Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin
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Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin are the efforts from 1538 until the present day to renew the Sanhedrin, which was the high court and legislative authority for Jews in ancient times. The Sanhedrin was originally dissolved in 358 by the edict of the Roman emperor Constantius II. (Though 358 was the last formal meeting, there is no record of when it was actually dissolved and by whom.)
Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin rely on the opinion of
The dissolution of the classical Sanhedrin
By the end of the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin achieved its quintessential position, legislating on all aspects of Jewish religious and political life within the parameters laid down by Biblical and Rabbinic tradition. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sanhedrin was re-established in Yavne. It later then moved to a succession of different locations, finally (in 220) to Tiberias. During the presidency of Gamaliel IV (270–290), due to Roman persecution, it dropped the name Sanhedrin; and its authoritative decisions were subsequently issued under the name of Beth HaMidrash.
In the year 363, the emperor
Possible early attempts at revival
There are records of what may have been of attempts to reform the Sanhedrin in Arabia,[3] in Jerusalem under the Calif 'Umar,[3] and in Babylon (Iraq),[4] but none of these attempts were given any attention by Rabbinic authorities and little information is available about them.
Maimonides' semicha by consensus
- It appears to me [Maimonides] that if all the sages of the Land of Israel consent to appoint dayanim (judges) and grant them semichah (ordination), they have the law of musmachim and they can judge penalty cases and are authorized to grant semichah to others [thus restoring Biblical ordination].
- If so, why did the sages bemoan [the loss of] semichah? So that the judgment of penalty cases wouldn't disappear from among Israel because Jews are so spread out that it's not possible to get their consent [to authorize a dayan]. If someone were to receive semichah from someone who already has semichah, then he does not require their consent – he may judge penalty cases for everyone since he received semichah from beit din (rabbinical court). However, this matter requires a final decision.[5]
The wording of this teaching is vague and tentative and leaves several points open. Firstly, it opens with "It appears to me" and ends with "this matter requires a final decision". Secondly, it is not specified what is meant by "consent". Thirdly, it leaves open as to who are "all the sages of the Land of Israel" and lastly—although not apparent here—how literally the word "all" must be taken. These questions led to significant debate within Rabbinic circles, from those who completely disregarded this teaching to others who differed on its meaning.
Maimonides' ruling was accepted as definitive Jewish law by Rabbi
However this conclusion has been disputed by other rabbis, including
Rabbi Beirav's attempt
In 1538 Rabbi Jacob Berab attempted to restore the traditional form of semikhah.[10] His goal was to unify the scattered Jewish communities through the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin.
Rabbi Yakov Berav was born in Spain. Evidence of the great respect is afforded by the following lines of Rabbi Abraham Gavison in Omer ha-Shikchah: "Say not that the lamp of the Law no longer burns in Israel! Yakov Beirav has come back! once more he sojourns among us!" In 1533 he became Rabbi at Cairo; and several years after he seems to have finally settled in Safed, which then contained the largest and most learned Jewish community in the Land of Israel.
After the Spanish expulsion, many Jews remained in Spain, practicing their Judaism in secret, while publicly appearing to be Christians. Thousands of these Marrano Jews eventually escaped to areas where they could practice their religion with relative freedom, yet they were haunted by the sins they had committed in previous years. As chief Rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Yakov Beirav proposed the creation of Jewish courts that would carry out the punishment of malkos, lashes, which releases someone from the punishment of kareth (Mishnah Makos 23a). But in order to create these Jewish courts, classical ordination had to be reinstituted.
Renewal of semicha
For a year, Rabbi Yakov Beirav discussed the issues of re-establishment institution of
The dispute
The Ralbach however rejected the semicha. He considered it an insult to his dignity and to the dignity of Jerusalem that so important a change should be effected without consultation of the scholars of Jerusalem. Rabbi Moshe deCastro of Jerusalem also expressed doubts over the applicability of semicha. Because of this opposition some of the scholars of Safed also began to entertain doubts. Rabbi Yakov Beirav again assembled the scholars of Safed, and reviewed the halachic basis for re-establishment of semicha. Rabbi Yosef Karo and others sent a treatise Maaseh Beit Din to the scholars of Jerusalem explaining the basis for semicha and protesting their opposition to its re-establishment. In the course of time, the Ralbach put his objections to Rabbi Yakov Beirav's semicha in writing, involving additional scholars in the dispute. In response Rabbi Yakov Beirav composed and distributed Iggeret Hasemicha to settle any halachic doubts. The dispute lasted for a year. In general the scholars outside of Land of Israel did not get involved at this stage in the dispute, with the exception of the Radbaz.
The Ralbach's objections centered around the following points:[9]
- The re-establishment of semicha would cause the speeding up of redemption, which is not permitted.
- Maimonides closing words, "This matter requires a final decision" shows that he was not fully decided on this ruling. Since Maimonides was uncertain and Nahmanides was certain,[8]the law follows Nahmanides.
- The role of Sanhedrin had to be complete, meaning that the Hebrew calendar had to immediately change, which could cause division among the Jewish people
- Even if Maimonides was correct, because the scholars of Jerusalem were not present the election was invalid.
Rabbi Yakov Beirav countered with the following points:[11]
- Re-establishment semicha does not constitute interference with the process of redemption, rather it is simply the fulfillment of a positive mitzvah.
- Maimonides' closing words refer to a different legal matter.
- There was no problem leaving the Jewish calendar unchanged.
- The most learned scholars lived in Safed and that was sufficient; in Jewish law the word "all" means the "main part". (The Ralbach did not differ with Rabbi Yakov Beirav on this point, only he objected that "all" must include the scholars of Jerusalem. He did not claim that every scholar in all of Land of Israel should be present in the assembly).
In his treatise Maaseh Beis Din,
Conclusion
It is known that Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Moses of Trani were two of the four men ordained by Rabbi Yakov Beirav. The others are assumed to be Rabbi Abraham Shalom and Rabbi Israel de Curial and/or Rabbi
However this view is not shared by all modern rabbis, as Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff writes: Although Rav Yosef Karo had received this semicha and ordained Rav Moshe Alshich, it is not clear he utilized the semicha in any other way. Nowhere does he refer to a renewal of semicha, and furthermore, numerous places in Shulchan Aruch would be written differently if its author assumed that a beis din of semuchim existed today. In all these places, he assumes that no beis din today exists that is authorized to paskin on the laws of penalties and punishments... Although Rav Moshe Alshich ordained Rav Chayim Vital (Birkei Yosef, Choshen Mishpat 1:7), who was renowned as the primary disciple of the Arizal, the semicha trail appears to end at this point. There is no indication of anyone continuing the semicha project after this time... according to Rabbi Kaganoff, "we can assume that the psak of the
In 1541, Karo succeeded Berab and he perpetuated the tradition by ordaining
Berab erred in not first obtaining the approval of the chief rabbis in
More recent attempts
Attempt by Rabbi Yisroel Shklover, 1830
In the 1830s, Rav
At the time the Turkish Empire was crumbling, and losing wars against Russia, Prussia, Austria and others. In attempt to modernize, the Turkish Empire opened itself up to more and more Western "advisors". For the first time the Arabian Peninsula and the Yemen was opened up to westerners. Scientists and Sociologists were convinced that in the Yemen lay communities that had been cut off and isolated from the western world for centuries. At the time, leading European scientific journals seriously considered that the remnants of the "
Rav Yisroel of Shklov, influenced both by this rush of scientific thought and interested in utilizing a suggestion of the Radvaz of receiving semikhah from one of the "
In the end, no remnant was found, however the responses involved in this shed light on the Vilna Gaon's position that it was permissible to attempt to re-establish the Sanhedrin.
An interesting point of Jewish Law arises in that Rav Yisroel raised the question how could the Tribe of Reuven have kept the semikhah alive, since they were outside the Land of Israel and the semikhah can be granted only in the Land of Israel. He answered that since this tribe had been distant from the rest of the Jewish people before this ruling had been accepted, there is no reason to assume that they accepted this ruling, and there was a chance that they were still keeping the institution of semikhah alive.
Attempt by Rabbi Aharon Mendel haCohen, 1901
Rabbi Mendel collected the approval of approximately 500 leading rabbis in favor of the renewal of semikhah according to the view of Maimonides. His involvement in the founding of Agudath Israel and the breakout of World War I distracted him from implementing this plan.
The new Sanhedrin bases its use of phones, fax and regular mail rather than physically assembling "all the scholars of the Land of Israel" on the rabbinical responsa surrounding this attempt.
Attempt by Rabbi Zvi Kovsker, 1940
Rabbi Zvi Kovsker came to the Holy Land from Soviet Russia. Seeing the condition of Jews in the years leading up to World War II, he undertook an effort to contact and work with many rabbinic leaders in the Holy Land towards getting their approval for the renewal of semikhah, and the reestablishment of a Sanhedrin, as an authentic government for the Jewish people (this was before the establishment of the State of Israel).
His efforts to lobby the Rabbinic leaders were the model for twenty years of groundwork and discussions by the organizers of the new Sanhedrin.
Attempt by Rabbi Yehudah Leib Maimon, 1949
In 1948, with the establishment of the modern
Attempt in Israel in 2004
The most recent attempt occurred in 2004, when a group of seventy-one
The current attempt to re-establish the Sanhedrin is the sixth in recent history.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 23.1.2–3.
- ISBN 978-0-674-39731-6.
- ^ a b The Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614CE compared with Islamic conquest of 638CE
- ^ Sefer Yuchsin, cf. Yarchei Kallah, Rabbi Nassan describes "the seventy judges who comprise the Sanhedrin"
- ^ Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sanhedrin 4:11
- ^ Cf. Rabbi Yosef Karo's treatise Maaseh Beis Din and his commentary the Beis Yosef, Choshen Mishpat 295, see also Rabbi Yakov Beirav Iggeret Hasemicha
- ^ The attempt of Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov to re-establish the Sanhedrin in 1830
- ^ Nahmanides, Sefer Hamitzvos, Aseh 153
- ^ a b Shealos v'teshuvos leRalbach by Rabbi Levi Ibn Chaviv
- ^ Based on Jewish Encyclopedia: BERAB, JACOB, Rabbi Tzvi Eidan's Asot Mishpat, and also Semicha and Sanhedrin Controversies by Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
- ^ Iggeret Hasemicha by Rabbi Yakov Beirav
- ^ Maaseh Beis Din by Rabbi Yosef Karo
- ^ Semicha and Sanhedrin Controversies of the 16th and 21st Centuries by Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
- ISBN 978-0-8047-4826-1. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
- ^ Sefer Halikutim to the Shabsei Frankel edition of Rambam, Hilchos Sanhedrin 4:11
- ^ "Re-starting the Jewish heart". jpost.com. January 18, 2010.
- ^ Ceremony by rabbis
- ^ The Sanhedrin Reestablished - Part I (17 May 2006) (Jewish Press)
- ^ The Sanhedrin Reestablished - Part II (31 May 2006) (Jewish Press)
- ^ The Sanhedrin Reestablished - Part III (7 June 2006) (Jewish Press)