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Rembrandt has been hailed for his love of the Jewish people — was it all a myth?

JL;DR SUMMARY Rembrandt's relationship with Jews, often touted as an example of philosemitism, is reexamined in a new exhibition at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish HistoryArt ExhibitionCultural ExchangePhilosemitismMenasseh Ben IsraelDutch RepublicRembrandtBiblical ArtAmsterdams JewsEphraim Bonus

Places mentioned

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
"Yet a new Rembrandt exhibit at Bostons Museum of Fine Arts, entitled Reality and Imagination: Rembrandt and the Jews in the Dutch Republic, embraces not only the hard facts of the Rembrandt-Jewish relationship, but the myths, too. Co-curators Michael Zell and Simona Di Nepi have juxtaposed the real with the imagined, introducing visitors to the artists known Jewish interactions the reality as well as his so-called imagined encounters: that is, the biblical Jews he often painted."
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
"Yet a new Rembrandt exhibit at Bostons Museum of Fine Arts, entitled Reality and Imagination: Rembrandt and the Jews in the Dutch Republic, embraces not only the hard facts of the Rembrandt-Jewish relationship, but the myths, too."
Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands
"What caught my attention most of all was a pair of silver Torah finials, whose conical shape, intricate flower engravings and tinkling bells were inspired by Dutch architecture and Christian reliquaries, said Di Nepi, whos the MFAs Charles and Lynn Schusterman Curator of Judaica. Made in 1649 in Rotterdam, a port town whose trade activity attracted scores of Jews, the finials are the oldest surviving in the United States."

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Retrieved 2026-02-20 05:30:58 UTC
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