Kosher in the Low Countries: The NIK and Amsterdam’s Rabbinate

If you are in Amsterdam and looking for a kosher meal, the people to thank are two rabbinates working side by side. The city’s Ashkenazi and Sephardi rabbinates jointly supervise its kosher establishments, and the NIK, the Dutch Israelite Religious Community, publishes the national kosher list. Together they keep kosher life going in a country where most Jewish communities were destroyed in the Holocaust. This article looks at both, and at how to check a product in the Netherlands.

Who is behind the NIK?

NIK stands for Nederlands-Israëlietisch Kerkgenootschap, the Dutch Israelite Religious Community. It was established in 1814 under King Willem I, building on first steps taken under Napoleon in 1808. In 1871 the Sephardim left to form their own body. Today the Ashkenazi and Sephardi rabbinates of Amsterdam supervise kosher establishments together. The NIK is the national body, while the day-to-day supervision of Amsterdam’s kosher establishments is the work of the two city rabbinates.

The NIK has about 5,000 members. At its peak in 1877 it counted 176 communities, and 139 remained on the eve of the Second World War. Most of them were destroyed in the Holocaust.

It is a small community today, and its kosher infrastructure is compact to match: a handful of supervised restaurants, shops and caterers in Amsterdam, and a national list that shoppers anywhere in the country can use.

How shechita was saved

In 2011 the lower house of the Dutch parliament voted to ban slaughter without stunning. The Senate rejected the ban on grounds of religious freedom. In July 2017 the NIK signed an agreement with the Dutch government protecting shechita, which took effect on 1 January 2018. Under that agreement it is the shochet, rather than a vet, who determines the moment of death.

The agreement matters well beyond Amsterdam. It keeps a legal route open for kosher meat in the Netherlands, after years in which its future had looked uncertain.

Kosher in Amsterdam today

The NIK’s page for visitors lists a handful of kosher restaurants, shops and caterers in Amsterdam. Beyond those, some chain hotels in the city offer kosher breakfasts, and supermarkets such as Albert Heijn XL and Jumbo have kosher sections. The NIK does not publish an overall count of the companies it certifies. For visitors, that mix of supervised restaurants and mainstream shelves means a short trip can be planned with some confidence, as long as you check who supervises each place.

What to look for

• The certificate: supervised restaurants display a te’udat hechsher, a kashrut certificate.
• Meat: the restaurants on the NIK’s list serve glatt meat.
• Not a kashrut mark: the NIK’s coat of arms identifies the organisation. It does not certify a product.

If you cannot see a certificate in a restaurant, ask for it. A supervised business should be able to show one.

How to check a product

The NIK publishes the Kasjroetlijst Nederland, the Dutch kosher list, at kasjroet.nik.nl. It is built for everyday use:

• A new edition each Hebrew year, so make sure you are reading the current one.
• Update notices between editions, as products and recipes change.
• A gluten-free overview for shoppers who need one.
• The IsItKosher app, which the NIK also points shoppers to.

Three things you might not know

1. Shechita in the Netherlands was saved by the Senate in 2011, after the lower house had voted to ban it.
2. Under the 2017 agreement, the shochet, not a vet, decides the moment of death.
3. The Dutch kosher list follows the Jewish calendar, with a new edition for each Hebrew year.

On The Kosher Shop, every food seller tells us which kashrut authority supervises their products, and we check the certificate before their shop opens. Next in this series: Germany’s Orthodox Rabbinical Conference and the community rabbinates.

Sources: NIK: Information for tourists; NIK archive: Kashrutlist Netherlands; Wikipedia: Nederlands Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap; Israel National News, 2017.