THE COUNCIL OF LITHUANIAN JEWS 1623-1764 MICHAŁOWSKA-MYCIELSKA A. Księgarnia

The Council of Lithuanian Jews 1623-1764

The Council of Lithuanian Jews (Lithuanian Vaad) was the central representative organ of the Jews in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

It operated for nearly one and a half centuries (1623-1764), touching all spheres of the Jewish community’s life. It undertook important initiatives for the benefit of its constituency at diets and dietines (legislative assemblies of the nobility), at the courts of the King and important magnates, and in non-Jewish courts of law.

This book discusses the Council’s activities in the context of processes and phenomena present in Jewish society of the time, illustrating the life of Lithuanian Jewry as a separate estate guided by a common sense of identity transcending local affiliation.

Anna Michałowska-Mycielska is a historian working at the Institute of History, Warsaw University. The subject of her studies is the history and culture of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th–18th centuries.
he published:
Między demokracją a oligarchią. Władze gmin żydowskich w Poznaniu i Swarzędzu (od połowy XVII do końca XVIII wieku), Warszawa 2000
The English translation:
The Jewish Community. Authority and Social Control in Poznań and Swarzędz, 1650-1793, Wrocław 2008 (2nd edition: Warszawa 2015)
Gminy żydowskie w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Wybór tekstów źródłowych, Warszawa 2003
Pinkas kahału swarzędzkiego (1734-1830), Warszawa 2005
Sejmy i sejmiki koronne wobec Żydów. Wybór tekstów źródłowych, Warszawa 2006
Sejm Żydów litewskich (1623-1764), Warszawa 2014
Pinkas kahału boćkowskiego (1714-1817), Warszawa 2015

Foreword to English edition
Introduction
1. Sources and state of research on the Lithuanian Vaad
2. Origins of the Jewish council and its break-up in 1623
3. Organization
1. Administrative Structure
2. Time and venue of sessions, their convocation and course
3. The Vaad’s composition, delegates
4. The Vaad’s officials
5. Issue of regulations and their announcement, pinkasim
4. Regulations
1. Internal functioning of communities
2. Relations between the principal communities and the districts,communities and settlements under their jurisdiction
3. Jewish settlement and the right of citizenship
4. Judiciary
5. Business matters
6. Money lending, bankruptcy
7. Religious and social life
8. Everyday contacts with non-Jews
5. Finances
1. Taxes and their collection
2. The Vaad’s expenses
3. The Vaad’s debts
6. Tribunal
7. Contacts with non-Jewish institutions and officials
8. Contacts with the Crown Vaad
9. Contacts with Karaites
Conclusion: Disbanding of the Vaads in 1764
Annex: Chronology of the Lithuanian Vaad’s sessions
Map: Administrative structure of the Lithuanian Vaad
List of Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index of Names

322 pages, Paperback

Po otrzymaniu zamówienia poinformujemy,
czy wybrany tytuł polskojęzyczny lub anglojęzyczny jest aktualnie na półce księgarni.