Shortly after their resettlement in the 18th century, the Mecklenburg Jews developed a desire for emancipation and recognition as established citizens. An expression of their growing self-confidence and their corresponding aspirations were the Jewish popular assemblies, also titled "Judenlandtage" (Jewish territorial assemblies), in the second half of the 18th century.
The very naming of their gatherings as "Landtage" (territorial assemblies) already indicated their firm will to finally be taken seriously and accepted as equal inhabitants: Since 1275, Mecklenburg territorial assemblies had been held regularly outside Sternberg at the Sagsdorfer Bridge or later also in Sternberg, at which the various power groups within Mecklenburg negotiated matters of constitutional law and private interests and agreed upon future courses of action. The name equivalence was therefore entirely deliberate.
Jewish Territorial Assembly in Malchin 1752
At the instigation of one Philipp Lippmanns, whose precise function has not been passed down, the first Jewish territorial assembly began on 1 September 1752 in Malchin under the chairmanship of the Schwerin community leader Philipp Aaron, but without prior sovereign permission. The town of Malchin was presumably not chosen as the assembly site without reason: the aforementioned Mecklenburg territorial assemblies, originally held only in Sternberg, had been held alternately in Sternberg and Malchin since 1628. The "assembly resolution" drafted by the Jews in Hebrew could not, however, subsequently be implemented, as it did not receive princely approval. Among the participants and signatories of the assembly resolution was also the better-known Buetzow Rabbi Chaim Friedberg.
As the Guestrow Rabbi Leopold Donath later reported, the Jews nonetheless elected four deputies, who were to enforce the resolutions under penalty in their communities: R. Josef from Malchin, R. Natha from Buetzow, R. Lebh Peiser from Waren, and R. Lebh from Penzlin. As the prefixed "R." before each name attests, they were the rabbis of the respective communities. The latter is presumably identical with the Dayan mentioned in the Buetzow Nebenstunden of the Orientalist Oluf Gerhard Tychsen, and co-author of the early Jewish laws for the communities of Mecklenburg, Lebh Katz. The Jewish jurisdiction agreed upon there was, however, repealed by ducal rescript as early as 1755, and even Jewish signatories of the resolution, including one Jochim Gumpertz (the Buetzow Rabbi Chajim Friedberg), later turned against the agreements. The basis of the assembly resolution had thus collapsed only shortly after its conclusion.
Besides the resolutions, a further, most remarkable declaration was made at this assembly, with which they attempted, no less than 260 years later, to justify why the resident Jews now disregarded the cherem, the rabbinical ban on Mecklenburg pronounced after the Sternberg host desecration trial of 1492, which was still in force. It illustrates how deeply the word Sternberg and this incident had been seared into Jewish memory.
Jewish Territorial Assembly in Schwaan 1764
Three years after the first Jewish territorial assembly, the Landesgrundgesetzlicher Erbvergleich was concluded in 1755, which rather incidentally also restricted the status of the domestic Jews and their rights vis-a-vis the authorities to that of second-class citizens, but at least more or less accepted their presence in Mecklenburg. It did not, however, include any regulation of how the Jews were to organize themselves.
Nine years later, on 1 February 1764, the Mecklenburg Jews held a further assembly in Schwaan. Already from 5 November 1763, the Mecklenburg Jews had been granted their own state rabbi, who was to be responsible for the settlement of internal religious and legal disputes. Presumably for this reason, Chief Rabbi Jeremias Israel had previously been given the task by the Jewry to settle the disorder and disputes, or as Donath put it, the "disarray and fragmentation", among the Mecklenburg Jews at a renewed assembly. In contrast to the Malchin assembly, the Schwaan assembly was this time held with princely permission. It appears that the assembly site was chosen and approved at the urging of the Schwaan mayor, who hoped for additional revenue for his town.
The participants produced a statute consisting of 66 articles in total, addressing questions of life, faith, and community affairs. Among them were provisions on the structure and organization of the community, financial management and tax collection, and the recognition of rabbinical jurisdiction for Jews. This "Ordnung und Statua fuer die in den Herzoglich Mecklenburgischen Landen wohnenden Schutzjuden" was confirmed by Duke Friedrich the Pious (1756-1785) with a princely confirmation charter of 12 October 1764 and thereby acquired binding legal force. The Schwerin Jews were, however, exempt from this, as they had previously distanced themselves from the statutes for unknown reasons. The attendees also adopted further resolutions on 16 February 1764, which, however, did not receive princely approval.
Here too, four deputies were again elected to enforce the resolutions in the communities.
Jewish Territorial Assembly in Crivitz 1767
On 6 September 1767, a third Jewish territorial assembly was held in Crivitz under the chairmanship of Nathan Aaron, at which once again a strong opposition, again under the leadership of Jochim Gumpertz (Rabbi Chajim Friedberg), was present against the previously elected deputies. Here too, resolutions were adopted that slightly strengthened the rights of Mecklenburg Jewry. In significance, however, it fell behind the Schwaan assembly overall. To save costs, it had been previously agreed to admit only 16 delegates to this assembly. As Tychsen reported, however, "almost no protected Jew stayed at home, here as in other places, but made their way uninvited to Crivitz".