade. At the
Within our small community, there have also been a number of events during the past reporting period. We celebrated the upsherin of Ari Cohen. Harry Gans passed away. We welcomed Nathan as a new member. We also celebrated the birth of Yitschak Cohen, his brith milla, and the chupah of Devori and Yudi in Israel.
Activities in 2022 and 2023, Funerals, chupots, births, and new members Read More »
From Sunday evening until last night, Tuesday evening, 11:00 p.m., I did not read De Telegraaf or RD, did not listen to the radio, and did not touch my laptop because of Shavuot. And what happened? A cabinet crisis! Could my presence, I almost asked myself, have prevented the fall of the cabinet? And if
Diary of the chief Rabbi, June 4, 2025 I will never be silent and never bow down! Read More »
