Today, we are looking at this curious passage from the introduction to Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz's (SEL) Torah commentary Kli Yakar. In it he is praising some "leaders of the three lands" for funding the publishing of the commentary he is writing. This is after previously mentioning that he was unable to publish one of his previous works due to a lack of funds. This all raises the question, who are the "leaders of the 3 lands"?
One group I can think of that this refers to would be the government of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. For context, SEL lived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the mid/late 1500s through the early 1600s. During this period, the Commonwealth was run by a parliament called the Sejm, and a king who was elected by the noble class of the state. The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth consisted of two primary parts, Poland and Lithuania.
This would get us to 2 lands, but its not clear what the 3rd would be (Prussia? As mentioned here: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/111192/kli-yakar-introduction-three-lands). Also, why would the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth sponsor a Torah commentary? While it did have more freedom of religion than most European states at the time, this would be a strange act.
I think the more likely culprit would be The Council of Four Lands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Four_Lands. While one more land than mentioned by SEL, this seems to be the most likely body that would sponsor a Torah commentary.
What is this council? I had never heard of it before coming to write this post, but it seems like it was an essentially a governing body for the Jews of Poland-Lithuania, and according to https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4705-council-of-four-lands#anchor2, it was also at times referred to the "Council of Three Lands".
I cannot, in my searching the internet, find anything about the council specifically financially supporting books/Torah commentaries. I know that detailed records of the council exist, but I am a busy person and do not have time to delve deeply into Jewish politics in the PLC in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Still, given what is presented here they do seem like the most likely people who were responsible for financially supporting Kli Yakar. If anyone is more familiar with this please comment about it below!











