The Sefardim that settled in Amsterdam were aware of their Jewish descent, but as conversos (converts to christianity) they were far removed from their Jewish heritage and tradition. With their own schools, cemetery, charities and facilities for kosher food, these Sefardim created a strong sense of self and indentity. Nonetheless, these Sefardim managed to integrate into the surrouding cultures of Holland and Amsterdam to an extreme degree.

The literary fall-out of the Sefardi way of life - it's history, ideals and its school - is collected in the Ets Haim library. The manuscript holdings contain much hitherto unpublished material, which often was copied or written down by professors, students and alumni of Ets Haim. These notes contain bible commentaries, essays, sermons, poetry, historical literature, liturgy and music. The printed volumes show that Amsterdam was the centre of free printing, a freedom Jews all over the world profited from.

It's interesting to note how this community dealt with this freedom of press and expression: many of the volumes printed in those days were not widely circulated. An important genre for example was the material meant to support "the strengthening of the Jewish faith". In order to make sure that these volumes would not be seen as inflammatory anti-christian rhetoric, they were hand-copied and hand-distributed in an attempt to show respect for the opinions of others and thereby hopefully generating some measure of respect in return.