Sabbath in Portugese synagogue Amsterdam – Caspar Philips Jacobsz. after Jacobus Buys, 1781-1791

“Vertooning van de Wet van Mozes aan het Volk” [showing the Law of Moses to the community], engraving by Caspar…

“Vertooning van de Wet van Mozes aan het Volk” [showing the Law of Moses to the community], engraving by Caspar Philips Jacobsz. (1732-1789) after a drawing by Jacobus Buys (1724-1801) made in 1780. From the “Oude en tegenwoordige staat en geschiedenis van alle godsdiensten” by William Hurd published in Amsterdam 1781-1791. Coloured by a later hand. Size (plate): approx. 16,5 x 22,5 cm.

We see the interior of the Portugese synagogue in Amsterdam, men with their heads covered with a tallit are gathered around a chazzan standing on the rostrum and holding the Torah scrolls.

It is the Sabbath ceremony. First the chazzan shows the Law of Moses to the People and says to the community: here is the Law that Moses put before the Children of Israel. Then the kohen reads first and a levite follows, seculars come after. After reading, the chazzan raises the Book and gives the blessing in Hebrew.

Price: Euro 325,-