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Zbigniew Chodyła
The privilege of Antoni Szołdrski,
Rogoźno starost, in the Rogoźno rabbinate,
for Lewko Maśko of February 12, 1765
Abstract
In the 18 century, one of the largest Jewish centers in Greater Poland was found in a royal town,
Rogoźno, the heart of non-resident starosty in the Poznań county and district. In 1765, 448 Jews
who formed their own qahal (community) lived there. The community was headed by a rabbi
and two elders. The latter were at the same time the members of the qahal court. One of them
also held the function of a writer and a legal adviser. The privilege published – the privilege of
Antoni Szołdrski, non-resident Rogoźno starost and resident Łęczyca starost for Maśko Lewko
from Łęczyca, granted on February 12, 1765 in the village of Gościejewko is a permission to as
sign, and therefore nominate, this particular Jew to be the rabbi in the Rogoźno rabbinate. It con
firms his administrative and, more importantly, judiciary powers. It provides the right to ap
peal from the rabbi-chaired court’s verdict to the starost, but only on the day the verdict was
made. The privilege also forbids the rabbi to leave the synagogue unless absolutely necessary.
Although it orders the members of the synagogue to respect the rabbi, it allows them to take the
rabbi to court, but only at their own expense, without involving the synagogue and neighbors in
the dispute. Otherwise, the starost promises that he will not only lend support to the rabbi, but
also defend him if the qahal does not pay the rabbi as stipulated in the contract concluded, and
if he is abused or harmed. This privilege was confirmed on January 6, 1775 by Jakub Szołdrski,
Antoni’s brother and his successor to the Rogoźno starosty. The document is published based
on its official re-entry to the Poznań municipal register, conducted from the initiative of Lewko
Maśko on December 10, 1781. It deserves to be published due to the little amount of sources on
the history of Jews in this town and the fact that this type of documents is quite rare.
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