The Jodenbuurt (Dutch: Jewish neighbourhood) is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. For centuries before World War II, it was the center of the Dutch Jews of Amsterdam — hence, its name (literally Jewish quarter). It is best known as the birthplace of Baruch Spinoza, the home of Rembrandt, and the Jewish ghetto of Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Boundaries Traditionally, the boundaries of the Jodenbuurt, east of the city center, are the Amstel River in the southwest, the Zwanenburgwal "Swans City Wall" and Oudeschans "Old Rampart" canals in the northwest, Rapenburg, a street in the northeast and the Nieuwe Herengracht "New Patricians Canal" in the southeast. But it grew to include parts of Nieuwmarkt "New Market", Sint Antoniesbreestraat "St. Anthony's Broad Street", the Plantage "Plantation", and Weesperzijde "Weesp Side", especially after 1882, when two canals, the Leprozengracht "Lepers Canal" and the Houtgracht "Wood Canal", were filled in. History The first Jews to settle in Amsterdam were the Sephardim, who had been expelled from Portugal and Spain in 1493. They were joined in the following decades by the Ashkenazi from Central and Eastern Europe, the first of whom had come from Germany in 1600. In those years, the only available land for them was at the outskirts of the eastern side of the Centrum — the island of Vlooienburg, surrounded by the Amstel River and the canals — so they settled along the island's main street, Breestraat, which quickly became known as Jodenbreestraat [ "Jewish Broad Street" ]. ( The nearby square, Waterlooplein [ "Waterloo Square" ], would not be created until 1882, when the Leprozengracht and the Houtgracht were drained. ) By 1612, the population was about 500 people but it doubled to about 1,000 in 1620 and again to 2,500 in 1672. The Jews gave their new home, Amsterdam, its Hebrew name, Mokum ( "place" ) to show that they had finally felt at home in the city. This was because, with the Union of Utrecht in 1579, all the residents of the Dutch Republic were to be given religious freedom, the first time a European country had ever established and enshrined the freedom of religion as the law of the land. So the Jews were allowed to build their own synagogues. The first of them was the Beth Jakob, built between 1602 and 1610, followed by the second synagogue, Neve Shalom, constructed between 1608 and 1612, and the