Administration- and Property-Types of the Medieval European heqdesh (Jewish Foundation)

While quite extensive research was completed on the Cairo Genizah material related to heqdesh, the medieval European Jewish foundation was systematically not yet studied, despite the fact that it is a relevant topic in the contemporary responsa literature. There were three types of heqdesh. Community-heqdeshot were present during the whole Middle Ages everywhere where Jews dwelt. The property or fund of the community-heqdesh was composed of individual foundations, additional foundations to already existing ones or donations. The fund was administered by the administrators of the community (parnasim, gabbaim). Private and semi-private foundations appeared in the 10^th century. The community fund normally had more administrators and was composed of more types of wealth (land, houses, money, movables) while private and semiprivate foundations consisted of one type of capital, and were administered by one or two administrator. The capital of confraternity-heqdeshot was composed of regular membership-fees; the collection was carried out by elected or appointed administrators. Between the heqdesh in Orient and in Europe there are many similarities (like renting out of houses and of land in the possession of the heqdesh in order to gain profit etc.) as well as differences (e. g. the lending of heqdesh-money at interest both to Non-Jews and Jews as a main source of profit in the European communities). The lecture will discuss also some contemporary non-Jewish parallels.