The ''qahal'' ( he, קהל) was a

theocratic Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fr ...

organizational structure An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the foundat ...

in ancient Israelite society according to the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' 345-6
The Ashkenazi Jewish system of a self-governing community or kehila from medieval Christian Europe (France, Germany, Italy) was later adopted further east by the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

(16th–18th centuries) and its successors, with an elected council of laymen, the kahal, at the helm of each kehila. This institution was exported also further to the east as Jewish settlement advanced. In

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

it was abolished in 1822, and in most of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1844.

Etymology and meaning

The

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

word ''qahal'', which is a close

etymological Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words a ...

relation of the name of ''Qoheleth'' ( Ecclesiastes), comes from a

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

meaning "convoked roup; its

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

cognate, ''qāla'', means ''to speak''. Where the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

uses the term ''qahal'', the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

usually uses the

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

term ''ekklesia'', , which means "summoned group" (literally, "they who are called out"). However, in one particular part of the

Priestly Code The Priestly Code (in Hebrew ''Torat Kohanim'', תורת כהנים) is the name given, by academia,The book of Leviticus: composition and reception - Page 55 Rolf Rendtorff, Robert A. Kugler, Sarah Smith Bartel - 2003 "Research agrees that its r ...

, the Septuagint instead uses the term , literally meaning "gathering", where the Masoretic Text uses ''qahal''. This last term is the origin of the word for " synagogue" in Hebrew. Thus, the usual translation of ''qahal'' is "congregation" or "assembly", although ''asuppot'', ''ʻaṣarah'', ''ʻedah'', ''moʻed'', ''miqra'', and ''sod'' are also usually translated like this. In particular, the Biblical text consistently distinguishes between ''ʻedah'' and ''qahal''. One passage especially makes the distinction clear; part of the Priestly Code discusses what to do if "the whole Israelite �edahcommits a sin and the

ahal Ahal may refer to: * Ahal Province, in Turkmenistan * Ahel, a city in Fars Province, Iran * FC Ahal Ahal Änew Football Club ( tk, Ahal Änew Futbol Kluby), or simply Ahal FC, is a Turkmen professional association football club based in the ...

is not aware of it Scholars conclude that the ''qahal'' must be a judicial body composed of representatives of the ''ʿedah''; in some biblical passages, ''ʻedah'' is more accurately translated as "swarm".

Biblical exclusions

The Book of Deuteronomy prohibits certain members of the ''ʿedah'' from taking part in the ''qahal of

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...

''. In particular, it excludes ''

mamzer In the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, a ''mamzer'' ( he, ממזר, , "estranged person"; plural ''mamzerim'') is a person who is born as the result of certain forbidden relationships or incest (as it is defined by the Bible), or the de ...

s'', and men who were forcibly

emasculated Emasculation is the removal of both the penis and the testicles, the external male sex organs. It differs from castration, which is the removal of the testicles only, although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The potential medical ...

. (verses 1-3 in some English translations) The descendants of ''mamzers,'' up to the tenth generation, were also prohibited by this law code from taking part in the "congregation of Yahweh". The term employed in the

for 'eunuch' ( grc, σπάδωνες, spadones, castrate) most commonly refers to forcibly emasculated men, but it is also used there to denote certain foreign political officials (resembling the meaning of eunuch). This category does not include men who were born without visible testicles (conditions including

cryptorchidism Cryptorchidism, also known as undescended testis, is the failure of one or both testes to descend into the scrotum. The word is from Greek () 'hidden' and () 'testicle'. It is the most common birth defect of the male genital tract. About 3% of ...

), or without a visible penis (conditions including

hermaphroditism In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...

). There is a dispute, even in traditional Judaism, about whether this prohibited group of men should include those who have become, at some point since their birth, emasculated as the result of a disease. No explanation of the word ''mamzer'' is given in the

, but the

translates it as "son of a prostitute" ( grc, :wikt:ἐκ πόρνης). In the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, it is suggested that the word ''mamzer'' derives from ''mum zar'', meaning ''a strange blemish'', and thus suggesting illicit parentage in some sense. There are differing opinions in the Talmud as to what this consists of, but the universally accepted ruling refers to the offspring of

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

(defined as relations with a married woman) or incest, as defined in the

Book of Leviticus The book of Leviticus (, from grc, Λευιτικόν, ; he, וַיִּקְרָא, , "And He called") is the third book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses. Scholars generally agree ...

. In the Talmud, there is a fierce dispute about whether or not the term ''mamzer'' included a child who had a Jewish mother, and a father who is either non-Jewish or a slave (or both); although the Talmud eventually concludes that this is not the case, a number of scholars now suspect that this was actually the original definition of ''mamzer''.

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ''ʼAvrāhām Gayger''; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar, considered the founding father of Reform Judaism. Emphasizing Judaism's constant development along history and universalist traits, Geig ...

, a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi of the mid 19th century, suggested that the etymological origin of ''mamzer'' might be ''me'am zar'', which means ''belonging to a foreign people''. The Talmud interprets the exclusion of certain people from the ''qahal'' as a prohibition against ordinary Jews marrying such people. Additionally, the biblical reference to the "tenth generation" was interpreted, by the classical rabbis, as an idiom meaning "forever"; thus the Talmud forbids all the descendants - forever - of these people, from being married to ordinary Jews.

In Poland-Lithuania

In the 16th century, Jewish communities in the south of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth began to set up new ''kahals'' to administer

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

collection. Strictly speaking, the ''kahal'' was the elected lay leadership of the ''kehila'' (community). A ''kahal'' had a minimum of 8 members, and in average Jewish communities had a membership of 22–35 individuals. Their executives were elected by the local Jewish community, and consisted of 4 ''elders'' (Hebrew: ''zeqenim'') with a further 3–5 ''honorary members'' (Hebrew: ''tovim''). There was one ''kahal'' for each Jewish community, although smaller ''kahals'' were often made subject to larger ones. These Polish-Lithuanian ''kahal''s quickly came to be politically autonomous bodies with major regulatory control over Jewish communities in the region. The ''kahal''s acted as autonomous administration within each town, having jurisdiction over the local Jewish population and the legal right to regulate the contact between Poles and Jews in all their social, economical and political aspects. Within the community, they administered commerce, hygiene, sanitation, charity (cf. ''

tzedakah ''Tzedakah'' or ''Ṣedaqah'' ( he, צדקה ) is a Hebrew word meaning "righteousness", but commonly used to signify '' charity''. This concept of "charity" differs from the modern Western understanding of "charity". The latter is typically u ...

'', '' mitzvot'', ''

halukkah The ''halukka'', also spelled ''haluka'', ''halukkah'' or ''chalukah'' ( he, חלוקה) was an organized collection and distribution of charity funds for Jewish residents of the Land of Israel (the Holy Land). General method of operation Symp ...

''), Jewish education, application of dietary laws ('' kashrut''), and relations between landlords and their tenants. They provided a number of community facilities, such as a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro ( he, יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the '' Beit Yosef'', and its popular analogue, the ''Shu ...

, ''

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in I ...

'', "

Choshen Mishpat Choshen Mishpat is the Hebrew for "Breastplate of Judgement". The term is associated with one of the four sections of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha (Jewish law), Arba'ah Turim. This section treats aspects of Jewish law pertinent to ...

", chapter 2 a ritual bath ('' mikveh''), and interest-free loans ('' gemachen''). ''Kahal''s even had sufficient authority that they could arrange for individuals to be expelled from synagogues,

excommunicating Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

them ('' herem''). However, rich and powerful individuals gradually began to dominate the ''kahal''s, abusing their position for their own benefit. As a result, by the 18th century, many ordinary Jews had begun to clamour for the abolition of those institutions. The researchers are still debating to what degree the official abolition of the ''kahal'' system (1822 in Congress Poland, and 1844 throughout the Russian Empire) was circumvented by the Jewish communities, who had internalised very deeply the spirit of local communal rule and gathered around legal associations such as the '' khevre kadisha'' (burial society). Some see the ''kahal''-style self-administration reach far into the second half of the nineteenth century; others however, claim that the Polish magnates had usurped much of the ''kahal''s autonomy well before 1800, and others still see deep inner changes predating even the

Polish partitions The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for ...

(1770s-90s). After the 1844 official abolition in the Russian Empire, the ''kahal''s "continued to exist only in the Baltic region f Russia Afterwards, Jewish communities were only given jurisdiction over religious and charitable affairs, and occasionally over education."

Conspiracy theories

The ''kahal'' exists as a theme in the antisemitic conspiracy theory literature. The theme originated with Jacob Brafman, a Russian Jew who had a falling out with

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

''kahal'' tax-agents, and to get revenge converted first to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

and then to Russian Orthodoxy, authoring polemics against the

and the ''kahal''.''Brafman, Iakov Aleksandrovich''
entry of the

YIVO YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...

Encyclopedia Brafmann authored the books ''The Local and Universal Jewish Brotherhoods'' (1868) and ''The Book of the Kahal'' (1869), claiming that the ''kahal'' was an international network under the control of the ''

Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU; he, כל ישראל חברים; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jew ...

'', its aim being to undermine Christian entrepreneurs, taking over their property and ultimately seizing power. This theory was taken up by anti-Jewish publications in Russia and by some Russian officials, such as P. A. Cherevin and

Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev Count Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev (historical spelling: ''Nicolai Ignatieff''; russian: Граф Никола́й Па́влович Игна́тьев; – ), a Russian statesman and diplomat, became best known for his aggressive expansion ...

, who in the 1880s urged governor-generals of provinces to seek out a supposed "universal Jewish kahal." Brafmann's image of the ''qahal'' spread throughout the world, making its way to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by 1881, as it was translated by

Zénaïde Alexeïevna Ragozin Zénaïde Alexeïevna Ragozin (1834 - 1924) was a Russian-American author. Biography She was educated in Russia. She had no regular education, but studied by herself. After traveling widely for several years in Europe, in 1874 she emigrated to th ...

in ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

''. It prepared the groundwork for ''

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...

'', and the word ''qahal'' features in that text. It is also discussed in other conspiracy works such as Edith Starr Miller's ''Occult Theocrasy'' (1933), which ties it to the

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

Etymology and meaning

Biblical exclusions

In Poland-Lithuania

Conspiracy theories

See also

References

Further reading