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Unlikely Scholar

JL;DR SUMMARY In Leeuwarden, Holland, a retired police officer named Hidzer Johan Postma has developed a deep connection to Judaism, despite not being Jewish. 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 HeritageTorah StudyConversionLibraryDutch JewrySpiritual JourneyHollandNon Jewish ObservanceNoahideHalachic Limitations

Places mentioned

Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands
"His name is Hidzer Johan Postma, and that he lives in Leeuwarden in north Holland, about a three-hour drive from Antwerp."
Zwaagwesteinde, Friesland, Netherlands
"Hidzer was born in 1960 in the small Dutch village of Zwaagwesteinde in the province of Friesland, not far from the provinces capital Leeuwarden."
Antwerp, Belgium
"When I recently popped into the local Jewish bookstore in Antwerp, where I live."
Sneek, Friesland, Netherlands
"After marrying his wife is also his distant relative the couple moved to the nearby city of Sneek, famous for its canals and water sports."
Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
"To finance his growing Jewish library, Hidzer sold nearly all the secular books in his home an impressive collection in its own right."
Flemish Brabant, Belgium
"I searched constantly, he says, until I met a professor from KU Leuven University in Belgium who taught religion."

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Cairo Item ID 84581
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Retrieved 2026-06-11 18:00:48 UTC
Curated 2026-06-11 19:00:41 UTC