Jarid tog, dzień targowy: dzielił czy łączył? Żydzi i chrześcijanie wobec regulacji dnia targowego w Królestwie Polskim
Yarid tog, Market Day: Did It Divide or Unite? Jews and Christians Towards the Regulation of the Market Day in the Kingdom of Poland

Summary/Abstract: Local trade in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and then for a large part of the 19th century in the Kingdom of Poland, took place at fairs and markets. Traditionally, Sunday became the trading day as the only day off from work, despite criticism from the Christian clergy. In 1844, for religious reasons and in the fight against drunkenness, by a decree limiting the production and consumption of alcohol, the authorities of the Kingdom of Poland introduced an order to move the fairs to Friday. The imposition of the market day at the beginning of the Sabbath proved destructive to local trade, conducted mainly by Jewish merchants. Jews either stopped coming or left the market early to get home before Shabbat. The resulting decline in trade in many towns sparked a wave of protest. The breakdown of the traditional supply chain harmed not only Jewish merchants, whose income dropped, but also the Christian population, deprived of a source of supply and sale of their craft products. City coffers and tax tenants lost money due to reduced revenue from fairs.In these circumstances, Jews and Christians began lobbying for a change of the market day. They worked together, submitting petitions to the authorities asking them to move the fair from Friday to another day of the week. Organized action, often under the auspices of municipalities, but undertaken on a grass-roots initiative, proves the existence of group interests and the ability to act collectively in their defense. The pressure turned out to be effective, because in 1845 the Administrative Council agreed to grant permission to change market days in the towns that came up with such a request.

• Details
• Contents