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The Dotar Today
Today the Dotar has about 80 active members. They have to be Dutch citizens, be born from parents who had an Orthodox wedding, and have at least one parent descended from Spanish-Portuguese Jews.
Poverty is no longer a criterion for entering the lottery, and today young men can also enter their names. But to receive a dowry and wedding gift, the recipient needs the same qualifications as members. The only exception is for the lottery open to orphans living in Israel. They don’t need to be Dutch citizens, but they do need parents who are of Spanish-Portuguese descent and who had an Orthodox wedding.
According to Jaap Sondervan, the Dotar is in good shape financially. It’s awarding the money that is the problem.
“Only about 50 percent of the community’s children get married according to halacha and are eligible to enter the lottery,” he explains. “The rest either don’t get married or marry out.”
As for the lottery for the orphans, that too has its difficulties. “Our first preference is to give to someone living in Israel,” he comments. “It’s hard to find eligible people because the person has to be of Iberian-Sephardic descent. Also, we don’t give money to an organization. We only give directly to the person.”
Sondervan is a relatively new member of the Dotar. On his father’s side, he has Ashkenazic roots. However, his mother’s family, the Sephardic Cohen Paraira family, has been associated with the fund for generations.
Sondervan’s commitment to both the Dotar and Amsterdam’s Portuguese community is evident, but he is a realist. The rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe hasn’t escaped his notice or that of other members of the kehillah.
“What is the future?” he asks. “The community is becoming smaller. Some people are moving to Israel, although at this point not a lot. More troublesome is intermarriage and assimilation.
“The community wants to keep its traditions,” he adds. “If everyone were to make aliyah, I don’t think the Portuguese community would survive as a distinct kehillah.”
In the meantime, Sondervan has no intention of discarding his top hat. As long as there is a Portuguese presence in Amsterdam, he and the other members of the Dotar intend to keep the fund going, while remaining true to its original mission: encouraging young Jews of Spanish-Portuguese descent to marry Jewish and remain part of this historic, culturally-rich community.