Phoenix from the ashes? Sanhedrin rises in Tiberias

[Sephania]

Shema Israel :(

Sanhedrin Launched In Tiberias
Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=70349)
October 14, 2004


"A unique ceremony - probably only the 2nd of its kind in the past 1,600 years - took 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...
"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.'"

Some of the comments of this stoy

It is not long at all now until Moshiach is actually in the Holy Land... I am talking weeks and months, not years.

as a noahide and speaking for the noahide community, say Mazel Tov to the new sanhedrin, May HE bless them and there efforts! May Israel be blessed as HE turns his eyes back to her. What a turning point this is.

May the Rabbis be TRUE to the TALMUD in this Sanhedrin. May G*D watch over them and guide them to WISE and MEANINGFUL INTERPRETATIONS.

Not Torah? :scratch:

From the 10th tefilla in shmona esreh until the end of the Amida, the prayers are in chronological order of the events of the final redemption. The 10th prayer is about the ingathering of the exiles. The 11th prayer is about the reestablishment of the Sanhedrin. The twelfth is about the destruction of Malchut Edom and those Jews who ally with it by slandering their own people. The 13th is about the greatest rabbis of the generation taking over the reigns of the previously established Sanhedrin. The 14th and 15th are about the advent of Mashiach. May the historical process continue.

It's hard to believe that Israel has at least 71 people who call themselves "Rabbis" who are stupid enough to believe that they a) represent all or at least a majority of "Chachmai Yisroel" (the Rambam's first requirement) b) are qualified for such a semicha c) are qualified to sit on the Sanhedrin. Even in Tzfat, at the time of the Beis Yosef, only 4 were attempted. I'd like to believe that this article is just a hoax, because it's hard to believe that we have at least 71 "rabbis" badly in need of mental health services!

The word Sanhedrin is a Greek word, not representing the true Torah authority of the Prophets, Cohanim, Levites, a King of the Davidic line, etc. but representing a usurpation of the rule of the G-d of Israel by the strange laws of the Rabbis during the Second Temple period. This is a sad day for Israel for what we need is a return to the Tanakh and the Prophets, not another repeat of the distortions of the Second Temple period nor to a Talmudic state. May this venture fail as it is ill-conceived and shows lack of vision for the future of the Nation of Israel.

to answer your qustions 1)they are trying to unite israel in preparation for the redemption, as well as creating a situation for hastening the redemption. 2) they get the authority from their own Rabbinnic Body which at this point is called the Chachomim. its hard to understand what people mean when they ask "who gave them authority" its like asking a local rav who paskins on a din torah "who gave him the authority. so that is a stupid question. whom should we ask for permission..the u.n.? the Rabbis themselves are the authority. unless u dont believe on rabbinic authority. 3) learn RAMB

[visionary]

Hillel - A famous Jewish rabbi who lived about 70 B.C.-A.D. 10. Our only source of information concerning him is the Talmud, from which the following account of Hillel's career can be gathered. He was born in Babylonia, and was a descendent of the family of David. Although he lived in poor circumstances, his zeal for God's Law prompted him to devote himself to its study while yet in Babylon. Out of the same zeal, he went, at the age of forty it is said, to Jerusalem, where Shemaiah and Abtalion were at the time the leading teachers. In the Holy City he hired himself as a day-labourer to earn his own living and that of his family, and also to meet the expenses of receiving instruction. He thus spent the next forty years of his life, with the result that he understood, we are told, all languages, including those of the inanimate and of the brute creation, and of the demons themselves. Some time after the death of Shemaiah and Abtalion, Hillel was recognized as the best jurist of the day, and was so regarded during the last forty years of his life. He is also represented as the head of the Sanhedrin with the title of Nasi (prince), as the founder of a lenient school, in usual opposition to the stricter school of Shammai, as the author of seven hermeneutic rules, as the framer of certain decrees which happily accommodated some points of the Law to the changed circumstances of his age, as the ancestor of the patriarchs who stood at the head of Palestinian Judaism till about the fifth century of our era. Hillel was surnamed "the Great", and also "the Elder", and over his tomb were uttered the words "Oh the gentle! Oh the pious! Oh the disciple of Esdras!" Several anecdotes illustrating his zeal for the Law and his wonderful patience are embodied in the Talmud. Among the sayings ascribed to him, the following are particularly worthy of notice: "Whatever is hateful to thee, do not unto thy fellow man: this is the whole Law; the rest is mere commentary"; "Be of the disciples of Aaron; loving peace and pursuing peace; loving mankind and bringing them near to the Torah."

It is certain that a good deal of what is contained in the Talmudic account of Hillel's career is unhistorical; for example, the division of his life into three periods of forty years each; his presidency of the Sanhedrin; his understanding of all languages, etc. When all this has been duly deducted, however, one cannot help feeling that he finds himself in presence of a strong personality, of a character stamped with unusual sweetness and elevation. Again, when all Hillel's good deeds and wise sayings are closely examined, one can readily see that he was in truth simply a rabbi, perhaps the cleverest and best of the rabbis of his day: a Jewish casuist rather than a moralist; a man who, for personal character and spiritual insight and permanent influence, cannot in any way compare with, much less equal or surpass, as some have affirmed of late, Christ, the Light, and Saviour of the World. It has been ably argued that the Pollion referred to a few times by Josephus is Hillel under a Greek name.

[visionary]

Gamaliel is represented in Acts, v, 34 sqq., as advising his fellow-members of the Sanhedrin not to put to death St. Peter and the Apostles, who, notwithstanding the prohibition of the Jewish authorities, had continued to preach to the people. His advice, however unwelcome, was acted upon, so great was his authority with his contemporaries. We learn from Acts, xxii, 3, that he was the teacher of St. Paul; but we are not told either the nature or the extent of the influence which he exercised upon the future apostle of the Gentiles. Gamaliel is rightly identified with an illustrious Jewish doctor of the Law, who bore the same name and died eighteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem. In the Talmud, this Gamaliel bears, like his grandfather Hillel, the surname of "the Elder", and is the first to whom the title "Rabban", "our master", was given. He appears therein, as in the book of the Acts, as a prominent member of the highest tribunal of the Jews. He is also treated as the originator of many legal ordinances; as the father of a son, whom he called Simeon, after his father's name, and of a daughter who married the priest Simon ben Nathanael. The Jewish accounts make him die a Pharisee, and state that: "When he died, the honour of the Torah (the law) ceased, and purity and piety became extinct." At an early date, ecclesiastical tradition has supposed that Gamaliel embraced the Christian Faith, and remained a member of the Sanhedrin for the purpose of helping secretly his fellow-Christians (cf. Recognitions of Clement, I, lxv, lxvi). According to Photius, he was baptized by St. Peter and St. John, together with his son and with Nicodemus.

[visionary]

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Sanhedrin.html

[The Thadman]

This idea makes me cautious. Does this group have the authority to claim that they are an actual Senhedrin? What makes them think that this one will actually succeed? With 71 rabbinates, that means approximately 2^71 opinions. This'll be madness, and if their focus is on the Talmud and not the Torah....

... well everyone here knows my opinions. :)

Peace!
-Steve-o

[insaneinthebrain]

This idea makes me cautious. Does this group have the authority to claim that they are an actual Senhedrin? What makes them think that this one will actually succeed? With 71 rabbinates, that means approximately 2^71 opinions. This'll be madness, and if their focus is on the Talmud and not the Torah....

... well everyone here knows my opinions. :)

Peace!
-Steve-oI would pretty much throw this on the big stack of "things the Messiah will sort out when he gets here." ;) I believe this is also the second or third attempt at this since Israel regained Nation status, so it's very likely that this could go nowhere.

[Henaynei]

the original Sanhedrin had 71 members as well and managed to function without any more madness than any other collection of human beings, probably less. did it have it's corrupt periods? certainly for man is frought with sin and evil inclinations, even saved man;)

As to authority - why need they more or less authroity than any ecclesiastical group of scholars who gather to determine rulingings for those in their faith?? Like the Southern Baptists, or a Lutheran Synod, or your local ministeral counsel in your town, etc?? each of these groups gives themselves the authority....... how is it somehow wrong for a group of rabbis to do the same?

[The Thadman]

the original Sanhedrin had 71 members as well and managed to function without any more madness than any other collection of human beings, probably less. did it have it's corrupt periods? certainly for man is frought with sin and evil inclinations, even saved man;)

As to authority - why need they more or less authroity than any ecclesiastical group of scholars who gather to determine rulingings for those in their faith?? Like the Southern Baptists, or a Lutheran Synod, or your local ministeral counsel in your town, etc?? each of these groups gives themselves the authority....... how is it somehow wrong for a group of rabbis to do the same?

First the Sanhedrin isn't only religious. It's also secular, responsible for capital cases and rulings on retribution. This Sanhedrin will not have that authority, nor will it in today's Israel. :)

Second, I assume that you assume that this idea of "let's have a bunch of scholars come together and make decisions" is cool, but that's the Jesus Seminar for ya. :)

Peace!
-Steve-o

[The Thadman]

Also, just out of curiosity, does anyone know how many of this gathering are Levites?

Peace!
-Steve-o

[Henaynei]

if the temple is going to be rebuilt and the priesthood resurrected there must be a sanhedrin - and you have to start somewhere - yes they will not be civil - yet - in today's israel - but they may be a halakic authority that will become recognized - the original sanhedrin was not "appointed by HaShem" - from the beginning they were men of learning and (hopefully) men who served HaShem in meekness..... as with every human institution, even those instituted by HaShem, because it IS human it will not be infallible - such is life...... as there has been the schooling of levites for temple service going on in israel for nearly 50 years I am sure that there will be some levites among the 71 :)

[Henaynei]

this is the 3rd time or so of trying to set up a sanhedrin, yes, but just as with the Red Heifer that is a must to re-establish the Temple - just because this one or that one did not make it all the way to the goal does nto mean you stop trying, searching or striving to do what needs be done to prepare for when the Temple is ready......

[The Thadman]

this is the 3rd time or so of trying to set up a sanhedrin, yes, but just as with the Red Heifer that is a must to re-establish the Temple -

Is this a problem established and upheld by rabbinic Oral Law? Is the requirement of a totally red heifer in Torah? :)

I honestly cannot find it.

just because this one or that one did not make it all the way to the goal does nto mean you stop trying, searching or striving to do what needs be done to prepare for when the Temple is ready......

Striving I can understand, but striving in a direction departing from Torah? That I cannot understand, nor back. Should we back such an attempt?

Peace!
-Steve-o