A shtadlan, also known as the court Jew, was an intercessor figure who represented interests of the local Jewish community (such as of a town's ghetto), and worked as a "lobbyist" pleading for the safety of Jews with the outside authorities of MedievalEurope. The typical Jewish community (the kahal) was autonomous, and the tax collection and enforcing of various restrictions imposed on it were arranged by internal governing board (the kehila).
Drawing, presumably, on the institution of the broker--a figure familiar from Jewish commercial activity--Jewish diplomacy sought to cultivate influential intermediaries in contacts with "the prince." The shtadlan might be a well-connected, assimilated Jew or a well-disposed gentile.
The most noteworthy use of the shtadlan device by the State of Israel comes in the shape of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
The shtadlan device enabled Israel to piggyback on the colossal power of the United States to the extent that Arab leaders (such as Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1967, Saddam Husayn in 1991) identified Israel with its superpower patron.
He will therefore, in Jewish terms, be reduced to a shtadlan, for the non-custodial slaves of the family court system have already entered shtadlanut (see explanation below).
Shtadlanut is based on negotiations between an individual, who is agile of tongue and quick to act and knows how to behave with tyrants, and a ruler, who has the power to order matters at will and under whose patronage the Jews live.
In return for the concession he requests, the shtadlan offers the rulers material benefits and unrestricted loyalty.
Feeds |
Contact