Portugees-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap

Some 270 families are connected to the PIK, also sometimes called PIG, (Portugees-Israëlitische Gemeente meaning "Portuguese Israelite Congregation").

[citation needed] The PIK was founded in 1814 under the reign of Willem I, although the first steps towards a central organization of Jewish communities in the Netherlands were already taken in 1808, under command of the Napoleonic king, Louis Bonaparte.

Center of Sephardic life in the Netherlands was Amsterdam, although throughout time, communities also existed in places like The Hague, Rotterdam (twice, in the 17th and in the 19th century), Middelburg and Naarden.

Throughout history, some 28,000 Sephardic Jews were buried at Beth Haim, making it one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in the Netherlands.

Among the ones buried at this monumental site are rabbi Menasseh ben Israel, diplomat Samuel Pallache and the parents of philosopher Baruch Spinoza.