A new exhibition about Judaism opened this week at Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk museum. The objects on display all come with a story because, the museum argues, stories are central to Judaism.

Five hundred Jewish objects are on display in the museum. They originate from the many countries in the world in which Jews have been living for centuries.

Jews have spread throughout world over the centuries, either voluntarily or driven by persecution, yet they have always held on to their religion, customs and traditions. The Jewish stories, rules and holidays are based on the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh.

The Nieuwe Kerk, a 15th-century church building which was turned into an exhibition hall decades ago, is presenting a series of exhibitions about world religions, of which  Judaism - a world full of stories is one. Among the hundreds of objects are many works of art, including one by painter Marc Chagall. Also on display are religious objects from synagogues or belonging to wealthy families.

Dead Sea Scroll
One of the top items is a first-century Dead Sea Scroll, on loan from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. More recent is the Alefbet Tapestry, made by Russian-American artist Grisha Bruskin.

The exhibition runs from 17 December 2011 to 15 April 2012.

External link to the Nieuwe Kerk

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