The Council of the Lands of Lithuania

The Council of the Lands of Lithuania—the representative body of the main Jewish communities of Lithuania—was established in 1623; it operated until 1761. It was dependent on the Council of the Four Lands for representation before the central government. The council meetings, which brought together heads of the communities and on some occasions the chief rabbis, were held every few years in a different city. The councils issued regulations about the division of taxes and the relationship between Jewish communities and the state. Other regulations concerned internal community issues: elections of leaders and officials, commerce, education, morality, and sumptuary laws. The corpus of regulations issued by this council has survived intact.