Seventeenth-centuryAmsterdamwasacosmopolitan“carnivalofnations:“FrenchHuguenots,NorthAfricanmerchants,SpanishMoriscos--andIberianNewChristians,formerlyJewishfamiliesforciblyconvertedtoCatholicism,nowfleeingtheInquisitionandrediscoveringtheirancestralfaith.ThisistheextraordinarytaleofAmsterdam’sprosperousSephardicommunityduringtheDutchGoldenAge.Trading,writing,publishing,stagingplaysandbeingpaintedbyRembrandt,thisNa癟瓊o(Nation)offormerlywanderingJewsnotonlysettledbutthrived,enjoyinghighstatusandunparalleledfreedom.AtatimewhenDutchCatholicswererepressedandJewselsewherewereconfinedtotheghetto,thiscommunitydaredtonurturethe’HopeofIsrael’,sowingtheseedsofZionism.LipikaPelhamchartsthecaptivatinghistoryofAmsterdam’sJews,fromtheirintegralroleintheDutcheconomicmiracleandtheEnlightenmenttoasombercodain1942,whentheNazisherdedthemintothe“JewishTheater“fordeportationtothecamps.ButthiswasnotthedeathoftheresilientNa癟瓊o--Pelhamalsoseeksoutitsdescendantsinpresent-dayAmsterdam,offeringpoignantreflectiononthemeaningofnationhood,theHolocaustandwhatremainsofJerusalemontheAmstel.
