Qahal

The qahal (קהל) was a theocratic organizational structure in ancient Israelite society according to the Hebrew Bible, and an Ashkenazi Jewish system of a self-governing community or kehila from medieval Christian Europe (France, Germany, Italy). This was adopted in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (16th–18th centuries) and its successor states, with an elected council of laymen, the kahal, at the helm of each kehila. This institution was exported also further to the east as Jewish settlement advanced. In Poland it was abolished in 1822, and in most of the Russian Empire in 1844. The Hebrew word qahal, which is a close etymological relation of the name of Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes), comes from a root meaning "convoked [group]"; its Arabic cognate, قَالَ qāla, means to speak. Where the Masoretic Text uses the term qahal, the Septuagint usually uses the Koine Greek term ekklesia, ἐκκλησία, which means "assembly," "gathering," or "congregation" In one particular part of the Priestly Code, the Septuagint instead uses the term συναγωγή, also meaning "gathering" or "congregation" where the Masoretic Text uses qahal. This last term is the origin of the word for "synagogue" in Hebrew. Thus, the usual translation of qahal is "congregation" or "assembly", although asuppot, ʻaṣarah, ʻedah, moʻed, miqra, and sod are also usually translated like this. In particular, the Biblical text consistently distinguishes between ʻedah and qahal. One passage especially makes the distinction clear; part of the Priestly Code discusses what to do if "the whole Israelite [ʻedah] commits a sin and the [qahal] is not aware of it[.]" Scholars conclude that the qahal must be a judicial body composed of representatives of the ʿedah; in some biblical passages, ʻedah is more accurately translated as "swarm". MamzerEunuch and Gender and Jewish Studies#Terms The Book of Deuteronomy prohibits certain members of the ʿedah from taking part in the qahal of Yahweh. In particular, it excludes mamzers, and men who were forcibly emasculated.