Dutch King Willem-Alexander attends Amsterdam synagogue service for 350th anniversary, joins prayers for Israel

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands attended an anniversary event in Amsterdam on Tuesday, marking 350 years of the city’s Portuguese synagogue. 

The King joined some 400 Jewish worshipers for the service as the community prayed for peace in Israel and for IDF soldiers in both the Hebrew and Dutch languages, Ynet News reported.

Construction began on the baroque-style synagogue on April 17, 1671, following the design of architect Elias Bouwman. It was completed four years later in August 1675, and was the largest synagogue in the world at that time.

Many Portuguese Jews found sanctuary in the Netherlands, and particularly in Amsterdam, following severe persecution under the Spanish Inquisition during the 16th and 17th centuries. Those, known as Marranos, who had been hiding their Jewish identities for fear of reprisals were free to return to worship according to Jewish traditions, and even maintain their Portuguese identity in the more tolerant Dutch environment. 

The King was seated near the large wooden ark holding the synagogue’s Torah scrolls, positioned along the wall facing the Temple in Jerusalem. He rose with the congregation as they stood for the prayers.

The Sephardic service was conducted by candlelight, as the synagogue still has no electricity: “Everything has been kept just as it was in the 17th century. Instead of electric lights, the synagogue is lit by hundreds of candles,” according to the visitor’s website.

The service included a concert, with Jewish hymns unique to the synagogue sung by a choir, according to Ynet, and prayers in the Portuguese liturgical tradition.

Following the service, the King met with representatives of the Jewish community in the historic building.

The King’s visit to honor the synagogue and its community stands in stark contrast to the rise in antisemitism across Europe and worldwide

Last November, full-blown pogroms erupted on the streets of Amsterdam with shouts of “cancer Jews” in a coordinated attack on visiting Israeli soccer fans who had come to watch Maccabi Tel Aviv play the Dutch team, Ajax. 

Not long after the events, Amsterdam Mayor Femka Halsema denied that the anti-Jewish riots in the city were a pogrom, dismissing the reports as “propaganda” against the Muslim population in the city.

King Willem-Alexander became the monarch when his mother, Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, abdicated in 2013. His wife, Queen Maxima, has become extremely popular with the public, but the King’s reputation has vacillated since he took a holiday during the COVID pandemic, despite the fact that he did not breach any regulations. 

Time will tell whether the King’s decision to honor Amsterdam’s Jewish community will affect his popularity among the Dutch population. Certainly, his choice to stand and join prayers for Israel will have been appreciated among those in the Jewish community.