Haluka - The Central Committee

The Central Committee

The separation of the kollelim, each working for itself and managed by its own committee in Jerusalem, caused anxiety to those who had no kollel to care for them. It also gave the community much concern regarding general expenses, such as the salaries of the rabbis, the Turkish military taxes, and the usual bakshish to the Turkish officials. For these purposes the Central Committee, or "Va'ad ha-Klali", was organized in 1866 in Jerusalem by Rabbi Shmuel Salant and Rabbi Meir Auerbach . This committee represented the general interests of all the Ashkenazim in Palestine, while the Sephardim continued the management of their affairs under the guidance of the hakam bashi of Jerusalem.

The Central Committee employed special messengers, or meshulachim, whom they sent to countries without a representative kollel in Palestine. This plan resulted in opening up many new sources for the halukkah in South Africa, Australia, England, and particularly in America. Thus the meshulachim of the Sephardim found themselves in direct competition with the meshulachim of the Ashkenazim. The friction between the two sections increased their expenses and tended to lessen the revenue. In 1871 the Sephardim and Ashkenazim compromised on the following basis of settlement regarding the American contributions: (1) Jerusalem to be the point for all remittances; (2) the Ashkenazim in Jerusalem to receive from the halukkah fund an advance of $500 per annum; (3) 15% of the remainder to be advanced for the poor of both parties in Jerusalem; (4) the remainder to be divided: 60% for both parties in Jerusalem and Hebron, and 40% to Safed and Tiberias. The distribution by the Central Committee, irrespective of the kollel afliliations, was known as the "minor halukkah", or "halukkah ketannah", and averaged about one dollar per person.