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Community brotherhoods
[Hebrew khevrot, plural: khevra] - Aid
organizations supported by the Jewish Communities in which
they
operated. Created for specific purposes, they were involved
in religious
matters, education, philanthropy and the maintenance of
synagogues.
Originally formed from the Community committees, they
gradually took
over their functions. At first, there used to be only one
khevrot active
in each Community, which would have several functions. As
the Community
grew, the khevrot split into smaller, more specialized ones.
The most
important were the khevra kaddisha, or burial societies.
There were also
school brotherhoods, Talmud-Tora; khevra involved in care
for the sick -
bikur kholim; collecting dowries for poor women - ha-khnasat
kala, and
others.
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The Community brotherhoods were supported by
members' dues, and also by the fees collected for their
services and
donations collected in synagogues and during special
Community or family
occasions. They were run by boards chosen during yearly
elections. The
members of the Community brotherhoods were either full
members or
regular members, who could only gain full membership after
several years
� usually five. Full membership brought the chance to
participate in
elections to the board and be elected to it. Regular members
carried out
the group's duties. In Poland, the first Community
brotherhoods were
probably founded in the sixteenth century: a document dated
1551
mentions a school-related Community brotherhood in Krakow.
(H.W./CM)
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