Statutes of the Jewish Community of Rychnov nad Kněžnou (Reichenau an der Knieschna) 1657

Abstract

This paper presents an edition and translation of the statutes of the Jewish Community of Rychnov nad Knìžnou, which were confirmed by the manorial lord, Count Franz Karl I. Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky in 1657.

The previously unpublished source that contains the statutes probably dates from the last third of the 17th century and is kept in the library of the Rychnov nad Knìžnou Chateau under reference No.I.d.27 (8789). It also includes statutes pertaining to the collection of the Perdon Tax, which were issued in 1671/72, as well as two later notes fromthe1730s.The statutes are written in Yiddish in Hebrew characters.There is also a Hebrew transliteration of Kolowrat's German-language confirmation.

Keywords

• Bohemia
• Jewish community
• Jewish self-government
• 17th and 18th centuries
• Community statutes
• Police regulations
• Franz Karl I. Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky
• Rychnov nad Knìžnou