 The Rabbi of the NIK is Rabbi Dr. Raphael Evers.In total, the NIK has some 20 rabbis actively working in 18 congregations throughout the country, serving some 5,000 Jews.The NIK was founded in 1814 under the reign of Willem I, although the first steps towards a central organisation of Jewish communities in the Netherlands (which was the initial purpose of the NIK) were already taken in 1808, under command of Napoleon.