Did Jewish Self-Government Exist in the Kingdom of Poland between 1815 and 1915?

Abstract

This chapter considers whether synagogue supervisory boards were a continuation of the traditional form of Jewish self-government or simply a state agency designed to control and administer the Jewish community. The main sources for evaluating this issue are the petitions and complaints of Jews against the kahals and ḥevrot dating from the establishment of the Congress Kingdom. There are also the subsequent denunciations of their illegal activity which exist for the whole period down to 1915. What is clear from these documents is that in the course of the nineteenth century the structures of Jewish self-government, first the synagogue supervisory boards and then somewhat later the Board of the Jewish Community of Warsaw into which the local supervisory board was transformed, evolved from a subordinate, almost passive, position to one of activity and significant authority. The concept of ‘self-government’ during this period raises a number of issues, as do its various models, which this chapter describes.