Otwieranie żydowskich domów modlitwy – rozstrzygnięcia prawno-administracyjne i pragmatyka urzędnicza w guberni piotrkowskiej (koniec XIX – początek XX wieku)

Abstract

Opening Jewish Houses of Prayer: Legal and Administrative Arrangements and Clerical Pragmatics in the Piotrków Governorate between the End of the Nineteenth and the Beginning of the Twentieth Centuries The article shows a revision of the religious policy of the administrative authorities of the Piotrków Governorate Government regarding the initiative of opening new Jewish prayer houses. This change of attitude is best illustrated by archival materials, mainly of the Administrative Department of the Piotrków Governorate Government, stored in the State Archive in Łódź. A detailed analysis of historical documents revealed the actual attitude of the tsarist civil authorities to Jews residing in this area. While a relatively tolerant approach to the needs of Jewish communities was observed at the end of the nineteenth century, governorate clerks rigorously blocked their progression at the beginning of the next century. The ways used to legally restrict the opening of new prayer houses and the Jewish administrative struggle with the official interpretation of the Russian Empire law are discussed in the article.