Shtadlan
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(Redirected from Kahal)
Shtadlan was an intercessor figure who represented interests of the local Jewish community (such as of a town's ghetto) in the Medieval Europe, and worked as a "lobbyist" negotiating for the safety of Jews with the authorities holding power.
Typically, a Jewish community (kahal) governed its own internal affairs. The interactions with the outside society, such as tax collection and enforcement of various restrictions and compulsions imposed on the community, were arranged by an internal governing board (kehila).
Similar internal autonomy was revived with the establishment of Judenräte ("Jewish councils") in the ghettos of Nazi-occupied European countries.
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