Transylvania is an historic province now forming central Rumania. As each territorial component of this region has its own history, this also influenced the history of the Jews living among the Hungarians, Rumanians, Germans, and other peoples inhabiting Transylvania. In 1940, as a result of the second arbitration decision of Vienna, the territory was divided between Hungary and Rumania, northern Transylvania going to Hungary and southern Transylvania to Rumania, where the Jews suffered different fates. In 1944 the whole of Transylvania reverted to Rumania.

Transylvania has always been a center of routes connecting the orient with the west, and southern Europe with northern Europe. Its location influenced the general development of the region, and in particular Jewish settlement from its beginnings. The number of Jews in historic Transylvania has been estimated at 2,000 in 1766; 5,175 in 1825; and 15,600 in 1850. Organizationally, between 1754 and 1879, the Jews were under the jurisdiction of a chief rabbi whose seat was in Alba Iulia. In 1866, when Transylvania was still ruled by the central government in Vienna, representatives of the Jewish communities gathered for the first time in Cluj for a national conference to create a unified communal organization with regular organizational patterns.

The objectives of this congress did not materialize because in 1867 the whole of Transylvania was incorporated within Hungary, and Jewish communal organization followed that of Hungarian Jewry until the end of World War I. The schism which occurred within Hungarian Jewry after 1868–69 also left its imprint on Transylvania and, after struggles within the communities, separate Orthodox and Neologist communities were formed. During the period of the struggles and separations, the Jews of historic Transylvania numbered 25,142. By 1880, upon the completion of the new organization, they numbered 30,000. The majority of the communities, especially those with a large membership, joined the Orthodox trend.