Pinkas Kehilat Frankfurt de-Oder P1100275

A ''pinkes'' (, plural ''pinkeysim''; , also ''pinkas'', , plural ''pinkasim'') is the

ledger A ledger is a book or collection of accounts in which accounting transactions are recorded. Each account has: * an opening or brought-forward balance; *a list of transactions, each recorded as either a debit or credit in separate columns (usu ...

of a Jewish community, in which the proceedings of and events relating to the community are recorded. Such record book were used to co-ordinate and document organizations in

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

towns and villages throughout the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Origin

The term ''pinkes'' is derived from the Greek word πίναξ, meaning a board or writing-tablet. It originally referred to a physical writing-tablet, as described in the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, which came in three types: # A tablet covered with dust, primarily used for arithmetical calculations, and large enough to serve as a seat; # A tablet covered with a layer of wax, where writing was done using a

stylus A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...

; and # A smooth tablet written upon with ink. Over time, the term evolved to refer to a book composed of such tablets, and eventually any written record. The use of "''pinkes''" to denote a register is found in the Mishnah: "The ''pinkes'' is open, and the hand writes."

References

External links

The Eastern European Pinkas Kahal: Image and Reality

Pinkas of the Jewish Community of Pinczow

Pages from the pinkas of the Vilna Gaon kloyz

Pinkas of the Talmud Torah Religious School from Kopychintsy
Accounting journals and ledgers Early modern period History of the Jews in Europe Jewish literature {{Jewish-hist-stub