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SANHEDRIN LAUNCHED IN TIBERIAS
10/13/04 -- 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."
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