The Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew:'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either twenty-three or seventy-one elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), appointed to sit as a tribunal in every city in the ancient Land of Israel.
There were two classes of Rabbinite (consisting of men called Rabis), Jewish courts named Sanhedrin, the Great Sanhedrin, and the Lesser Sanhedrin. In general usage, the Sanhedrin without a qualifier usually refers to the Great Sanhedrin, which was presided over by the Nasi, who functioned as its head or representing president, and was a member of the court; the Av Beit Din or the chief of the court, who was second to the nasi; and sixty-nine general members. A lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges was appointed to sit as a tribunal in each city. However, there was only supposed to be one Great Sanhedrin of 71 judges, which among other roles, acted as the Supreme Court, taking appeals from cases that lesser courts decided.
In the Second Temple period, the Great Sanhedrin met in the Temple in Jerusalem, in a building called the Hall of Hewn Stones. The Great Sanhedrin convened every day except festivals and the sabbath day (Shabbat).
After the destruction of the Second Temple and the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Great Sanhedrin moved to Galilee, which became part of the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In this period, the Sanhedrin was sometimes referred to as the Galilean Patriarchate or Patriarchate of Palaestina, the governing legal body of Galilean Jewry. In the late 200s CE, to avoid persecution, the name Sanhedrin was dropped, and its decisions were issued under the name of Beit HaMidrash (house of learning). The last universally binding decision of the Great Sanhedrin appeared in 358 CE when the Hebrew calendar was established. The Great Sanhedrin was finally disbanded in 425 CE after continued persecution by the Eastern Roman Empire.
Over the centuries, attempts have been made to revive the organization, such as the Grand Sanhedrin convened by Napoleon Bonaparte and modern attempts in Israel.
Hebrew Bible
In the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 18:21–22, Numbers 11:16–17, 11:24–25; Deuteronomy 1:15–18, 17:9–12), Moses and the Israelites were commanded by God to establish courts of judges who were given full authority over the people of Israel, whom God commanded through Moses to obey the judgments made by the courts and every Torah-abiding law they established. Judges in ancient Israel were the religious leaders and teachers of the nation of Israel. The Mishnah[1] (Sanhedrin 1:6) arrives at the number twenty-three based on an exegetical derivation: it must be possible for a "community" to vote for both conviction and exoneration (Numbers 35:24–5). The minimum size of a "community" is 10 men; thus, 10 vs. 10. One more is required to achieve a majority (11 vs. 10). However, a simple majority cannot convict (Exodus 23:2), and so an additional judge is required (12 vs. 10). Finally, a court should not have an even number of judges to prevent deadlocks; thus, 23 (12 vs. 10 and 1). This court dealt with only religious matters. The Sanhedrin of 70 Elders helped Moses; years before in Egypt, these men had been Hebrew officials under Egyptian taskmasters; they were beaten when they refused to beat fellow Jews to finish building projects. As a reward, they became the Sanhedrin of 70 Elders.
History
Early Sanhedrin
The Hasmonean court in Judea, presided over by Alexander Jannaeus until 76 BCE, followed by his wife, Queen Salome Alexandra, was called Synhedrion or Sanhedrin. The exact nature of this early Sanhedrin is not clear. It may have been a body of sages, priests, or a political, legislative, and judicial institution. The first historical record of the body was during the administration of Aulus Gabinius. They, according to Josephus, organized five synedra in 57 BCE as the Roman administration was not concerned with religious affairs unless sedition was suspected. Only after the destruction of the Second Temple was the Sanhedrin made up only of sages.
Herodian and early Roman rule
The first historical mention of a Synhedrion occurs in the Psalms of Solomon (XVII:49), a Jewish religious book written in Greek.
The Mishnah tractate Sanhedrin (IV:2) states that the Sanhedrin was to be recruited from the following sources: Priests (Kohanim), Levites (Levi'im), and ordinary Jews who were members of those families having a pure lineage such that their daughters were allowed to marry priests.
In the Second Temple period, the Great Sanhedrin met in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. The court convened every day except festivals and the sabbath day (Shabbat).
The trial of Jesus, and early Christianity
A Synhedrion is mentioned 22 times in the Greek New Testament, including in the Gospels concerning the trial of Jesus and in the Acts of the Apostles, which mentions a "Great Synhedrion" in chapter 5 where rabbi Gamaliel appeared, and also in chapter 7 about the stoning death of Saint Stephen.
During Jewish–Roman Wars
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sanhedrin was re-established in Yavneh with reduced authority. The seat of the Patriarchate moved to Usha under the presidency of Gamaliel II in 80 CE. In 116, it moved back to Yavneh and again back to Usha.
After Bar Kokhba Revolt
Galilee in late antiquity.
Rabbinic texts indicate that following the Bar Kokhba revolt, southern Galilee became the seat of rabbinic learning in the Land of Israel. This region was the Patriarch's court's location, first at Usha, then at Bet Shearim, later at Sepphoris, and finally at Tiberias.
The Great Sanhedrin moved in 140 to Shefaram under Shimon ben Gamliel II, Beit Shearim (Roman-era Jewish village), and Sepphoris in 163, under the presidency of Judah I. Finally, it moved to Tiberias in 193, under the presidency of Gamaliel III (193–230), son of Judah the Prince, where it became more of a consistory but still retained, under the presidency of Judah II (230–270), the power of ex-communication.
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 Beth HaMidrash.
In 363, the emperor Julian (r. 355–363 CE), an apostate from Christianity, ordered the Temple rebuilt. The project's failure has been ascribed to the Galilee earthquake of 363 and the Jews' ambivalence about the project. Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the standard view among Christian historians of the time. As a reaction against Julian's pro-Jewish stance, the later emperor Theodosius I (379–395 CE) forbade the Sanhedrin to assemble and declared ordination illegal. Capital punishment was prescribed for any Rabbi who received ordination and destruction of the town where the ordination occurred.
However, since the Hebrew calendar was based on witnesses' testimony, which had become far too dangerous to collect, rabbi Hillel II recommended change to a mathematically based calendar adopted at a clandestine, and maybe final, meeting in 358 CE. This marked the last universal decision made by the Great Sanhedrin.
Gamaliel VI (400–425) was Sanhedrin's last president. With his death in 425, Theodosius II outlawed the title of Nasi, the last remains of the ancient Sanhedrin. An imperial decree of 426 diverted the patriarchs' tax into the imperial treasury. The exact reason for the abolition of the Patriarchate is not apparent. However, Gamaliel VI, the last holder of the office whom the emperor had for a time elevated to the rank of prefect, may have fallen out with the imperial authorities. After that, Jews were gradually excluded from holding public office.
Powers
The Talmud tractate Sanhedrin identifies two classes of rabbinical courts called Sanhedrin, a Great Sanhedrin, and a Lesser Sanhedrin. Each city could have its lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges, but there could be only one Great Sanhedrin of 71, which among other roles, acted as the Supreme Court, taking appeals from cases decided by lesser courts. The uneven numbers of judges were based on eliminating the possibility of a tie, and the last to cast his vote was the head of the court.
[part 2]
Function and procedures
The Sanhedrin as a body claimed powers that lesser Jewish courts did not have. As such, they were the only ones who could try the king, extend the boundaries of the Temple and Jerusalem, and were the ones to whom all questions of law were finally put. Before 191 BCE, the High Priest acted as the ex officio head of the Sanhedrin, but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the office of Nasi was created. After the time of Hillel the Elder (late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE), the Nasi was almost invariably a descendant of Hillel. The second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin was the Av Beit Din, or 'Head of the Court' (literally, Av Beit Din means 'father of the house of judgment'), who presided over the Sanhedrin when it sat as a criminal court.
During the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin met in a building known as the Hall of Hewn Stones (Lishkat ha-Gazit), which was placed by the Talmud and many scholars as built into the northern wall of the Temple Mount, half inside the sanctuary and half outside, with doors providing access variously to the Temple and the outside. The name presumably arises to distinguish it from the buildings in the Temple complex used for ritual purposes, which could not be constructed of stones hewn by an iron implement.
In some cases, it was necessary only for a 23-member panel (functioning as a Lesser Sanhedrin) to convene. Generally, the panel of 71 judges was convened only on matters of national significance (e.g., a declaration of war) or when the 23-member panel failed to reach a conclusive verdict.
By the end of the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin reached its pinnacle of importance, legislating all aspects of Jewish religious and political life within parameters laid down by Biblical and Rabbinic tradition.
Summary of Patriarchal powers
The following is a summary of the powers and responsibilities of the Patriarchate from the onset of the third century, based on rabbinic sources as understood by L.I. Levine:
1. Representative to Imperial authorities;
2. The focus of leadership in the Jewish community:
1. Receiving daily visits from prominent families;
2. Declaration of public fast days;
3. Initiating or abrogating the ban (herem);
3. Appointment of judges to Jewish courts in the Land of Israel;
4. Regulation of the calendar;
5. Issuing enactments and decrees concerning the applicability or release from legal requirements, e.g.:
1. Use of sabbatical year produce and applicability of sabbatical year injunctions;
2. Repurchase or redemption of formerly Jewish land from gentile owners;
3. Status of Hellenistic cities of the Land of Israel re: purity, tithing, sabbatical year;
4. Exemptions from tithing;
5. Conditions in divorce documents;
6. Use of oil produced by gentiles;
6. Dispatching emissaries to diaspora communities;
7. Taxation: the power to tax and the authority to rule/intervene on the disposition of taxes raised for local purposes by local councils.
Up to the middle of the fourth century, the Patriarchate retained the prerogative of determining the Hebrew calendar and guarded the intricacies of the needed calculations to constrain interference by the Babylonian community. Christian persecution obliged Hillel II to fix the calendar permanently in 359 CE. This institution symbolized authority passing from the Patriarchate to the Babylonian Talmudic academies.
Archaeological findings
In 2004, excavations in Tiberias conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a structure dating to the 3rd century CE that may have been the seat of the Sanhedrin when it convened in that city. At the time, it was called Beit Hava'ad.
Nasi (president)
Before 191 BCE, the High Priest acted as the ex officio head of the Sanhedrin, but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the office of Nasi was created. The chief scholars headed the Sanhedrin. With the decline of the Sanhedrin, their spiritual and legal authority was generally accepted, the institution itself being supported by voluntary contributions by Jews throughout the ancient world. Being a member of the house of Hillel and thus a descendant of King David, the Patriarch, known in Hebrew as the Nasi (prince), enjoyed almost royal authority. Their functions were political rather than religious, though their influence was not limited to the secular realm. The Patriarchate attained its zenith under Judah ha-Nasi, who compiled the Mishnah, a collection of views from Judean thought leaders of Judaism other than the Torah.
Revival attempts
The Sanhedrin is traditionally viewed as the last institution that commanded universal authority among the Jewish people in the long chain of tradition from Moses until the present day. Since its termination in 358 CE by imperial decree, there have been several attempts to re-establish this body either as a self-governing body or as a puppet of a sovereign government.
There are records of what may have been attempting to reform the Sanhedrin in Arabia, in Jerusalem under the Caliph 'Umar, and in Babylon (Iraq), but none of these attempts were given any attention by Rabbinic authorities, and little information is available about them.
State of Israel
Since the dissolution of the Sanhedrin in 358 CE, there has been no universally recognized authority within Halakha. Maimonides (1135–1204) was one of the most outstanding scholars of the Middle Ages and is arguably one of the most widely accepted scholars among the Jewish people since the closing of the Talmud in 500. Influenced by the rationalist school of thought and generally showing a preference for a natural (as opposed to miraculous) redemption for the Jewish people, Maimonides proposed a rationalist solution for achieving the goal of re-establishing the highest court in Jewish tradition and reinvesting it with the same authority it had in former years. There have been several attempts to implement Maimonides' recommendations, the latest being modern times.
There have been rabbinical attempts to renew Semicha and re-establish a Sanhedrin by Rabbi Jacob Berab in 1538, Rabbi Yisroel Shklover in 1830, Rabbi Aharon Mendel Cohen in 1901, Rabbi Zvi Kovsker in 1940, and Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon in 1949.
In October 2004 (Tishrei 5765), rabbis representing various Orthodox communities in Israel undertook a ceremony in Tiberias, where the original Sanhedrin was disbanded, claimed to re-establish the body according to the proposal of Maimonides and the Jewish legal rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo. The controversial attempt has been subject to debate within different Jewish communities.
General Notes:
• [1] Mishnah. The Mishnah is the first written record of what was the Oral Law. As the name implies, the Oral Law was never written down as a formalized text or permanent record. It had been passed on from one scholar to the next, from one generation to the next.
Each generation had experts in different areas of Oral Law. One scholar was an expert in the laws of the Sabbath, for example, whereas another man was an expert in torts and damages. Altogether, they were the ones who transmitted the whole body of the traditions of Moses down through the centuries to the Jewish people.
