The RovingRabbis have been known to rove in rented cars, donated cars, busses, taxis, scooters, airplanes, feet, and perhaps even gondolas. But we, the RovingRabbis to Amsterdam, use bikes.

Amsterdam is full of bikes. In fact, according to Wikipedia, there are over 500,000 bicycles in this city of under 800,000 souls. In Rome do as the Romans, and in Amsterdam do as the Amsterdammers. So we rented ourselves bikes.

We now zip all around Amsterdam on our stainless-steel steeds. We cycle to synagogues and meetings in local style.

Biking has incredible advantages. It is cheap, clean, eco-friendly, and there are bike lanes and bike parking lots all over the city. One disadvantage, however, is that bikes do precious little to protect their riders from the rain.

The other day, just as we were just about to bike over to meet a gentleman named Zephania, the skies opened up, and the thirsty canals of Amsterdam drank up heaven's bounty. But what were we to do? As we stood there wondering what to do next, a friendly Israeli named David pulled up to say hello. After getting to know each other, he offered to take us to Zephania's in his car.

Thank G‑d Amsterdam has almost as many Israelis as bikes!

We just arrived in Amsterdam and things are off to a great start.

We started out at the Portuguese Synagogue, a beautiful, old 17th-century edifice, which was once the center of a thriving community of Jewish people who had come to Amsterdam from Spain via Portugal. Built in the Sepharadic tradition, the pews face the center of the cavernous old synagogue (known in Ladino as the Esnoga). This is different from the Eastern European tradition, where the benches face the front.

Tourists come from all over the world to see this beautiful piece of Jewish history, and services are still held here. We are told that, in true Sepharadic tradition, prayers and announcements are still made in the traditional Judao-Spanish vernacular.

Later, outside the Jewish Historical Museum—which is housed in what was once the Ashkenazi synagogue—we met Faroukh, a Jewish man who lives in a smaller city in Holland. We also met a family of Jewish tourists from Miami.

Throughout the day, we found that we were constantly being approached by Jewish tourists, who assumed that we must know everything Jewish in Holland. We have only been here for one day, but we are getting better at it. We are now able to direct people to the synagogues, museums, and kosher restaurants with relative confidence.

There are many Israelis who live and work in this area. We have some of their contact information and hope to get in touch with them during the next few weeks.

In the afternoon, we took part in Minchah services in the Esnoga, with a large group from Israel in attendance.

All in all, we had a tiring but accomplishing day. The weather is nice and the people are even nicer. So we have much to look forward to ahead.

Surrounded by a courtyard, local tradition has it that some elements of the design of the Esnoga mirror the Holy Temple of Jerusalem.