The 18th century was one of the most dynamic periods for Jewish history in Ashkenaz. This century witnessed dramatic changes in the Jewish society towards secularization and Haskala. One central aspect is the development of Jewish communities from religious congregations to corporations with mostly autonomous rights within the absolute pre-modern states. In many of these communities the secular leaders (parnassim) gained the mostly unquestioned power, whereas the role of the rabbinic elite declined to employed community officials. The constraints of the existence within the Gentile society forced the Jewish leaders to adapt customs of governing the communities, and the source for these customs were in many regards the different groups and corporations of the Christian society. Countless records of the community archives tell the story of the ongoing rivalry between the governors and the rabbis in many communities, which was sometimes more and sometimes less dramatic.
Moses Brandeis Levi (d. 1767) was one of the important rabbis¹ of the early modern community in Mainz, which – after the expulsion in the late middle ages – re-started its history only at the end of the 16th century. Besides his local duties as head of the rabbinic court and religious leader of the community he was also in charge for the rural communities in the territory of the archbishopric of Mainz. A number of sources indicate that his relations both to the local community and to the Gentile authorities were all but easy, because he had to find a place between these two parties and to maintain his concept as a defender of the traditional Jewish faith.
Both the Christian and the Jewish sources clearly indicate constant frictions between Moses Brandeis and the exponents of the governing Jewish elite in the archbishopric of Mainz in the 1750's. One may assume that the dispute on the issue of kashrut to be presented here is another expression of these frictions and was not solely on the important question of the supervisors in the Gentile bakeries. The text is a detailed description of the issue, including the statements of the governors and the members. It shows not only the games of power between the governors and the local rabbi, but also the failed attempt of the leaders in Mainz to create a public opinion within the community against the observing way of Moses Brandeis Levi. We may assume that this dispute was possible only in the mid-18th century, when Jewish society underwent significant changes, as has been shown by Asriel Shochat² and, most recently, by Shmuel Feiner.³ Only this new atmosphere enabled the governors to question the authority of the rabbi even in fundamental issues of Jewish religion. The balance between the religious and the secular leadership in Ashkenazi communities of the early modern period had changed long before in favour of the (mostly secular) governors and consequently appeared signs of the governor's steps to raise additional power. However, these attempts were not always successful.

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