Kehilla

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A kehilla or kehillah (קהילה, Hebrew: "community") is a Jewish community. In pre-War Europe, all towns or cities with a Jewish population had one communal organisation, or occasionally more. As a result of the dispersal caused by the War, larger agglomerations may have more than one community, each centred around one synagogue, with the various communities together providing the services previously run by the kehilla, such as a mikvah (immersion pool), gemach (free-loan fund), and kashrut (kosher food) supervision.

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[edit] Historical usage

Historically, a kehilla had quasi-governmental authority over both the Jewish community and its relationship with the Gentile community.

The system of the kehilla in Poland developed from the ashkenazi self-government system. People joined the kehilla as members. Taxes for the Polish Government of the time were collected from its members by elected trustees. The trustees were further responsible for the maintenance of various things such as education that were needed for it members to live a Jewish life. In at least some cases the kehilla's trustees additionally appointed the rabbi.[1]

[edit] As a proper name

Located in Palo Alto, California, United States, a Jewish high school by the name of Kehillah Jewish High School exists.

[edit] Modern usage

In modern usage, the term "Jewish community" can refer to the Jewish population of a given city or area, particularly when it is centered around a synagogue or synagogues and/or community service organizations such as a Jewish community center or a Jewish federation. "Jewish community" also may be used in a more abstract sense to refer to the Jewish population of the world; this reflects the sense that "all Jews are responsible for one another," that is, that Jews feel connected to other Jews worldwide regardless of the fact that they may never meet each other.

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Jewish People, Jewish Thought: The Jewish Experience in History, p. 476-7 - "Polish Jewry adapted the Ashkenazic system of communal self-government... Each local kehillah elected a committee of trustees that apportioned and collected taxes from its members for the Polish government and insured that the basic educational needs and other things required of Jewish life were adequately maintained. ... The Polish rabbi was elected...by the kehillah board."

[edit] References

[edit] See also

  • Aljama, Spanish name for a Jewish (or Muslim) community in Medieval Spain, also judería or call.
  • Jewish ghetto, a neighborhood where Jews lived together.