From Publication to Instruction: Journeys of Books Acquired by the Portuguese Ets Haim Yeshiva in Early Modern Amsterdam

A cache of documents in the archives of Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jewish community details the Ets Haim Yeshiva’s annual book acquisitions over a one hundred forty-year-period (1665–1805). The lists indicate curricula, contemporary reading practices, the economics of book production and commerce, and Sephardic collaboration with Ashkenazic and Christian bookdealers. Although entries are often generic, listing only “humashim” or “guemarot,” scribes occasionally recorded book titles that are bibliographically identifiable.

In this paper, I will investigate patterns involving the lists’ identifiable texts. Did scribes record titles of particular genres and not of others? How soon after publication did the Ets Haim acquire new books, and did the length of time vary according to the place of publication? What can we learn about particular printers and book dealers in business with the Ets Haim? Where were the books housed and how were they accessed (and by whom)?

In addition, I intend to peruse the holdings of the still-functioning Ets Haim Library in Amsterdam, searching for these books and noting information in the copies that may shed light on Yeshiva practices or the Amsterdam book trade. Whereas the work of Footprints primarily deals with the long life of a given book, exploring its travels across territory and through many hands, the present research will attempt to understand many-a-book’s first steps from the print shop to the school house.