Communal Responsibility

Halacha places high importance on a community's responsibility to one another. A community is halachically obligated to fund communal needs. These needs include security needs; a community is required to build a wall and gates. These needs also include religous needs; a community is required to build a synagogue and ensure that is well stocked with a sefer Torah and seforim.

Extent of Communal Responsibility

A big component of the halachic discussion around how far communal responsibility extends comes from a crucial Tshuva of the Maharik. This Tshuva of the Maharik is quoted by the Rama and by many generations of Achronim, thereby making it a really focal point for the discussion of communal responsibility.The Maharik argued that in a case where there is a risk to the Jewish people of a region, all Jewish communities are required to pitch in. We will structure the article around the Tshuva and the response of other poskim in order to examine how poskim viewed the question.

Background of Maharik's Ruling

Sketch of Synagogue of Regensburg in 1519

In the late 1470s- a major blood libel broke out in Regensburg. The city of Regensburg imprisoned seventeen leading members of the Jewish community. After repeated negotiations the city of Regensburg agreed to release the imprisoned Jews in exchange for the payment of an immense sum; 23,000 florins. The Jewish community of Regensburg asked all the other communities of Germany to assist in paying the expense. The Rabbonim of Germany in turn asked the Maharik, Rav Yosef Colon (1420-1480), over whether they were obligated to pay. It is to these rabbonim that the Maharik directed his ruling.

Ruling of the Maharik

The Maharik noted that were the blood libel not to be stopped, it would lead to the persecution of other Jewish communities in Germany. The Maharik said that any community that would potentially be a target of the blood libel was obligated to contribute to stop the libel from spreading in Regensburg.

In the Maharik's exact worlds

It is according to my humble opinion that all those communities (the Jewish communities of Germany) which are fit to be considered and almost certainly, that God forbidden, also upon them should pass the poisoned chalice, if this matter is not repaired as much as possible. The law is that they (the other Jewish communities at risk of blood libel) too should bear the burden, for because the safety of the holy community of Regensburg is their safety, and the opposite, the opposite, God forbid.

Proof of Maharik

The Maharik brought proof from the Gemara in Bava Metzia 108a- the gemara there how to assess the expenses for an urban gutter. A gutter must be regularly cleaned in order to allow outflow. The Gemara says that if the downriver community cleans the gutter- the city's residents must contribute to the downriver community's expenses. If the gutter is clogged, the downriver community is first at risk of potential flooding. If the gutter is overfilled, next at risk are the residents of the city. Rashi explains that since the city is saved from potential danger of flooding by the gutter cleaning, it is liable to contribute to the expenses of gutter cleaning.

Maharik's Response to Potential challenges

The Maharik extends this analogy to his case. If the dangerous situation in Regensburg is not resolved, the catastrophic wave of anti-Semitism will engulf all of Germany.

The Maharik notes a potential challenge to his comparison- he is comparing the physical phenomenon of flooding with the social phenomenon of anti-antisemitism. It is among the laws of physics that if too much rain occurs the gutter will flood. There is a certain and predictable danger of flooding. In contrast, the wave of persecution is not inanimate- but the product of human decisions and thereby more uncertain.

But here the danger is not so certain, that one can doubt and say maybe this false libel and slander won't spread in other places.

In response, the Maharik responds with two arguments. The first is a chillingly prophetic analysis on the spread of antisemitism.

We see that, because of our many sins, all of their plots on us are to overpower and ambush us, and Hashem in his great mercy will save us from their hands- every situation like this (of antisemitism) is a certain danger.

The Maharik argues that the current expression of antisemitism in Regensburg is not merely a one-of, but rather an expression of deeper antisemitism that lurks behind the seemingly calm exterior of German society.

The Maharik goes on to say, that even were antisemitism to be a rare threat- Chazal viewed any threat as deserving attention. As chief example, the Maharik notes that communities can nonetheless obligate all of their citizens to pay tax against any threat no matter its likelihood.

Orphans are exempt from paying all Jewish communal taxes, except for urban expenses which benefit the orphans, including the the security expenses of the city. The Gemara lists among the security expenses an enigmatic Turzina. The Aruch explains that Turizna means that the community "purchases horses for the knights so that they can ride outside of the city to see if invaders are coming."

The Maharik argues that if even orphans are required to contribute to a warning system for a potential threat, then that means that even avoiding a potential threat counts as a security expense.

The Maharik brings further proof from the obligation of a city's residents to build a wall. The wall is only built to defend against a potential danger- yet we force all the residents of the community to pay because of the possibility of a threat to the community. On these grounds, ultimately, the Maharik rests his case with the insistence that all of the potential communities in Germany at risk because of the Regensburg Blood Libel must contribute.

The Maharik concludes by placing a decree of cherem and a curse on anyone from the vulnerable communities of Germany who does not contribute to the Jews of Regensburg.

Premises of the Maharik's Argument

Given the wide scope of the Maharik's arguments- I have restated a bullet point order of his assumptions so as to provide an easy summary.

Here is a summary of the Maharik's assumption on Realia.

1. The Blood libel in the community of Regensberg can be resolved by the Jews of Regensburg arranging a payout with the local government there
2. Were the Jewish community of Regensburg not to arrange a financial settlement, Jewish communities all over Germany would be at risk

The Maharik's argument is as follows

1. If there is a danger that presently is harming A, and if not resolved will harm A, and from there harm B
2. Both A and B must jointly pay to prevent the danger- since both are at risk
   1. The Maharik proves this from Bava Metzia 108a and the gutter case
3. This is so even if the risk is not certain because all risks of danger are considered certain risks
   1. The Maharik proves this argument Bava Batra 8b- since orphans are given a wide series of tax exemptions, but are nevertheless required to pay for scouts lest an invader, come- that indicates potential danger is a source of obligation.
   2. The Maharik also proves this from Bava Batra 7b- we force all inhabitants of a city to contribute to build a wall out of concern for potential danger. We force even those who are not inhabitants of the city but own property in the city, because their property is subject to danger. This implies that merely being subject to shared danger is the source of the obligation to pay, not a preexisting relationship.
      1. This fact is crucial, since the other cities of Germany do not have a formal relationship besides their shared country

Explanations of the Maharik's Ruling

After the Rama included the opinion of the Maharik in the Shulchan Aruch- many commentators discovered a seemingly contradiction within the Rama. The Rama describes a case of person who, while trying to save his himself or his property, also ends up saving other people. Do the other people owe the rescuer anything? The rescuer was saving his own items, not solely doing a magnanimous deed. The Rema writes that in such a case, the rescued person pays the rescuer if one of the following two conditions are fulfilled

1. The rescuer had to spend additional money to save the other person, more than he would have spent had he saved only himself
2. The rescuer performed the rescue with intent to save the other people

This ruling of the Rama flatly contradicts the Rama's citation of the Maharik. In the Maharik case neither condition was applicable

1. The Communinity of Regignsburg spent no more on behalf of the other communities
2. The Community of Reginsburg paid with intent to save itself

Explanation of the Shvut Yaakov

The Shvut Yaakov answer the question by challenging its premises. The Maharik case is dealing with a community, while the rescuer case is dealing with private individuals. The Shvut Yaakov says that community have far wider powers to demand compensation than individuals.

The Shvut Yaakov premises this distinction on the principle of Kdeira Debei Shutfei. The Gemara explains that in a certain case, a community can cut down a privately owned tree and pay the tree owner later. How can the community appropriate the tree without even paying for it. The Gemara cites the rationale of Kdeira Debei Shutfei- a phrase that literally means a dish owned by many partners. The Rashbam explains that in a case where a dish has multiple cooks, each cook assumes that the other cook will take responsibility for the dish. Ultimately the dish will not be cooked, because each person will pass off responsibility. In order that community's behave proactively, the community is permitted to chop down and raise the money later. The Shvuut Yaakov states that in a case of communal danger- halacha incentives a speedy response lest no community take action. Therefore- the first community to respond is awarded compensation

Explanation of the Netivot Hamishpat

The Netivot Hamishpat links the ruling of the Maharik to a wider rule about partners. The Netivot explains that anytime two people need the same thing; each party can force the other to contribute. If one party does the essential task- then the other person must compensate the doer. If the task is not essential, then the conditions of the Rama apply. The Netivot says the Rama's case is one where the rescued could have been saved without the rescuer. The Netivot explains that the Maharik's case is where the other communities could not be saved without the intervention of Regensburg. It is interest

Opponents of the Maharik's Ruling

The Maharik's wide conceptual leap was deeply controversial in the generations to come. Most of the attackers viewed the Maharik as not having strongly grounded his ruling in the Talmudic text. They attributed this perceived carelessness of the Maharik to the exigencies of the crisis in Regensburg. The Masah Melech wrote "love causes the straight line to be crooked, that is the order of the law." The Masah Melech viewed the Maharik's ruling as resulting from the Maharik's empathy with the brutal suffering of the Jews of Rothenburg, at the expense of a proper reading of the law.