Jakab Réka: Bérlőből polgár. Pápa város zsidó közösségének társadalom- és gazdaságtörténete 1748-1848 (Veszprém, 2014)
cemetery, the sale of kosher meat and wine, and for the erection of a ritual boundary on the Sabbath. Until the changes at the beginning of the 19th century, the Jews of Pápa did not pay any municipal taxes. With their growth in numbers and a certain transfer of feudal rights from the landowners to the city, however, they were soon treated like the rest of the city’s population in regards to a portion of the city’s expenses. The obligation to take in soldiers billeted in the city and to contribute to the vast majority of the city’s outgoings were extended to include them. As well as the taxes above, the local Jews also paid taxes to the local Jewish community, which was a legal entity in its own right. When arriving, they paid a one-off arrival charge, and were then taxed to support the communal facilities and their staff. The most significant tax was the so- called ‘kóser krajcár’ or ‘gabella’, on the consumption of meat and wine. The communal rights accorded by the landowner permitting them to settle played a decisive role in the urban integration of immigrant Jews. These rights were the source of all further progress. The Jewish community of the city became a de facto community in the legal sense with the signing of the 1748 contract with the local landowner, which recorded their collective rights and responsibilities and guaranteed the landowner’s protection for the members of the community accepted in the appointed manner. The so-called patent of protection (Schutzpatent) recognised those Jewish families who had been allowed to settle and who paid their taxes as a community in the legal sense and provided for the election of a judge (Judenrichter), as well as laying out the framework for the community’s religious life. The privileges extended by the landowner included provisions for the establishment of a prayer hall and separate cemetery and permitted the sale of kosher wine and the employment of a rabbi, cantor and Synagogue caretaker. As a significant benefit, it gave the Jews of Pápa the right to trade freely on the entire territory of the landowner’s estates and exempted them from all city taxes. The Jewish community was thus under the supervision of the landowner but was run by their own, elected leaders. They regulated and controlled the interior life of the community, made sure that the community’s institutions continued to function, collected taxes and directed religious life. They also represented the Jewish community before the landowner and the city magistrates. As with village communities and cities, the Jewish community was also headed by a judge. He represented the community to the outside world, and internally had all the powers of a judge, excepting in religious affairs. The leaders of the Jewish community were elected annually, mostly on the final day of the year. The landowner’s permanent prefect selected 296
