Kehilla

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A kehilla or kehillah (קהלה, Hebrew: "community") is a Jewish community. In pre-War Europe, all towns or cities with a Jewish population had one communal organisation, or occasionally more. As a result of the dispersal caused by the War, larger agglomerations may have more than one community, each centred around one synagogue, with the various communities together providing the services previously run by the kehilla, such as a mikvah (ritual bath), gemach (loan society) and kashrut (supervision of kosher food production).

Historically, a kehilla had quasi-governmental authority over both the Jewish community and its relationship with the Gentile community. It was frequently forced to collect taxes, including those imposed specifically on Jews, on behalf of the local government.

Located in Palo Alto, California, United States, a Jewish High School by the name of Kehillah Jewish High School exists.

In modern usage, the term "Jewish community" can refer to the Jewish population of a given city or area, particularly when it is centered around a synagogue or synagogues and/or community service organizations such as a Jewish community center or a Jewish federation. "Jewish community" also may be used in a more abstract sense to refer to the Jewish population of the world; this reflects the sense that "all Jews are responsible for one another," that is, that Jews feel connected to other Jews worldwide regardless of the fact that they may never meet each other.

[edit] See also

• Aljama, Spanish name for a Jewish (or Muslim) community in Medieval Spain, also judería or call.
• Jewish ghetto, a neighborhood where Jews lived together for their will or external force.