Metadata : Minsk Kahal
Collection
- Country:
- Belarus
- Holding institution:
- National Historical Archive of Belarus
- Holding institution (official language):
- Национальный исторический архив Беларуси
- Postal address:
- ul. Kropotkina, 55, Minsk, 220002, Belarus
- Phone number:
- + 375 (17) 286 75 23; 286 76 92
- Web address:
- https://niab.by/newsite/
- Email:
- niab@niab.by
- Country:
- Belarus
- Holding institution:
- National Historical Archive of Belarus
- Holding institution (official language):
- Национальный исторический архив Беларуси
- Postal address:
- ul. Kropotkina, 55, Minsk, 220002, Belarus
- Phone number:
- + 375 (17) 286 75 23; 286 76 92
- Web address:
- https://niab.by/newsite/
- Email:
- niab@niab.by
- Reference number:
- F. 332
- Title:
- Minsk Kahal
- Title (official language):
- МИНСКИЙ КАГАЛ
- Creator/accumulator:
- Minsk Kahal
- Date(s):
- 1772/1774; 1817/1843
- Language:
- Russian
- Polish
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 134 storage units
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Scope and content:
- Op. 1 includes a set of documents pertaining to Jewish history and culture that may be provisionally divided into the following thematic groups: 1) Materials pertaining to censuses of the Jewish population for the purposes of capitation taxes, including files on the recording of Jews in census lists (1817/1818, 1835); on the verification of Jewish census lists (1817); on the assignment of Jews to the Minsk Jewish community (1836); on providing the provincial authorities with records on Jews assigned to the Jewish community, and on the compilation of an alphabetical log of the community’s townspeople (1835); on name changes by Jews (1835); etc. 2) Documents on the collection of state taxes and arrears from Jews living in Minsk, in particular taxes paid by craftsmen, and on the granting of various tax exemptions to Jews, etc. (1819/1825, 1835, 1839); on the conduct of various censuses of the taxpaying Jewish population for the purpose of recovering arrears (1820); on the hearing of complaints filed by Jews regarding improprieties in the collection of taxes (1836); records on elderly, indigent, and disabled Jews without relatives, for the benefit of whom tax funds were supposed to be distributed to all communities of the province, and information on merchants who were supposed to take part in the collection of these taxes (1835); etc. 3) Files on the election of Jewish community officials and on the setting of their salaries, including documents on the election of Jewish deputies (1817); applications and petitions, including one submitted to the Minsk civil governor requesting that a new rabbi be elected to replace the deceased Leib Mirkin, and the governor’s order that elections for a new rabbi be held (1819); on the disbursement of grants to Rabbi Itsk Rivkin and to the ritual slaughterer Aron Schechter (1825); on the payment of a salary to the ritual slaughterer Shmuil Aronovich (1825); etc. 4) Information on the establishment and functioning of various community institutions and charitable activities, including on the organizing of the municipal Jewish almshouse (1818), and on the collection of donations for its improvement (1825); on admitting indigent Jews to the almshouse (1835); statistical data on the burial and charitable societies of Minsk (1830s); etc. 5) Documents on Jews’ fulfillment of military conscription duties, including files on compiling conscription logs (1835); on the conduct of a call-up in 1835; on the investigation of cases of Jews evading military conscription, including on the search for Jews who had fled (1835, 1836, 1838); etc. 6) Materials on the involvement of Jews in the municipal government of Minsk, including files on the holding of elections of trade deputies and the appointment of electors, and on meetings at which Jews elected magistrate members (1825); etc. Op. 2 contains a register of individuals, including a list of the Jews of Minsk, indicating the streets on which they lived; a register of the receipt of funds for the needs of the kahal (1772/1773); and kahal expense budgets until 1776 (1772).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Jews began settling in Minsk in the 16th century. In 1579, the Polish King Stefan Batory promulgated a charter which entitled Jews to engage in trade in the city, and in 1679, King Jan III Sobieski granted Jews permission to own land and houses in Minsk. The Minsk Jewish community, headed by the kahal, a governing body with administrative and judicial functions, was formed in the early 17th century. In 1623, representatives of the Minsk kahal, which until 1631 was part of the Brest district, were present at the first meeting of the Va’ad of the main Jewish communities of Lithuania. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Jewish population of Minsk increased significantly; by 1766, there were 1,322 Jewish taxpayers residing in the city. After the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1793, Minsk became part of the Russian Empire, and in 1796 it became the administrative center of the Minsk province, which was part of the Pale of Settlement. Operations of the Minsk kahal, which included an office maintained at the expense of the community, were governed by several legislative acts, including the Statute on Kahals (6 September 1773). The kahal was charged with the following functions: compiling census lists; seeing to the timely delivery of taxes and excises to the state treasury; holding and disbursing kahal funds; carrying out legal proceedings in civil and religious cases involving Jewish community members; charitable activities; and from 1827 onwards, ensuring Jews fulfilled their military conscription obligations. The Minsk kahal issued decrees regarding the election of rabbis, including authoritative Talmudists such as Yeḥi’el ben-Solomon Heilprin (1660-1746?) and Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gintsburg (1695-1785). Following the Statute on Jews of 1835, the kahals’ jurisdiction was restricted to the execution of laws pertaining to Jews and to legal proceedings in religious cases. The Minsk kahal was abolished as a result of the imperially ratified statute of 19 December 1844, which transferred the former primary functions of the kahal to municipal and community institutions, including the Minsk Jewish Townsmen’s Society.
- Access points: locations:
- Minsk
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity
- Census
- Elderly
- Financial matters--Debt
- Financial records
- Hevrah kadisha
- Jewish community
- Jewish community records
- Kahal
- Military
- People with disabilities
- Poverty
- Professions--Crafts
- Rabbis
- Ritual slaughter
- Statistics
- Taxation
- Trade and commerce
- System of arrangement:
- The fond includes two inventories; op. 1 is systematized mainly according to the subject-chronological principle; op. 2 contains a single file.
- Finding aids:
- Inventories are available.
- Reference number:
- F. 332
- Title:
- Minsk Kahal
- Title (official language):
- МИНСКИЙ КАГАЛ
- Creator/accumulator:
- Minsk Kahal
- Date(s):
- 1772/1774; 1817/1843
- Language:
- Russian
- Polish
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 134 storage units
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Scope and content:
- Op. 1 includes a set of documents pertaining to Jewish history and culture that may be provisionally divided into the following thematic groups: 1) Materials pertaining to censuses of the Jewish population for the purposes of capitation taxes, including files on the recording of Jews in census lists (1817/1818, 1835); on the verification of Jewish census lists (1817); on the assignment of Jews to the Minsk Jewish community (1836); on providing the provincial authorities with records on Jews assigned to the Jewish community, and on the compilation of an alphabetical log of the community’s townspeople (1835); on name changes by Jews (1835); etc. 2) Documents on the collection of state taxes and arrears from Jews living in Minsk, in particular taxes paid by craftsmen, and on the granting of various tax exemptions to Jews, etc. (1819/1825, 1835, 1839); on the conduct of various censuses of the taxpaying Jewish population for the purpose of recovering arrears (1820); on the hearing of complaints filed by Jews regarding improprieties in the collection of taxes (1836); records on elderly, indigent, and disabled Jews without relatives, for the benefit of whom tax funds were supposed to be distributed to all communities of the province, and information on merchants who were supposed to take part in the collection of these taxes (1835); etc. 3) Files on the election of Jewish community officials and on the setting of their salaries, including documents on the election of Jewish deputies (1817); applications and petitions, including one submitted to the Minsk civil governor requesting that a new rabbi be elected to replace the deceased Leib Mirkin, and the governor’s order that elections for a new rabbi be held (1819); on the disbursement of grants to Rabbi Itsk Rivkin and to the ritual slaughterer Aron Schechter (1825); on the payment of a salary to the ritual slaughterer Shmuil Aronovich (1825); etc. 4) Information on the establishment and functioning of various community institutions and charitable activities, including on the organizing of the municipal Jewish almshouse (1818), and on the collection of donations for its improvement (1825); on admitting indigent Jews to the almshouse (1835); statistical data on the burial and charitable societies of Minsk (1830s); etc. 5) Documents on Jews’ fulfillment of military conscription duties, including files on compiling conscription logs (1835); on the conduct of a call-up in 1835; on the investigation of cases of Jews evading military conscription, including on the search for Jews who had fled (1835, 1836, 1838); etc. 6) Materials on the involvement of Jews in the municipal government of Minsk, including files on the holding of elections of trade deputies and the appointment of electors, and on meetings at which Jews elected magistrate members (1825); etc. Op. 2 contains a register of individuals, including a list of the Jews of Minsk, indicating the streets on which they lived; a register of the receipt of funds for the needs of the kahal (1772/1773); and kahal expense budgets until 1776 (1772).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Jews began settling in Minsk in the 16th century. In 1579, the Polish King Stefan Batory promulgated a charter which entitled Jews to engage in trade in the city, and in 1679, King Jan III Sobieski granted Jews permission to own land and houses in Minsk. The Minsk Jewish community, headed by the kahal, a governing body with administrative and judicial functions, was formed in the early 17th century. In 1623, representatives of the Minsk kahal, which until 1631 was part of the Brest district, were present at the first meeting of the Va’ad of the main Jewish communities of Lithuania. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Jewish population of Minsk increased significantly; by 1766, there were 1,322 Jewish taxpayers residing in the city. After the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1793, Minsk became part of the Russian Empire, and in 1796 it became the administrative center of the Minsk province, which was part of the Pale of Settlement. Operations of the Minsk kahal, which included an office maintained at the expense of the community, were governed by several legislative acts, including the Statute on Kahals (6 September 1773). The kahal was charged with the following functions: compiling census lists; seeing to the timely delivery of taxes and excises to the state treasury; holding and disbursing kahal funds; carrying out legal proceedings in civil and religious cases involving Jewish community members; charitable activities; and from 1827 onwards, ensuring Jews fulfilled their military conscription obligations. The Minsk kahal issued decrees regarding the election of rabbis, including authoritative Talmudists such as Yeḥi’el ben-Solomon Heilprin (1660-1746?) and Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gintsburg (1695-1785). Following the Statute on Jews of 1835, the kahals’ jurisdiction was restricted to the execution of laws pertaining to Jews and to legal proceedings in religious cases. The Minsk kahal was abolished as a result of the imperially ratified statute of 19 December 1844, which transferred the former primary functions of the kahal to municipal and community institutions, including the Minsk Jewish Townsmen’s Society.
- Access points: locations:
- Minsk
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity
- Census
- Elderly
- Financial matters--Debt
- Financial records
- Hevrah kadisha
- Jewish community
- Jewish community records
- Kahal
- Military
- People with disabilities
- Poverty
- Professions--Crafts
- Rabbis
- Ritual slaughter
- Statistics
- Taxation
- Trade and commerce
- System of arrangement:
- The fond includes two inventories; op. 1 is systematized mainly according to the subject-chronological principle; op. 2 contains a single file.
- Finding aids:
- Inventories are available.
