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The research behind this article has received funding from the European Research Council
under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013). Yosef Kaplan,
Bernard Cherrick Professor of the History of the Jewish People at the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, is the director of the grant. I wish to thank Dr. Kaplan for inviting
me to be part of this research project. I also wish to thank Michael Hoberman and
Laura Arnold Leibman for reading various versions of this essay and offering insightful
feedback. I am grateful to the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation of London
for permission to use the following MSS, which are held at the London Metropolitan
Archives (LMA): Ms. 73, First Minute Book of the Committee of the Bet Holim, 1747–1805
(hereafter, Ms. 73, Bet Holim-1); Ms. 74, Bet Holim General Committee Minutes, 1748–1780
(hereafter, Ms. 74, Bet Holim-2); Ms. 76, Bet Holim General Committee Minutes, 1781–1814
(hereafter, Ms. 76, Bet Holim-3); Ms. 259, Revised Ascamot (Laws) and Accounts, 1752–1827
(hereafter, Ms. 259, Revised Ascamot). I have also used the following microfilms held
at the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, Jerusalem: HM2/993,
Minutes of the Mahamad (executive board) of London’s Spanish and Portuguese Jews’
Congregation, 1751–1775 (hereafter, HM2/993, Minutes of the Mahamad); HM2/997, Elders’
Minute Book I, 1735–1769 (hereafter, HM2/997, Elders’ Minutes I). These MSS are not
always paginated in the original and neither have they been hand-paginated by archivists,
as is the norm in other archives. In addition, the digitization has not always been
done adequately. Ms. 73 in particular presents a challenge as scans 1–24 are folios
that belong in various places, and the beginning of the document is scan 25. As I
was fortunate to be able to consult the London originals, I have chosen to give dates
of minutes, as recorded in the originals, instead of following the numbering of the
scans.
