Posted on 06/01/2006 5:12:36 PM PDT by SJackson
The Sanhedrin Reestablished (Part I)
By: Dov Gilor
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a meeting of the "Lishka" of the renewed Sanhedrin in Israel. I was introduced to the existence of this weekly meeting by my son’s father-in-law, Rabbi Dr. Elihu Schatz, who is a member of the Sanhedrin, and I received permission to attend from the main initiator of the process, who has worked tirelessly on this project, the secretary of the Sanhedrin executive – Rabbi Dov Stein. I was very curious to understand how, why and who had the authority to set up a Sanhedrin in our day.
I had always understood that the Sanhedrin would be made up of the greatest Torah scholars of the generation and I was surprised that I was not familiar with most of the names mentioned. I learned that like every "innovation" in Jewish life, there were many aspects and complications in creating the reconstituted Sanhedrin in our time. Ours is a time when every suggestion of "change" draws aggressive militant criticism to such a degree that many rabbis, even the most pious, recognized and revered rabbis of our generation, seem afraid to solve, within the framework of Torah, some very serious problems facing Judaism today. The Torah foundation upon which the Sanhedrin of today is based is the command that every Jewish (and non-Jewish) community must set up a legal system. To set up a Sanhedrin requires a very special rabbinical ordination of its members. This ordination, ideally, should have been the ordination passed down from Moshe Rabbenu. Unfortunately, this direct line of ordination was lost some 1,500 years ago, when Roman pogroms and persecutions led to the demise of the last Sanhedrin.
In Hilchot Sanhedrin Rambam (Maimonides) set out the principles of how to reestablish this special ordination. The rabbis of Israel must agree to grant ordination to one person. Once this person is ordained, he can ordain others. The recent three Orthodox attempts to reestablish this special ordination (1830, 1901, 1949) were met with very stiff rabbinical opposition; the ordination chains were quickly broken and no Sanhedrin was formed. What the fate of the current Sanhedrin, still in its infancy, will be, is open to question.
The attempt in 1538, for example, began in Safed, when 25 rabbis met and ordained Rabbi Yaakov Beirav. Rabbi Beirav ordained the chief rabbi of Jerusalem (The Maharalback), Rabbi Yosef Caro (author of the Shulchan Aruch), Rabbi Moshe Trani and Rabbi Yosef Sagis. Rabbi Caro later ordained Rabbi Moshe Alschech, and Rabbi Alschech ordained Rabbi Chaim Vital. Strife with the rabbi of Jerusalem and opposition soon hampered the project. It lasted four generations, but the persecutions of the Turkish Empire doomed the project. Those who received ordination were taken hostage and the community was forced to pay ransom. Eventually, the rabbis were forced to flee Israel, and the chain was broken.
The need for a Sanhedrin to unify halacha and the Jewish people is not questioned. What is questioned is who has the fortitude to start the process and how vocal the Orthodox rabbinical opposition will be.
To avoid claims that not all the rabbis of Israel were aware of the latest attempt to set up the Sanhedrin, 50,000 copies of a detailed flyer were distributed to 4,500 communities in Israel. Seven hundred leading rabbis were contacted personally or by mail. Rabbi Moshe Halberstam, who just recently passed away, was chosen to be ordained after he received approval from Israel’s leading rabbis and when no objections were received from the hundreds of rabbis consulted via the mails. He was a senior dayan in the Eida Haredit court, the president of Hatzala Israel, and the rosh kolel of the Galicia Kolel in Jerusalem,
Leading rabbis, including Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg and many others gave their blessing but did not join the Sanhedrin. The son of Rabbi Mordecai Eliyahu is one of the rabbis ordained. Rabbi Avraham Shapiro abstained on the issue but also refused to discourage it. Rabbi Tzvi Eidan, the author of Asot Mishpat (which describes how it is possible to reestablish the Sanhedrin) was appointed as the interim president until an election is held. The elected nasi, or president, of the Sanhedrin is Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz, a noted Talmudic scholar and a well-known Jewish philosopher.
The Sanhedrin Reestablished (Part II)
By: Dov Gilor
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Part I of this article discussed the background and early days of the new Sanhedrin. The chain of ordination began in 2004 with the ordination of Rabbi Moshe Halberstam, who ordained Rabbi Dov Levanoni, who passed it down to the other rabbis. A Sanhedrin of 71 rabbis convened in Tiberius on the 10th of Shevat, 5765 (Jan. 20, 2005). This is just the second time in 1,600 years that this unique event has occurred.
The Sanhedrin includes rabbis from diverse backgrounds: Charedi, religious-Zionist, Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Chassidic, Lithuanian, and others. The ordination of these rabbis is part of the process to reestablish the Sanhedrin, but they will not necessarily be the final members. Each of the rabbis currently sitting on the Sanhedrin pledged that he has assumed his seat on condition that he will relinquish it to anyone greater in Torah who wishes to join. It is hoped that the release of several of the names of those involved in the Sanhedrin will encourage those who believe that their own rabbis or teachers are qualified to be part of this endeavor to recommend that their rabbi be included in the Sanhedrin. Those interested in becoming involved with the Sanhedrin should contact the Sanhedrin secretariat.
The new Sanhedrin has at least the authority of a regular bet din, if not more. Among the many topics the Sanhedrin intends to address are: the bridging of the divisions between various communities of Jewish exiles who have returned to Israel; the establishment of authentic techelet, the blue thread that is part of tzizit; the definition of the measurement of the ammah (the biblical cubit) and the determination of the exact point of human death, so as to deal with the Jewish ethics of transplants. The Sanhedrin will also establish a forum of architects and engineers to begin plans for rebuilding the Temple.
The 71 rabbis, who are members of the Sanhedrin are Torah scholars, and many are experts in secular and scientific fields. The 71 rabbis elected a seven-member leadership council that meets once a week in Jerusalem to prepare for the Sanhedrin meetings and represent the institution in dealings with the public.
The following are the members of the council: The nasi (president) is Rabbi Adin Even Israel (Steinzaltz), a talmudic scholar who began his monumental translation and commentary of the Talmud in 1965, established a network of schools in Israel and Russia, and has received honorary degrees from Yeshiva University, Bar Ilan U., Ben Gurion U. and Florida International U. The Av Bet-Din (chancellor) is Rabbi Nacham Kahana, a graduate of Yeshivat Mir, a rabbinic scholar and the rabbi of the Young Israel of Jerusalem’s Old City. He is currently working on an interpretation the Tosafot of the Talmud. He is also the director of the Institute for Talmudic Commentaries and has created a database of reliable Kohanim in Israel. Rabbi Yoel Schwartz is the assistant Av Bet-Din. He is a Torah scholar and a prolific writer who has published over 200 seforim. He learned at Yeshivat Ponevitz and Yeshivat Mir and was the mashgiach of Yeshivat Itri and the spiritual advisor of the Nahal Charedi (ultra-religious army program).
There are four other distinguished members. Rabbi Dov Levanoni is a Torah scholar, a prolific author and the author of Hamikdah, a description of the Second Temple according to Rambam. Rabbi Yisroel Ariel, who was a rosh yeshiva, the spiritual leader of Yamit and the founder of Machon HaMikdash, served in the paratroop unit that liberated the Kotel in the Six-Day War. Rabbi Dov Stein received ordination from Rav Sternberg of the Eda Hareidi. For the past 20 years he has been the spirit behind the renewal of the Sanhedrin and serves as its secretary. He is well-known for his responses to secular questions about our principals of faith on the Internet at www.thesanhedrin.org, Rabbi Yehuda Edri is a Torah scholar, supervisor and principal for the Chareidi Shas Party’s El Hamaayan Educational system. He is an expert on the location of the Temple and its measurements.
Other members of the Sanhedrin include (not in order of seniority): Rabbi Mordechai Avrahami, Rabbi Yishai Ba’avad (general secretary of Rabbis of Yehudah, Shomeron[Yos"h]), Rabbi Michael Shlomo Bar-Ron, Rabbi Dov Avraham Ben-Shorr, Rabbi Reuven Hass, Rabbi Meir Yaakov HaLevi Haqaq, Rabbi Amnon Hever (Ph.D Jewish History), Rabbi Yishayahu Hollander, Rabbi Mordekhai Kislev (professor of botany, Bar Ilan University), Rabbi Tzvi Rogin (Head of The Temple Mount Information Center), Rabbi Elitzur Segal, Rabbi Hillel Weiss (professor of Jewish literature, Bar Ilan University), Rabbi Elihu Schatz (Ph.D in chemistry) and others.
The Sanhedrin has also set up two Batei Din (sub-courts) and one Va’ada (sub-committee). The Special Court for Matters Concerning the Nation and the State, with its chief justice, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, concerns itself with the government and Jewish law.
Since 1948, the government of Israel has in general been a socialist, secular government taht exercises civil authority in the majority of the land of Israel. Although this government is made up largely of Jews, it is increasingly distancing itself from its Jewish culture and religious heritage. It sees itself as a secular government of its citizens, and moves are being made to completely separate religion and state by disenfranchising and reducing the funding of religious institutions. It has also embarked on a policy of appeasement of international anti-Israel opinion and terror organizations, by large-scale forced-transfer of mostly religious Jewish population centers in a government policy called "turning inward." In spite of these aggressive moves against various religious communities within the land of Israel, the new Sanhedrin is interested in working within the law to achieve needed reforms.
There is also a special court for matters concerning the Bnei Noah, with Rabbi Yoel Schwartz as its chief justice and a "Research Committee for the Exact Site of the Holy Temple and Altar," whose spokesperson is Rabbi Gidon Harlap.
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Come Messiah!
later
Sghouldn't this be in the Religion Forum?
Bump for later reading
Yes.
I'm still trying to remember to put articles on wolves in chat.
Are rabbis from the Reform and Conservative strains of Judaism eligible to join?
Intresting.
Not quite sure of the prophetic implications here, but I assume there are some.
No, and I'm sure that even most of the Orthodox will have nothing to do with this rump "Sanhedrin."
Prophetic implications would be a leap I'm sure the participants wouldn't take. To my knowledge, this development isn't widely supported, in terms of acknowledging authority.
Since neither movement is recognized in Israel, I'd be surprised.
Are rabbis from the Reform and Conservative strains of Judaism eligible to join?
The REform and Conservative are not qualified. As time progersses they study less and less of Jewish law and today only a pittance of Jewish Law in their politically correct rabbical schools. The people chosen have spent a lifetime delving into it. Considering Conserative and Reform for Sanhedrin would be equivalent to the elder statesmen of constitutional law scholars being compared with someone who took a first course in Jewish law.
Sooooo, every Jew in America except the Chassidic are heretics?
That could explain their politics.
bump for later
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
read later ping
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