Will of Pinedo, the Portuguese Jew
This remarkable Israelite, well known in Amsterdam for his enormous wealth and liberal donations, died about the middle of the eighteenth century. His will, testifying to a noble and generous nature, and disposing in the most magnanimous and tolerant spirit of the very large fortune he had made, is to be found (in Schutt’s “Memorabilia Judaica,” lib. iv. cap. 18) as follows:
“I bequeath to the city of Amsterdam the sum of five ‘tons’ of gold.
“I lend to the said city for ten years, and without interest, the sum of a million and a half of florins.
“I give to every Christian church at Amsterdam and at the Hague the sum of 10,000 florins each, and to the church in the southern quarter of Amsterdam 20,000 florins.
“I give to each Christian orphanage in the two towns the sum of 10,000 crowns.
“I give to the poor of Amsterdam forty shiploads of peat.
“I give to the orphan who shall first quit the orphanage 1000 florins, and to the one who shall succeed him 600 florins.
“I give to the synagogue at Amsterdam two and a half ‘tons’ of gold.
“I give to the Portuguese orphanage 30,000 crowns.