SCRIPTA JUDAICA CRACOVIENSIA Vol. 17 (2019) pp. 51–68 doi:10.4467/20843925SJ.19.006.12229 www.ejournals.eu/Scripta-Judaica-Cracoviensia Economic Structure and Key Partnerships of Vilnius Jews from the Second Half of the 17th Century to the End of the 18th1 Darius Sakalauskas (Vilnius University, Vilnius) e-mail:
[email protected] Keywords: structures, partnerships, patronages, Vilnius, Jewish community, early-modern econ- omy, city, capital, money Abstract: This article analyses the economic structure and partnerships of the Vilnius Jewish community from the second half of the 17th until the end of the 18th centuries. The article focuses on the economic partnerships and patronages formed by Jews in Vilnius. It also highlights the importance of the immediate hinterland for their business opportunities. The Jewish community in Vilnius, the biggest in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) since the 1700s, has not attracted similar historiographical attention2 for its eco- nomic history as some of the smaller communities in GDL.3 Out of the available works about the history of the Vilnius Jewish community, perhaps Israel Cohen4 provid- ed the most comprehensive analyses of its economic situation. He had access to some of the communal documents, which gave interesting insights into daily economic life, communal provisions, and competition with the Christian artisans (although it could be argued this was slightly exaggerated). The competitive nature of the community’s economic life was also the focus of extensive work done by Jurgita Verbickienė.5 How- ever, as she mostly relied on legal documents and litigations, her work emphasized both the normative and competitive side of the Jews’ economic life in Vilnius.