Marcos Silber The German “Ordinance Regarding the Organization of the Religious Jewish Community” (November 1916–1918) Abstract: The article reconstructs the genesis of the order concerning the orga- nization of the Jewish religious community in Poland. It follows the responses of the main political actors involved in the implementation of the ordinance: the German occupation authorities, the Austrian occupation authorities and the organs of Polish home rule that arose in Poland following the November 1916 German-Austrian declaration on the political future of the country. The article concentrate on the main disputes: the community’s deinition, responsibilities and spheres of activities and the composition of the board of governors. The publication of the ordinance: Circumstances and Jewish responses From the beginning of the occupation of Congress Poland, and even earlier, the German authorities confronted the “Jewish question” in Poland. However, the German attitude to the issue was constantly inluenced by the German-Polish relations. 1 The “ordinance regarding the organization of the religious Jewish community in the General Ad- ministration of Warsaw” (Verordnung die Organisation der jüdischen Religionsgesellschaft im Generalgouvernement Warschau betreffend) was the method adopted by the German occupation authorities to re- gulate the Jewish question before power was handed over to the Polish 1 Marcos Silber, Leumiut shona, ezrahut shava! Ha-ma’amats le-hasagat otonomia li-yhudei polin be-milhemet ha-olam ha-rishona (Tel Aviv, 2014), 45–201. Studia Judaica 18: 2015 nr 1(34), s. 35–55