In the beginning of the 18th century, many righteous and learned Jewish men immigrated to Israel and settled in the four Holy Cities, establishing what was later referred to as the Old Settlement. Their purpose was to learn Torah in the Land of Israel, while their brethren in the Diaspora would financially support them by sending donations from their communities.
In order for them to pursue this plan and receive the financial support needed for them to toil over their Torah study, they were required to be registered in the Jewish communities where they were originally from.

For example, the members of the Jewish community in Hungary were to donate money to Kollel Hungary, while the Hungarian Jews who had settled in the Holy Land and were registered as members of the Hungarain Jewish community would receive their stipend from the Kollel.

Among the Kollelim that functioned in a similar fashion were Kollel Holland and Kollel Deutschland – referred to as Kollel HOD – as well as Kollel Chibas Yerushalayim for the Galician Jews who had settled in the Land of Israel, Kollel Polin, Kollel Reisin, whose founders later established the Reisin Court, and Kollel Wohlin.

Today, the concept "Kollel" refers to an institution where young Jewish men who do not join the workforce study Torah, while the administrators of the institution provide them with financial support (occasionally with the not-so-significant assistance of the State of Israel), just as the Jews of the Diaspora had done for the co-members of their communities residing in the Holy Land.