kehal

Kehal is a transliteration variant of the Hebrew term kahal or kehila, meaning "assembly" or "congregation," and is used to denote a self-governing Jewish community or religious body. In Hebrew, kahal is written as קהל and kehila as קהילה; transliterations in English texts often appear as kehal, kahal, kehila, or kehillah. The root Qahal conveys gathering, and the terms refer to organized groups responsible for communal life and ritual practice within a given locality.

Historically, the kahal (also spelled kehilla) was a formal administrative body in many Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe, notably within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire. It operated as a semi-autonomous municipal authority, responsible for tax collection, the maintenance of synagogues and schools, the appointment of rabbis and communal judges, charitable and welfare institutions, and the regulation of ritual life. The kahal functioned through elected or appointed lay leaders and was often backed by external authorities; its powers, budgets, and internal rules varied by place and period. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, reforms, modernization, and centralization diminished or transformed kahal structures in many regions.

In modern usage, kehilla or kehila remains common in scholarly writing and in the names of contemporary Jewish congregations and charitable organizations. The term also appears in historical studies of Jewish governance and community organization. See also: Kehilla, Kehillah, Qahal.