Nancy
2004-12-16 00:29:45 UTC
Members of Reestablished Sanhedrin Ascend Temple Mount
In a dramatic but unpublicized move, members of the newly established
Sanhedrin ascended the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, this past
Monday.
Close to 50 recently ordained s'muchim, members of the Sanhedrin, lined
up at the foot of the Temple Mount Monday morning. [The word s'muchim
comes from the same root as s'michah, , rabbinic ordination.] The men,
many ascending the Temple Mount for the first time, had immersed in
mikvaot (ritual baths) that morning, and planned to ascend as a group.
Despite prior approval from the Israeli police who oversee entry to the
Mount, the officers barred the group from entering the Mount all
together, and allowed them to visit only in groups of ten. Given the
newly-mandated restrictive conditions, many of the s'muchim refused to
ascend at all, especially as a group of over 100 non-Jewish tourists
filed past the waiting rabbis and up towards the holy site. "It is
unconscionable that on the eve of Chanukah, which celebrates the
rededication of the Holy Temple, we should once again be barred from
worshipping =E2=80" by our own people," Rabbi Chaim Richman of
Jerusalem's Temple Institute told IsraelNN's Ezra HaLevi. The Sanhedrin,
a religious-legal assembly of 71 sages that convened during the Holy
Temple period and for several centuries afterwards, was the highest
Jewish judicial tribunal in the Land of Israel. The great court used to
convene in one of the Temple's chambers in Jerusalem. This past October,
the Sanhedrin was reestablished for the first time in
1,600 years, at the site of its last meeting in Tiberias. "There is a
special mitzvah [commandment], not connected to time, but tied to our
presence in Israel, to establish a Sanhedrin," Rabbi Meir HaLevi, one of
the 71 members of the new Sanhedrin, told Israel National Radio's
Weekend Edition. "The Rambam [12th-century Torah scholar Maimonides]
describes the process exactly in the Mishna Torah [his seminal work
codifying Jewish Law]. When he wrote it, there was no Sanhedrin, and he
therefore outlines the steps necessary to establish one. When there is a
majority of rabbis, in Israel, who authorize one person to be a samuch,
, an authority, he can then reestablish the Sanhedrin." Those behind the
revival of the Sanhedrin stress that the revival of the
legal body is not optional, but mandated by the Torah. "We don't have a
choice," says Rabbi Richman. "It is a religious mandate for us to
establish a Sanhedrin."
The Sanhedrin was reestablished through the ordination of one rabbi
agreed upon by many prominent rabbis in Israel and approved as "fitting
to serve" by former Chief Sefardi Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef and leading
Ashkenazi Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. That rabbi, who is then
considered to have received authentic ordination as handed down from
Moses, was then able to give ordination to 70 others, making up the
quorum of 71 necessary for the Sanhedrin. "Even Mordechai HaYehudi of
the Purim story was accepted, as it is written, only 'by the majority of
his brethren,' and not by everybody," Rabbi HaLevi explained. "Anyone
who deals with public issues can not be unanimously accepted." The
rabbis behind the Sanhedrin's reconstitution claim that, like the State
of Israel, the old-new Sanhedrin is a work-in-progress. They see it as a
vessel that, once established, will reach the stature and authority that
it once had.
"The first members requested that their names not be published, so as to
allow it to grow without public criticism of individuals," HaLevi said.
"We want to give it time to develop and strengthen the institution,
giving a chance for more rabbis to join." He added that each of the
current members of the Sanhedrin has agreed to be a conditional member
until a more knowledgeable rabbi joins, taking his place. Rabbi Richman,
also a member of the Sanhedrin, hopes the body will bring about a
revolution in Jewish jurisprudence. Declining to discuss exactly what
issues are on the Sanhedrin's agenda, Richman said that one of the main
long-term goals of the Sanhedrin is to reunify Jewish observance in
Israel. The Sanhedrin includes members of Ashkenazi, Sefardi, Hasidic,
National-Religious and Hareidi communities. "We Jews went into exiles
all over the world," Rabbi HaLevi said. "Every
community established its own court. We are talking about more than 50
different legal systems developing separately from one another. Part of
our return to Israel is the reunification of our Jewish practices." A
tradition is recorded in the Talmud (Tractate Megillah 17b, Rashi) that
the Sanhedrin will be restored after a partial ingathering of the Jewish
exiles, but before Jerusalem is completely rebuilt and restored. Another
Talmudic tradition (Eruvin 43b; Maharatz Chajas ad loc; Rashash to
Sanhedrin 13b) states that Elijah the Prophet will present himself
before a duly-ordained Sanhedrin when he announces the coming of the
Messiah. This indicates that despite common misconceptions, a Sanhedrin
is a pre-, not post-messianic institution.
In a dramatic but unpublicized move, members of the newly established
Sanhedrin ascended the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, this past
Monday.
Close to 50 recently ordained s'muchim, members of the Sanhedrin, lined
up at the foot of the Temple Mount Monday morning. [The word s'muchim
comes from the same root as s'michah, , rabbinic ordination.] The men,
many ascending the Temple Mount for the first time, had immersed in
mikvaot (ritual baths) that morning, and planned to ascend as a group.
Despite prior approval from the Israeli police who oversee entry to the
Mount, the officers barred the group from entering the Mount all
together, and allowed them to visit only in groups of ten. Given the
newly-mandated restrictive conditions, many of the s'muchim refused to
ascend at all, especially as a group of over 100 non-Jewish tourists
filed past the waiting rabbis and up towards the holy site. "It is
unconscionable that on the eve of Chanukah, which celebrates the
rededication of the Holy Temple, we should once again be barred from
worshipping =E2=80" by our own people," Rabbi Chaim Richman of
Jerusalem's Temple Institute told IsraelNN's Ezra HaLevi. The Sanhedrin,
a religious-legal assembly of 71 sages that convened during the Holy
Temple period and for several centuries afterwards, was the highest
Jewish judicial tribunal in the Land of Israel. The great court used to
convene in one of the Temple's chambers in Jerusalem. This past October,
the Sanhedrin was reestablished for the first time in
1,600 years, at the site of its last meeting in Tiberias. "There is a
special mitzvah [commandment], not connected to time, but tied to our
presence in Israel, to establish a Sanhedrin," Rabbi Meir HaLevi, one of
the 71 members of the new Sanhedrin, told Israel National Radio's
Weekend Edition. "The Rambam [12th-century Torah scholar Maimonides]
describes the process exactly in the Mishna Torah [his seminal work
codifying Jewish Law]. When he wrote it, there was no Sanhedrin, and he
therefore outlines the steps necessary to establish one. When there is a
majority of rabbis, in Israel, who authorize one person to be a samuch,
, an authority, he can then reestablish the Sanhedrin." Those behind the
revival of the Sanhedrin stress that the revival of the
legal body is not optional, but mandated by the Torah. "We don't have a
choice," says Rabbi Richman. "It is a religious mandate for us to
establish a Sanhedrin."
The Sanhedrin was reestablished through the ordination of one rabbi
agreed upon by many prominent rabbis in Israel and approved as "fitting
to serve" by former Chief Sefardi Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef and leading
Ashkenazi Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. That rabbi, who is then
considered to have received authentic ordination as handed down from
Moses, was then able to give ordination to 70 others, making up the
quorum of 71 necessary for the Sanhedrin. "Even Mordechai HaYehudi of
the Purim story was accepted, as it is written, only 'by the majority of
his brethren,' and not by everybody," Rabbi HaLevi explained. "Anyone
who deals with public issues can not be unanimously accepted." The
rabbis behind the Sanhedrin's reconstitution claim that, like the State
of Israel, the old-new Sanhedrin is a work-in-progress. They see it as a
vessel that, once established, will reach the stature and authority that
it once had.
"The first members requested that their names not be published, so as to
allow it to grow without public criticism of individuals," HaLevi said.
"We want to give it time to develop and strengthen the institution,
giving a chance for more rabbis to join." He added that each of the
current members of the Sanhedrin has agreed to be a conditional member
until a more knowledgeable rabbi joins, taking his place. Rabbi Richman,
also a member of the Sanhedrin, hopes the body will bring about a
revolution in Jewish jurisprudence. Declining to discuss exactly what
issues are on the Sanhedrin's agenda, Richman said that one of the main
long-term goals of the Sanhedrin is to reunify Jewish observance in
Israel. The Sanhedrin includes members of Ashkenazi, Sefardi, Hasidic,
National-Religious and Hareidi communities. "We Jews went into exiles
all over the world," Rabbi HaLevi said. "Every
community established its own court. We are talking about more than 50
different legal systems developing separately from one another. Part of
our return to Israel is the reunification of our Jewish practices." A
tradition is recorded in the Talmud (Tractate Megillah 17b, Rashi) that
the Sanhedrin will be restored after a partial ingathering of the Jewish
exiles, but before Jerusalem is completely rebuilt and restored. Another
Talmudic tradition (Eruvin 43b; Maharatz Chajas ad loc; Rashash to
Sanhedrin 13b) states that Elijah the Prophet will present himself
before a duly-ordained Sanhedrin when he announces the coming of the
Messiah. This indicates that despite common misconceptions, a Sanhedrin
is a pre-, not post-messianic institution.