This book wouldn’t have come to fruition without the invaluable assistance and encouragement of numerous individuals and institutions. I’d like to offer my heartfelt thanks to Brill Publishers for enabling this book to reach a broader and more diverse readership. Secondly, I would like to thank my alma mater – the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon – which in the context of the Erasmus programme and the corresponding scholarship made possible what was still then the beginning of a long research project in Hamburg.
I am deeply thankful to Professor Monika Rüthers who very kindly agreed to supervise my research internship at the University of Hamburg as a graduate student. The continuation and eventual completion of the project would not have been possible without the generous help of three grants received between 2014 and 2018: the “Doctoral Candidates and Young Academics and Scientists” from DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst); the “Small Grants for Research Purposes” short research fellowship awarded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe, and finally, the PhD fellowship awarded by the same foundation – the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe. I am grateful for the invaluable help provided by these institutions both during the research and later, during the period of writing my doctoral dissertation, the work on which the present monograph is based.
I am also grateful to the staff of the Hamburg state archive where much of my research was carried out, in particular Ms Barbara Koschlig. I thank Professor Yaacob Dweck of Princeton University, for sharing considerable secondary literature associated with my work (which for reasons of licensing and rights was barred to me at my own University). I am grateful to Michael Studemund-Halévy, former Eduard Duckesz fellow at the Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden (IGdJ), for being willing to share with me his encyclopaedic knowledge of the bibliography and literature associated with the subject of the Portuguese Jews of Hamburg. I also extend my thanks to Professor Yosef Kaplan for his support and encouragement during the initial part of the project, as well as to Rabbi and Doctor Dov Cohen for his valuable insights. I am also indebted to Professor James Nelson Novoa, who very kindly agreed to read the initial manuscript, making important suggestions for its improvement, as well as Professor Jonathan Schorsch, for his generosity and support over the last few years, as my postdoc supervisor.
The greatest debt of gratitude is indeed owed to two esteemed professors from my own University: my thesis supervisor, Professor Maria Leonor García da Cruz, and Professor José Alberto Rodrigues da Silva Tavim. Unfailingly generous with their time, the support and help provided by both was extremely valuable on countless occasions, having been able to benefit from their recommendations and criticisms throughout the duration of my work.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents and my sister, for their infinite patience, attention and love.
Lisbon, 27 October 2022