{"id":17,"date":"2025-06-12T14:21:50","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T12:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spolek.org\/test\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T09:16:11","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.spolek.org\/en\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Pam\u011b\u0165\"
photo: Karel Cudl\u00edn<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Publicly Beneficial Association Supporting Persons Affected by Holocaust<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Supporting Memory.
Providing Care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Charity as a Tradition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Petr Brod, <\/a>Historian<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charity has been an integral part of Jewish religious and social traditions since time immemorial. It is based on the understanding that all Jews are entitled to a dignified existence, regardless of their own financial means. Even those who are poor are considered full members of the community. According to Halacha, the obligation to give charity is so universal that even someone dependent on charity is expected to contribute\u2014within their means\u2014to support fellow members of the faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

read more<\/summary>\n

Poor Jews were not required to pay direct taxes to their communities. The assistance they received was not intended to eliminate social or economic stratification within the community, but rather to ensure that no member would be forced to live in hardship. Throughout the European diaspora in the Middle Ages and early modern period, a network of private and public institutions existed to secure a dignified existence for many disadvantaged groups\u2014including orphans and widows, people with disabilities, victims of poor economic dealings or natural disasters, and communal officials such as rabbis and judges who were imprisoned by Christian rulers for their public roles. Some communities also included in their charitable support those who devoted all their time to the study of the Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, based on the Talmudic principle that \"the poor of your city take precedence,\" three main groups of charity recipients emerged: local residents, those in need outside the local community, and Jews living in Palestine. The attitude of Central European communities is well illustrated by the early modern statutes of the Jewish community in Pozna\u0144, which state: \"The community shall closely watch over its poor and is obliged to provide each of them with support according to the size of their household.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the emancipation of Jews and their growing participation in public life from the 19th century onward, the scope of charitable activities broadened and became more diverse. In addition to traditional forms of support for basic living needs, new initiatives emerged\u2014such as scholarships aimed at enabling talented pupils and students to pursue studies at public and private secondary schools or universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Czech lands, Jewish charity was already widespread during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and reached its peak in the interwar period of the First Czechoslovak Republic. As historian and archivist Ji\u0159\u00ed K\u0159es\u0165an notes in reference to Prague\u2014where about half of the Jewish population of Bohemia and Moravia lived at the time\u2014\u201cthe most numerous group among Jewish associations were charitable, humanitarian, and relief organizations. Charity was a traditional and inseparable part of Judaism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is evidenced by the existence of dozens of charitable organizations associated with various linguistic, religious, and political currents within the Jewish community. To name just a few that stood out for their long-term activity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n