Sanhedrin
launched in Tiberias
Aug. 14, 2004 / 29 Tishrei,
5765
A unique
ceremony - probably only the second of its kind in the past 1,600 years - is
taking place in Tiberias today: The launching of a Sanhedrin, the highest
Jewish-legal tribunal in the Land of Israel.
The Sanhedrin, a religious assembly that convened in one of the Holy Temple
chambers in Jerusalem, comprised 71 sages and existed during the Tannaitic
period, from several decades before the Common Era until roughly 425 C.E.
Details of today's ceremony are still sketchy, but the organizers' announced
their intention to convene 71 rabbis who have received special rabbinic
ordination as specified by Maimonides.
An attempt to reconvene the Sanhedrin was made several centuries ago in Tzfat.
The body in fact ordained such greats as Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the
classic Jewish Law code Shulhan Arukh. However, the opposition of other leading
rabbis soon forced the end of the endeavor.
One of the leaders of today's attempt to revive the Sanhedrin is Rabbi Yeshai
Ba'avad of Beit El. He said that the 71 rabbis "from across the spectrum
received the special ordination, in accordance with Maimonides' rulings, over
the past several months." Rabbi Ba'avad explained that the membership of
the new body is not permanent: "What is much more crucial is the
establishment of this body. Those who are members of it today will not
necessarily be its members tomorrow. But the goal is to have one rabbinic body
in Jerusalem that will convene monthly and issue rulings on central issues. This
is the need of the generation and of the hour."
Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who heads the Temple institute in Jerusalem, is one of the
participating rabbis. He told Arutz-7 today, "Whether this will be the
actual Sanhedrin that we await, is a question of time - just like the
establishment of the State; we rejoiced in it, but we are still awaiting
something much more ideal. It's a process. Today's ceremony is really the
continuation of the renewal of the Ordination process in Israel, which we marked
several months ago. Our Talmudic Sages describe the ten stages of exile of the
Sanhedrin from Jerusalem to other locations, until it ended in Tiberias - and
this is the place where it was foretold that it would be renewed, and from here
it will be relocated to Jerusalem."
Rabbi Ariel said that the rabbis there included many from the entire spectrum:
"Hareidi, religious-Zionist, Sephardi, Ashkenazi, hassidi, and many others
- such as Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, Rabbi Adin Shteinzaltz, and many others... We
can't expect a great consensus; that's not how things work here. But sometimes
that's how the process goes, from the bottom up."
SOURCE: Arutz Sheva