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Shkud

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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Shklovski, Isaac Vladimirovich

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Russian town in the government of Kovno, situated at the confluence of the rivers Bortava and Liwba. The earliest written information regarding the Jews in Shkud is found in their "pinḳes," which begins with the year 1725. No mention is made in it of the various persecutions which the Jews of that place had endured, but some references are made to the martyrs of the community. Thus, under the above date, among the elders is mentioned a certain Solomon, son of the "martyr" Joshua; and under 1753, another Solomon, son of the "martyr" Shebaḥ. From time to time the town was visited by the representatives of the central ḳahal, who looked into the affairs of the town, and even granted assistance if necessary. In one instance the chief of the Shkud ḳahal, Rabbi Mikel, was arrested because the community could not pay the 1,000 guilders it owed; the representatives of the central ḳahal, however, immediately ransomed him. The Jews of Shkud have always taken a keen interest in external Jewish affairs. In 1739 an appeal was made in behalf of the Jews residing in Palestine, to which the community of Shkud generously responded.

Among the many prominent rabbis of Shkud was Joseph Katzenellenbogen, who came from Brest-Litovsk. Shkud has a population of over 3,000, the majority of whom are Jews.