 | This article'suse ofexternal links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Pleaseimprove this article by removingexcessive orinappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate intofootnote references.(April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Theology | Reform Judaism |
| Rabbinic college chair | Rabbi Meno ten Brink |
| Chair | Ron van der Wieken |
| Associations | World Union for Progressive Judaism |
| Region | Netherlands |
| Headquarters | Zuidelijke Wandelweg 41,Amsterdam |
| Origin | 18 October 1931 |
| Congregations | 10 |
| Members | ~3,700 |
| Official website | www |
TheNederlands Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom (Dutch Union for Progressive Judaism; until 2006:Verbond voor Liberaal-Religieuze Joden in Nederland, Union for Liberal-Religious Jews in the Netherlands) is the umbrella organisation forProgressive Jews inthe Netherlands, and is affiliated to theWorld Union for Progressive Judaism. It was founded in 1931.
The "Verbond" claims a membership of some 3,700, spread in ten different congregations throughout the country. The biggest one is the congregation inAmsterdam, with some 1,700 members. Other congregations exist inThe Hague,Rotterdam,Culemborg (PJG Midden-Nederland),Utrecht,Arnhem (LJGGelderland),Tilburg (LJGBrabant),Enschede (LJGTwente),Heerenveen,Zuidlaren (LJG Noord-Nederland) andAlmere (LJGFlevoland). The NVPJ's rabbis are: Menno ten Brink, David Lilienthal, Awraham Soetendorp, Edward van Voolen, Marianne van Praag, Tamara Benima, Albert Ringer and Peter Luijendijk. It publishes its own magazine three times a year,Joods Nu (lit. Jewish Now).
TheNederlands Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom has separate organisations for women (FLJVN) and youngsters (Netzer Holland); there is also a separate Zionist organisation based on Progressive Jewish grounds,ARZA. It is also connected to four Jewish cemeteries: one inHoofddorp (1937) and one inAmstelveen (2002).[1] The Liberal communities in The Hague and Rotterdam also have their own cemetery in the town ofRijswijk, Beth Hachaim.[2] The cemetery was founded in 1990 after several requests from members from both communities. The Congregation in Twente has its cemetery Gan ha-Olam in Enschede.
| World Union for Progressive Judaism |
|---|
 |
| Regional affiliates |
Progressive Judaism was brought to the Netherlands in the 1930s by German immigrants, many of them fleeingNazi persecution. The first Progressive rabbi in the Netherlands was Meir L. Lasker, followed by German-born Rabbi Norden. The first congregation was founded in 1931 in The Hague, in the same year followed by one in Amsterdam. The congregations grew rapidly throughout the years, mostly because of the arrival of thousands of German Jews (of whom most were part of theReform tradition). On 18 October 1931,[3] theVerbond van Liberaal-Godsdienstige Joden (lit. Union for Liberal-Religious Jews) was founded. Services were held regularly, and the Union published its own paper,Nieuw Joods Leven (lit. New Jewish Life).
At the eve ofWorld War II, the Amsterdam community alone had some 900 members; ten years earlier, Progressive Judaism had virtually been non-existent in the Netherlands – the religious landscape was limited toAshkenaziOrthodox Judaism and a smaller community ofSephardi Jews.
World War II saw the destruction of most of Jewish life in the Netherlands duringthe Holocaust; more than 75% ofDutch Jews were killed by the Nazis. But the community was vibrant, and small initiatives were started in the years after the Second World War to revitalize Jewish life again, although this was hard in a country where the Jewish community had diminished from more than 140,000 in 1940 to a mere 25,000 in the 1950s. A new Liberal community was started in Amsterdam in 1946; the community had some 50 members, only a fraction of the 900 six years earlier.
It was not until the 1960s that Progressive Judaism started to grow once again in the Netherlands. Much of its success was related to the hard work of Rabbi Jacob Soetendorp, rabbi for the Liberal community in Amsterdam since 1954. Because of his hard work, new communities started to spring up again within the Jewish Netherlands – sometimes much to the disagreement of the Orthodox Jewish community in the Netherlands, combined in theNederlands Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap, which, until this day, does not fully recognize theNederlands Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom.
The 1990s and the first years of the 21st century saw a new impulse to Progressive Judaism in the Netherlands with the establishment of three new communities: one in Utrecht in 1993; one in Heerenveen (Beth Hatsafon) in 2000; and one in Almere (Beth B'nei Jonah) in 2003.
The Levisson Instituut was founded in 2002 with the aim to provide rabbinical training for Dutch Jewish students affiliated with the NVPJ. The institute is based on the premises of theUniversity of Amsterdam and receives educational assistance from theLeo Baeck College in London, amongst others. Currently, seven students are training at the Institute and are providing liturgical and pastoral support within the Liberal communities.Dean of Studies is Swedish-born Rabbi David Lilienthal.