The Book of Kahal

The Book of Qahal stands as a pivotal document in the long history of the Jewish Question within Russia. Authored by Yakov Brafman, a baptised Jew, this compilation was first presented to the government in the late 1850s and 1860s, before being widely published in 1869 and 1875. Its profound impact on Russian public life, and on the perceptions of the Jewish population, makes it an indispensable subject of historical study.

At its core, The Book of Qahal exposes and explains the intricacies of the Kahal System system, the traditional Jewish self-governance body, which had formally been abolished in 1844.

Brafman translated and included resolutions from the Minsk Qahal dating back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, claiming these revealed the absolute powerlessness of individual community members within the Jewish self-administration.

Brafman passionately contended that government laws alone could not dismantle the pernicious influence embedded within Jewish self-rule.

He advanced the notion that this self-governance was not merely confined to local Qahals but extended to encompass the entire Jewish people across the globe. From this perspective, Christian nations could only liberate themselves from Jewish exploitation by eradicating all mechanisms that enabled Jewish self-segregation.

A particularly contentious aspect of Brafman's interpretation was his assertion that the Talmud, far from being solely a religious code, functioned as a 'civil and political code' actively working 'against the political and moral development of Christian nations'. He claimed it fostered a 'Talmudic republic'.

In his view, Jews constituted a 'nation within a nation,' purportedly not considering themselves bound by national laws. Furthermore, Brafman maintained that a principal objective of the Jewish community was to deceive Christians, rendering them mere "fictitious owners of their property".

These accusations extended to prominent Jewish organisations such as the Society for the Advancement of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia and the Alliance Israélite Universelle, which Brafman implicated in a supposed 'Jewish world conspiracy'. The core demand of The Book of Qahal was the "radical extermination of Jewish self-governance," regardless of the Jews' civil powerlessness.

Upon its release, The Book of Qahal attained extraordinary influence within official circles, being adopted as an official guidebook for authorities. It achieved widespread recognition throughout Russian society and was celebrated as an "extraordinary success" and "Brafman's triumph".