History of the Jews in Russia and Poland (Vol. 1-3). Dubnow Simon

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СКАЧАТЬ Catechism of the Polish Republic," published in 1735, we read the following: "Who is it in this vast country that engages in commerce, in handicrafts, in keeping inns and taverns?"—"The Jews." … "What may be the reason for it?"—"Because all commerce and handicrafts are prohibited to the Shlakhta on account of the importance of this estate, just as sins are prohibited by the commandments of God and by the law of nature."—"Who imposes and who pays the taxes?"—"The taxes are imposed by the nobility, and they are paid by the peasant, the burgher, and the Jew."

150 [See above, p. 46, n. 1, and p. 60, n. 1.]

151 [More exactly, faktor, Polish designation for broker, agent, and general utility man.]

152 [Popular Polish form of the Jewish name Baer.]

153 The last order was subsequently repealed.

154 [See p. 55.]

155 [See pp. 164 and 165.]

156 According to another version, he expressed his willingness to embrace Christianity in order to escape death, but afterwards repented.

157 [In Podolia.]

158 [In the province of Kiev.]

159 [In Volhynia.]

160 [Near Lublin.]

161 Another variant of the name is Jelek. [The latter form is declared to be incorrect by A. Berliner, Gutachten Ganganelli's (Berlin, 1888), p. 41.]

162 Of all the accusations of this kind, the Cardinal recognizes the correctness of only two, the murder of Simon of Trent in 1475 and of Andreas of Brixen in 1462, adding, however, that even their death was not caused by the legendary Jewish ritual, but simply by Jewish "hatred against the Christians."

163 [See p. 78.]

164 [See p. 143, n. 2.]

165 [A word of uncertain origin meaning "rebel" or "rioter." See p. 149.]

166 [A town in Podolia.]

167 [See p. 142, n. 1.]

168 [See p. 320, n. 2.]

169 [Pronounced Ooman̄, with a soft sound at the end. In Polish the name is spelled Humań.]

170 According to the Polish census of 1764–1766 the number of Jews in Poland and Lithuania amounted during those years, on the eve of the partitions, to 621,000 souls.

CHAPTER VI

       THE INNER LIFE OF POLISH JEWRY DURING THE PERIOD OF DECLINE

       Table of Contents

      1. Jewish Self-Government

      The fact that the Jews of Poland, despite the general disintegration of the country, where right was supplanted by privilege and liberty by license, were yet able to hold their own as an organized social unit, was principally due to that vast scheme of communal self-government which had become an integral part of Polish-Jewish life during the preceding period. Surrounded by enemies, ostracized by all other estates and social groups, Polish Jewry, guided by the instinct of self-preservation, endeavored to close its ranks and gather sufficient inner strength to offer effective resistance to the hostile non-Jewish world. One of the appeals issued in 1676 by the central organ of Polish Jewry, the "Council of the Four Lands," begins with these characteristic words:

      Gravely have we sinned before the Lord. The unrest grows from day to day. It becomes more and more difficult to live. Our people has no standing whatsoever among the nations. Indeed, it is a miracle that in spite of all misfortunes we are still alive. The only thing left for us to do is to unite ourselves in one league, held together by the spirit of strict obedience to the commandments of God and to the precepts of our pious teachers and leaders.

      These sentences are followed by a set of paragraphs calling upon the Jews of Poland to obey without murmuring the mandates of their Kahals, to refrain from farming state taxes, from accepting the stewardship of Shlakhta estates, and entering into business partnership with non-Jews without the permission of the Kahals, for the reason that such enterprises are bound to result in conflicts with the Christian population and in complaints on their part about the Jews. The Council also forbids "intrusting Jewish goods to strange hands," resorting to the intervention of the Polish authorities for purposes injurious to the interests of the community, generating schisms and party strife among Jews, and similar actions.

      The rabbinical Kahal administration endeavored to impose its will upon every single member of the community by regulating his economic and spiritual life, and to prevent as far as possible his coming in contact with the outside world. The greatest assistance in this endeavor came from the Polish Government. Attaching great value to the Kahal as a convenient tool for the collection of Jewish taxes, the Government bestowed upon it vast administrative and judicial powers. The Government found it to its interest to deal with the Jewish communities rather than with individual Jews. The Kahal was held responsible by the Government for the action of every one of its members or for any inaccuracy of the latter in the payment of taxes. The Kahal extended its influence in proportion to its responsibility. This tutelage of the Kahal resulted in strengthening the social organization of the Jews, while it curbed at the same time the personal liberty of its members to a greater extent than was demanded even by the strictest social discipline.

      As far as the Polish Government was concerned, the Kahal was particularly valued as a responsible collecting agency among the Jews on behalf of the exchequer. At the sessions of the Waads, the wholesale amount of the Jewish head-tax (designated as gulgoleth in the Jewish sources) was periodically fixed and apportioned among the Kahal districts. Within these Kahal districts as well as in the individual communities the apportionment of the taxes was the function of the local Kahal elders, who were in charge of the tax collection, and were held responsible for its being accurately remitted to the exchequer. In 1672 the King bestowed upon the Kahal elders of Lithuania the right of excluding from the community or of punishing by other measures those recalcitrant members of their Kahals who by their acts were likely to arouse the resentment of the Christian СКАЧАТЬ