The Beth Haim of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel is the oldest Jewish cemetery

Jewish cemetery

A Jewish cemetery is a cemetery where members of the Jewish faith are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition....

 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. It was purchased for use as a burying ground by the Jewish community of Amsterdam in 1614 and is located in the village of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel

Ouderkerk aan de Amstel

Ouderkerk aan de Amstel is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is largely a part of the municipality of Ouder-Amstel, and lies about 9 km south of Amsterdam. A small part of the town lies in the municipality of Amstelveen....

, in the countryside near Amsterdam.

In addition to its age, the graveyard is interesting because the tombstones have inscriptions in three languages, Portuguese, Dutch and Hebrew, and because, unusually for a Jewish cemetery, many of the tombstones are carved with elaborate scenes including human figures.

There are two paintings by Jacob van Ruisdael that were inspired by Beth Haim. Although the paintings are usually called in English "The Jewish Cemetery at Ouderkerk", the artist felt free to add picturesque elements, and they therefore do not closely resemble the actual location.

Famous people buried at the Beth Haim include:

• Rabbi Menasseh Ben Israel
  Menasseh Ben Israel
  Manoel Dias Soeiro , better known by his Hebrew name Menasseh Ben Israel , was a Portuguese rabbi, kabbalist, scholar, writer, diplomat, printer and publisher, founder of the first Hebrew printing press in Amsterdam in...
  
  , friend of the famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn, who apart from making an etching of the Rabbi also illustrated his books. It was Rabbi Menasheh who, together with Rabbi Jacob Sasportas, pleaded with Oliver Cromwell to allow the Jews to settle in England on philosophical and theological grounds.
• Dr. Eliahu Montalto, personal physician to Maria de Medici.
• The parents of the philosopher Baruch Spinoza
  Baruch Spinoza
  Baruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
  
  .
• Moroccan diplomat Samuel Pallache
  Samuel Pallache
  Samuel Pallache was a Jewish-Moroccan merchant, diplomat and pirate who was sent as an envoy to the Dutch Republic in 1608....
  
  

External links

• Beth Haim Portuguese-Jewish Cemetery, The Netherlands (official website)