Wysyłanie pieniędzy do Ziemi Izraela. Ponadregionalne kontakty Żydów Rzeczypospolitej w XVII-XVIII wieku.
Sending Money to the Land of Israel. Supraregional Contacts of the Jews of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Summary/Abstract: Charity in the communities of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was generally directed at its own residents, but in the case of the fund for the poor of the Land of Israel, it was seen as a universal obligation and was a concern of the Jewish councils. Three types of money were sent to the Land of Israel at the same time: intended for the general poor there, for specific recipients, and interest on loans made by those who later emigrated. By the end of the 16th century, the four main Jewish centers, Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron and Tiberias, known as the "Four Holy Cities," began regularly sending emissaries raising funds in the Diaspora. The Messianic movement from the late 17th century and the Hasidic movement caused new waves of migration to the Land of Israel, and new pilgrims and settlers joined the recipients of funds from the Diaspora and sought to raise funds themselves. While ideological considerations played an important role in sending money, it seems that the most important goal was to seek uninterrupted Jewish residence in important religious and historical sites, even if they made up a small percentage of the total population. In addition, the action of collecting and sending money required maintaining contacts between communities and enabled the experience of belonging to a broader pan-Jewish community.

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