LEGISLATIVE REGULATION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY IN THE SECOND POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH, 1919–1929

Abstract

This article attempts to outline the legislative establishment and regulation of the Jewish religious community in 1919–1929. It has been established that the main duties of the Jewish religious community were to organize and maintain the rabbinate, establish and finance synagogues, houses of prayer, mikvahs, and cemeteries, provide the population with kosher meat, supervise the religious education of young people, and manage the community's property and all institutions belonging to it. It was noted that a characteristic feature of the activities of the Jewish religious community was significant state interference in matters related to the functioning of the ghettos. It is difficult to assess the status of Jewish religious communities unequivocally. Formally, national and international law granted them broad powers, but these were often merely declarative in nature. National legislation seemed to shape the legal status of Jewish religious communities in a way that was beneficial to them, but on closer inspection, it can be argued that it was mainly aimed at controlling this minority, as evidenced, for example, by the fact that no Religious Council was established during the entire twenty-year period.