Editing Sanhedrin

{{short description|Assemblies of twenty-three or seventy Jewish elders}}
{{other uses}}

[[File:Sanhedrin1.jpg|thumb|The ''Sanhedrin'', from an 1883 encyclopedia]]
{{judaism}}
The '''Sanhedrin''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Middle Aramaic]] {{lang|arc|סַנְהֶדְרִין}}, a [[loanword]] from {{langx|grc-x-koine|Συνέδριον|[[synedrion]]}},<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/strongs.pl?strongs=4892|title=Greek Lexicon :: G4892 (KJV)|work=Blue Letter Bible}}</ref> 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence '[[Deliberative assembly|assembly]]' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level in the ancient [[Land of Israel]].

There were two classes of [[Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbinite courts]] called sanhedrins: Greater and Lesser. A lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges was appointed to sit as a tribunal in each city. There was only one Great Sanhedrin of 70 judges, which, among other roles, acted as a [[supreme court]], taking appeals from cases that lesser courts decided. In general usage, ''the Sanhedrin'' without qualifier usually refers to the Great Sanhedrin, which was presided over by the [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]], who functioned as its head or representing president, and was a member of the court; the [[Av Beit Din]] or the chief of the court, who was second to the Nasi and 69 general members.

In the [[Second Temple period]], the Great Sanhedrin met in the Temple in [[Jerusalem]], in a building called the [[Hall of Hewn Stones]]. The Great Sanhedrin convened every day except [[Jewish Holidays|festivals]] and the [[sabbath]] day ([[Shabbat]]).

After the destruction of the [[Second Temple]] and the failure of the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]], the Great Sanhedrin moved to Galilee, which became part of the Roman province of [[Syria Palaestina]]. In this period, the Sanhedrin was sometimes called the ''Galilean Patriarchate'' or ''Patriarchate of Palaestina'', the governing legal body of Galilean Jewry. In the late 200s CE, to avoid persecution, the name ''Sanhedrin'' was dropped and its decisions were issued under the name of {{lang|he-latn|Beit HaMidrash}} (house of learning). The last universally binding decision of the Great Sanhedrin appeared in 358 when the [[Hebrew calendar]] was established. The Great Sanhedrin was finally disbanded in 425.

Over the centuries, attempts have been made to revive the institution, such as the [[Grand Sanhedrin]] convened by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] and [[Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin|modern attempts]] in [[Israel]].

== Hebrew Bible ==
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], [[Moses]] and the Israelites were commanded by God to establish courts of judges.<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|18:21–22|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|1:15–18|HE}}</ref> They were also commanded to establish a "supreme court" located at the central sanctuary (after arriving in the [[Land of Israel]]), to handle cases too difficult for local courts.<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|17:9–12|HE}}</ref>

When Moses declared that the task of leading the people was too difficult for him, God had him appoint 70 elders (''zekenim'') to share the burden of leadership with him.<ref>{{bibleverse|Numbers|11:16–17, 24–25|HE}}</ref> According to the [[Mishnah]], these 70 elders plus Moses himself are the source for the 71 judges of the "Great Sanhedrin".<ref name=m16>[[Mishnah]], Sanhedrin 1:6</ref> These elders are described as "the elders of the people and its officers",<ref>{{bibleverse|Numbers|11:16|HE}}</ref> according to a [[midrash]], they were the same officers who were beaten in Egyptian slavery for failing to meet Pharaoh's quota of bricks, and after the Exodus were rewarded with membership on the first Sanhedrin.<ref>{{Alhatorah|Exodus|5:14|Rashi}}</ref>

The 23 judges of the "Lesser Sanhedrin" are derived from the following [[exegesis]]: it must be possible for a "[[minyan|community]]" to vote for both conviction and exoneration ({{Bibleverse-lb|Numbers|35:24–25|HE}}). The minimum size of a "community" is 10 men,<ref>The Hebrew term "community" appears in {{Bibleverse-lb||Numbers|14:27|HE}}; i.e., the 10 spies who had spread a bad report about the land, thus a "community" is 10 men.</ref> thus 10 vs 10. One more is required to achieve a majority (11 vs. 10), but a simple majority cannot convict ({{Bibleverse-lb||Exodus|23:2|HE}}), and so an additional judge is required (12 vs. 10). Finally, a court should have an odd number of judges to prevent deadlocks; thus 23 rather than 22.<ref name=m16/>

== History ==
=== Early Sanhedrin ===
The first historic mention of a ''[[Synedrion]]'' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Συνέδριον}}) occurs in the [[Psalms of Solomon]] (17:49), a Jewish religious book translated into Greek.

The Hasmonean court in [[Judea]], presided over by [[Alexander Jannaeus]], until 76 BCE, followed by his wife, Queen [[Salome Alexandra]], was called {{lang|grc-latn|Synhedrion}} or ''Sanhedrin.''<ref name="Wanderings p. 191">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/wanderingschaimp0000poto|title=Wanderings: Chaim Potok's History of the Jews|author=Chaim Potok|author-link=Chaim Potok|page=191|publisher=Knopf|date=1978|isbn=978-0-394-50110-9 }}</ref> The exact nature of this early Sanhedrin is not clear. It may have been a body of sages or priests, or a political, legislative and judicial institution. The first historical record of the body was during the administration of [[Aulus Gabinius]], who, according to Josephus, organized five {{lang|la|synedra}} in 57 BCE as Roman administration was not concerned with religious affairs unless sedition was suspected.<ref>Mantel, Hugo. (1972) "Sanhedrin".  in Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Macmillan. 14, p. 836</ref> Only after the destruction of the Second Temple was the Sanhedrin made up only of sages.<ref name="Wanderings p. 191" />

[[Josephus]] describes a ''synhedrion'' for the first time in connection with the decree of the Roman governor of Syria, [[Aulus Gabinius]] (57 BCE), who abolished the constitution and the then existing form of government of Judea and divided the country into five provinces, at the head of each of which a ''synhedrion'' was placed; Jerusalem was the seat of one of these.<ref>''Antiquities'' 14:5 §&nbsp;4</ref> Later, Josephus describes [[Herod the Great|Herod]] (at the time governor of Galilee) as being summoned before the ''synhedrion'', led by High Priest [[Hyrcanus II]], due to having executed alleged criminals without permission from the ''synhedrion''.<ref>''Antiquities'' 14:167–180</ref> Eventually, though, Herod would go on to kill many members of this ''synhedrion''.<ref>''Antiquities'' 14:175</ref>

The [[Mishnah]] describes the Sanhedrin in this period further. The Great Sanhedrin met in the [[Hall of Hewn Stones]] in the Temple in [[Jerusalem]]. It convened every day except [[Jewish Holidays|festivals]] and [[Shabbat]]. Its members included [[Kohen|priests]], [[Levites]], and ordinary Jews whose families had a pure lineage such that their daughters were allowed to marry priests.<ref>[[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]] 4:2</ref>

=== The trial of Jesus, and early Christianity ===
{{Main|Sanhedrin trial of Jesus}}

A {{lang|grc-latn|Synhedrion}} is mentioned 22 times in the Greek [[New Testament]], including in the Gospels in relation to the [[Sanhedrin trial of Jesus|trial of Jesus]], and in the ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'', which mentions a "Great {{lang|grc-latn|Synhedrion}}" in chapter 5 where rabbi [[Gamaliel]] appeared, and also in chapter 7 in relation to the stoning death of [[Saint Stephen]]. This body is described as a court led by the High Priest or leading priests, as well as the "elders" and/or [[Pharisees]].<ref name=grabbe>Grabbe, Lester L. "Sanhedrin, Sanhedriyyot, or Mere Invention?" Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period 39, no. 1 (2008): 1–19. {{jstor|24670033}}.</ref>

=== During Jewish–Roman Wars ===
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sanhedrin was re-established in [[Yavne]]h, with reduced authority, by agreement between [[Yochanan ben Zakai]] and Roman Emperor [[Vespasian]]. Vespasian agreed in part due to the perception that the [[Pharisees]] had not participated in the [[First Jewish-Roman War|first revolt]] to the extent that other groups had. Thus the Sanhedrin in Yavneh was comprised almost exclusively of [[pharisaic]] scholars. The imperial Roman government recognized the Sanhedrin. They regarded the [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|head of the Sanhedrin]] as their own paid government official with the status of a [[Praefectus|prefect]]. Roman legislation severely reduced the scope of its authority, but confirmed the body's ultimate authority in religious matters. In an attempt to quash revolutionary elements, Rome in effect declared one form of Judaism to be the only recognized form of religion. This led to persecution of sectarian groups, and attempts by these groups to find fault with the Sanhedrin before the Roman government. {{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

The seat of the Patriarchate moved to [[Usha (ancient)|Usha]] under the presidency of [[Gamaliel II]] in 80 CE. In 116 it moved back to Yavneh, and then again back to Usha. {{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

=== After Bar Kokhba Revolt ===
[[File:Ancient Galilee.jpg|thumb|[[Galilee]] in [[Late Antiquity|late antiquity]].]]
Rabbinic texts indicate that following the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]], southern [[Galilee]] became the seat of rabbinic learning in the [[Land of Israel]]. This region was the location of the court of the Patriarch which was situated first at [[Usha (city)|Usha]], then at [[Bet Shearim]], later at [[Sepphoris]] and finally at [[Tiberias]].<ref name="LightstoneReligion2002">{{cite book|author1=Jack N. Lightstone|author2=Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion|title=Mishnah and the social formation of the early Rabbinic Guild: a socio-rhetorical approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s42kv4NGBU4C&pg=PA192|access-date=18 July 2011|date= 2002|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-88920-375-4|page=192}}</ref>

The Great Sanhedrin moved in 140 to [[Shefa-'Amr|Shefaram]] under the presidency of [[Shimon ben Gamliel II]], and subsequently to [[Beit She'arim (Roman-era Jewish village)|Beit She'arim]] and later to [[Sepphoris]], under the presidency of [[Judah ha-Nasi]] (165–220). Finally, it moved to [[Tiberias]] in 220, under the presidency of [[Gamaliel III]] (220–230), a son of Judah ha-Nasi, where it became more of a consistory, but still retained, under the presidency of [[Judah II]] (230–270), the power of excommunication.

During the presidency of [[Gamaliel IV]] (270–290), due to Roman persecution, it dropped the name Sanhedrin; and its authoritative decisions were subsequently issued under the name of ''[[Yeshiva|Beth HaMidrash]]''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

In the year 363, the emperor [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] (r. 355–363 CE), an apostate from Christianity, ordered the Temple rebuilt.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'', 23.1.2–3.</ref> The project's failure has been ascribed to the [[Galilee earthquake of 363]], and to the [[Jew]]s' ambivalence about the project. Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time.<ref name="Solomon">See [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/julian-jews.html "Julian and the Jews 361–363 CE"] and [http://www.gibsoncondo.com/~david/convert/history.html "Julian the Apostate and the Holy Temple"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051020130904/http://www.gibsoncondo.com/~david/convert/history.html|date=2005-10-20}}.</ref> As a reaction against Julian's pro-Jewish stance, the later emperor [[Theodosius I]] (r. 379–395 CE) forbade the Sanhedrin to assemble and declared [[Semicha|ordination]] illegal. Capital punishment was prescribed for any Rabbi who received ordination, as well as complete destruction of the town where the ordination occurred.<ref name="A History">{{cite book|title=A History of the Jewish People|author=Hayim Ben-Sasson|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0-674-39731-6}}</ref>

However, since the [[Hebrew calendar]] was based on witnesses' testimony, which had become far too dangerous to collect, rabbi [[Hillel II]] recommended change to a mathematically based calendar that was adopted at a clandestine, and maybe final, meeting in 358 CE. This marked the last universal decision made by the Great Sanhedrin.

[[Gamaliel VI]] (400–425) was the Sanhedrin's last president. With his death in 425, [[Theodosius II]] outlawed the title of [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]], the last remains of the ancient Sanhedrin. An imperial decree of 426 diverted the patriarchs' tax ({{lang|la|post excessum patriarchorum}}) into the imperial treasury.<ref name="A History" /> The exact reason for the abrogation of the patriarchate is not clear,<ref name="LangeGerber1997">{{cite book|author1=Nicholas Robert Michael De Lange|author2=Jane S. Gerber|title=The illustrated history of the Jewish people|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto00dela|url-access=registration|access-date=18 July 2011|date=1997|publisher=Harcourt Brace|isbn=978-0-15-100302-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto00dela/page/79 79]}}</ref> though Gamaliel VI, the last holder of the office who had been for a time elevated by the emperor to the rank of [[prefect]],<ref name="Chisholm1911attribution">{{EB1911|wstitle=Jews| volume= 15 |last= Abrahams |first= Israel |author-link= Israel Abrahams | pages= 487–410; see page 403 |quote= III. – From the Dispersion to Modern Times}}</ref> may have fallen out with the imperial authorities.<ref name="LangeGerber1997" /> Thereafter, Jews were gradually excluded from holding public office.<ref name="Edersheim1856">{{cite book|author=Alfred Edersheim|title=History of the Jewish nation after the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXQpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA551|access-date=18 July 2011|year=1856|publisher=T. Constable and Co.|page=551}}</ref> A law dated to 429, however, refers to the existence of a Sanhedrin in each of the Eastern Roman provinces of [[Diocese of the East|Palestine]].<ref name ="Levine2018">{{cite contribution|author=Lee I. Levine|contribution=The Jewish patriarchate|contribution-url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8133|access-date=2 May 2024|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|title=Oxford Classical Dictionary|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8133 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 |editor=Tim Whitmarsh|place=Oxford}}</ref>

== Powers ==
The Talmud tractate [[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]] identifies two classes of rabbinical courts called Sanhedrin, a Great Sanhedrin ({{lang|he|בית דין הגדול}}) and a Lesser Sanhedrin ({{lang|he|בית דין הקטן}}). Each city could have its own lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges, but there could be only one greater Sanhedrin of 71, which among other roles acted as the Supreme Court, taking appeals from cases decided by lesser courts. The uneven numbers of judges were predicated on eliminating the possibility of a tie, and the last to cast his vote was the head of the court.

=== Function and procedures ===
The Sanhedrin as a body claimed powers that lesser Jewish courts did not have. As such, they were the only ones who could try the king, extend the boundaries of the Temple and Jerusalem, and were the ones to whom all questions of law were finally put. Moreover, the lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges was the only juridical body in Israel having the statutory and constitutional authority and power to render a verdict of [[capital punishment]] to would-be offenders,<ref>{{Citation |title=The Mishnah |editor-last=Danby|editor-first=H. |editor-link=Herbert Danby |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |place=Oxford |year=1977|page=[https://archive.org/details/DanbyMishnah/page/383/mode/1up 383] (''Sanhedrin'' 1:4) |isbn=0-19-815402-X |title-link=Mishnah }}</ref> and the greater Sanhedrin of 71 judges was solely authorized to send forth the people to a [[voluntary war|battle waged of free choice]].<ref>{{Citation |title=The Mishnah |editor-last=Danby|editor-first=H. |editor-link=Herbert Danby |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |place=Oxford |year=1977|page=[https://archive.org/details/DanbyMishnah/page/383/mode/1up 383] (''Sanhedrin'' 1:5) |isbn=0-19-815402-X |title-link=Mishnah }}</ref> 

Before 191 BCE the [[Kohen Gadol|High Priest]] acted as the ''ex officio'' head of the Sanhedrin,<ref name="ArtScroll">Goldwurm, Hersh and Holder, Meir, ''History of the Jewish People'', I "The Second Temple Era" ([[ArtScroll|Mesorah Publications]]: 1982) {{ISBN|0-89906-454-X}}.</ref>  but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the office of [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]] was created. After the time of [[Hillel the Elder]] (late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE), the Nasi was almost invariably a descendant of Hillel. The second highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin was called the [[Av Beit Din]], or 'Head of the Court' (literally, {{lang|he-latn|Av Beit Din}} means 'father of the house of judgment'), who presided over the Sanhedrin when it sat as a criminal court.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/economic/friedman/sanhedrin.htm |title=Sanhedrin |publisher=CUNY |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519083636/http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/economic/friedman/sanhedrin.htm |archive-date=2006-05-19 }}</ref> 

During the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin met in a building known as the [[Hall of Hewn Stones]] ({{lang|he-latn|Lishkat ha-Gazit}}), which has been placed by the Talmud and many scholars as built into the northern wall of the [[Temple Mount]], half inside the sanctuary and half outside, with doors providing access variously to the Temple and to the outside. The name presumably arises to distinguish it from the buildings in the Temple complex used for ritual purposes, which could not be constructed of stones hewn by any [[iron]] implement.

In some cases, it was necessary only for a 23-member panel (functioning as a Lesser Sanhedrin) to convene. In general, the full panel of 71 judges was convened only on matters of national significance (''e.g.'', a declaration of war) or when the 23-member panel failed to reach a conclusive verdict.<ref>Babylonian Talmud: Sanhedrin [http://images.e-daf.com/DafImg.asp?ID=3613&size=1 2a].</ref>

By the end of the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin reached its pinnacle of importance, legislating all aspects of Jewish religious and political life within parameters laid down by Biblical and Rabbinic tradition.

=== Summary of Patriarchal powers ===
The following is a summary of the powers and responsibilities of the Patriarchate from the onset of the third century, based on rabbinic sources as understood by L.I. Levine:<ref name="LightstoneReligion2002p.189">{{cite book|author1=Jack N. Lightstone|author2=Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion|title=Mishnah and the social formation of the early Rabbinic Guild: a socio-rhetorical approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s42kv4NGBU4C&pg=PA189|access-date=21 July 2011|year=2002|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-88920-375-4|page=189}}</ref>
#Representative to Imperial authorities;
#Focus of leadership in the Jewish community:
##Receiving daily visits from prominent families;
##Declaration of public fast days;
##Initiating or abrogating the ban (''[[herem (war or property)|herem]]'');
#Appointment of judges to Jewish courts in the Land of Israel;
#Regulation of the calendar;
#Issuing enactments and decrees with respect to the applicability or release from legal requirements, e.g.:
##Use of [[shmita|sabbatical year]] produce and applicability of sabbatical year injunctions;
##Repurchase or redemption of formerly Jewish land from gentile owners;
##Status of Hellenistic cities of the Land of Israel re: purity, tithing, sabbatical year;
##Exemptions from tithing;
##Conditions in divorce documents;
##Use of oil produced by gentiles;
#Dispatching emissaries to diaspora communities;
#Taxation: both the power to tax and the authority to rule/intervene on the disposition of taxes raised for local purposes by local councils.

Up to the middle of the fourth century, the Patriarchate retained the prerogative of determining the [[Hebrew calendar]] and guarded the intricacies of the needed calculations, in an effort to constrain interference by the Babylonian community. Christian persecution obliged [[Hillel II]] to fix the calendar in permanent form in 359 CE.<ref name="Chisholm1911attribution" /><ref name="TausGarber2008">{{cite book|author1=Esther Rogoff Taus|author2=Zev Garber|title=Torah for Today|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ASsHZFokICsC&pg=PA97|access-date=18 July 2011|date= 2008|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-3635-3|page=97}}</ref> This institution symbolized the passing of authority from the Patriarchate to the [[Talmudic Academies in Babylonia|Babylonian Talmudic academies]].<ref name="Landman1941">{{cite book|author=Isaac Landman|title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: an authoritative and popular presentation of Jews and Judaism since the earliest times|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OrttAAAAMAAJ|access-date=18 July 2011|year=1941|publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, inc.|page=399}}</ref>

=== Archaeological findings ===
In 2004, excavations in Tiberias conducted by the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] uncovered a structure dating to the 3rd century CE that may have been the seat of the Sanhedrin when it convened in that city. At the time it was called {{lang|he-latn|Beit Hava'ad}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/researchers-say-tiberias-basilica-may-have-housed-sanhedrin-1.117483|title=Researchers say Tiberias basilica may have housed Sanhedrin|date=22 March 2004|work=Haaretz}}</ref>

== Nasi (president) ==
{{further|Tannaim}}
Before 191 BCE the [[Kohen Gadol|High Priest]] acted as the ''ex officio'' head of the Sanhedrin,<ref name="ArtScroll" /> but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the chair passed to the new office of the [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]]. The Sanhedrin was headed by the chief scholars of the great [[Talmudic Academies in the Land of Israel]], and with the decline of the Sanhedrin, their spiritual and legal authority was generally accepted, the institution itself being supported by voluntary contributions by Jews throughout the ancient world. 

Being a member of the house of [[Hillel the Elder|Hillel]] and thus a descendant of [[King David]], the [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]] (prince), who was the chairman of the assembly, enjoyed almost royal authority. His functions were political rather than religious, though the office’s influence was not limited to the secular realm.<ref name="Chisholm1911attribution" /> The Patriarchate attained its zenith under [[Judah ha-Nasi]], who compiled the [[Mishnah]].<ref name="Chisholm1911attribution" />

{|class="wikitable"
! President !!colspan="2"| Term in office
|-
|[[Yose ben Yoezer]] || 170 <small>BCE</small> || 140 <small>BCE</small>
|-
|[[Joshua ben Perachyah]] ||  140 <small>BCE</small> || 100 <small>BCE</small>
|-
|[[Simeon ben Shetach]] || 100 <small>BCE</small> || 60 <small>BCE</small>
|-
|[[Shmaya (tanna)|Shmaya]] || 65 <small>BCE</small> || c. 31 <small>BCE</small>
|-
|[[Hillel the Elder]] || c. 31 <small>BCE</small> || 9 <small>CE</small>
|-
|Rabban [[Shimon ben Hillel]] || 9 ||?
|-
|Rabban [[Gamaliel Hazaken|Gamaliel the Elder]] || 30 || 50
|-
|Rabban [[Shimon ben Gamliel]] || 50 || 70
|-
|Rabban [[Yohanan ben Zakkai]] || 70 || 80
|-
|Rabban [[Gamaliel II]] of [[Yavne]]  || 80 || 118
|-
|Rabbi [[Eleazar ben Azariah]] || 118 || 120
|-
|''[[Interregnum]]'' ([[Bar Kokhba revolt]]) || 120 || 142
|-
|Rabban [[Shimon ben Gamliel II]] || 142 || 165
|-
|Rabbi [[Judah I]] ''HaNasi (ThePresident)'' || 165 || 220
|-
|[[Gamaliel III]] || 220 || 230
|-
|[[Judah II]] ''Nesi'ah'' || 230 || 270
|-
|[[Gamaliel IV]] || 270 || 290
|-
|[[Judah III]] ''Nesi'ah'' || 290 ||320
|-
|[[Hillel II]] || 320 || 365
|-
|[[Gamaliel V]] || 365 || 385
|-
|[[Judah IV]] || 385 || 400
|-
|[[Gamaliel VI]] || c. 400 || 425
|}

== Revival attempts ==
=== Napoleon Bonaparte's "Grand Sanhedrin" ===
{{Main|Napoleon Bonaparte's "Grand Sanhedrin"}}
[[File:Napoleonic Medal.jpg|thumb|Medallion struck in honor of the "Grand Sanhedrin" convened by Emperor Napoleon I of France. In the collection of the [[Jewish Museum of Switzerland]].]]
The "Grand Sanhedrin" was a Jewish high court convened by [[Napoleon I]] to give legal sanction to the principles expressed by the [[Assembly of Notables]] in answer to the twelve questions submitted to it by the government. It did not follow the halakhic procedures of the traditional Sanhedrin.

On 6 October 1806, the Assembly of Notables issued a proclamation to all the Jewish communities of Europe, inviting them to send delegates to the Sanhedrin, to convene on 20 October. This proclamation, written in Hebrew, French, German, and Italian, speaks in extravagant terms of the importance of this revived institution and of the greatness of its imperial protector. While the action of Napoleon aroused in many Jews of Germany the hope that, influenced by it, their governments also would grant them the rights of citizenship, others looked upon it as a political contrivance. When in the war against Prussia (1806–07) the emperor invaded Poland and the Jews rendered great services to his army, he remarked, laughing, "The sanhedrin is at least useful to me."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sanhedrin, French  – JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13180-sanhedrin-french |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> David Friedländer and his friends in Berlin described it as a spectacle that Napoleon offered to the [[Paris]]ians.
[[File:Sanhedrin ceremony.jpg|thumb|Inauguration of the Sanhedrin in 2004]]

{{Main|Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin}}
Since the dissolution of the Sanhedrin in or around 358 CE, there have been several attempts to re-establish it.

There are records of what may have been attempts to reform the Sanhedrin in Arabia,<ref name="conquest">[http://www.alsadiqin.org/history/The%20Persian%20conquest%20of%20Jerusalem%20in%20614CE%20compared%20with%20Islamic%20conquest%20of%20638CE.pdf The Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 compared with Islamic conquest of 638]</ref> in Jerusalem under the Caliph [[Umar]],<ref name="conquest" /> and in Babylon (Iraq),<ref>''Sefer Yuchsin'', cf. ''Yarchei Kallah'', Rabbi Nassan describes "the seventy judges who comprise the Sanhedrin".</ref> but none of these attempts were given attention by later rabbinic authorities and little information is available about them.

[[Maimonides]] (1135–1204) proposed a rationalist solution for achieving the goal of re-establishing ''semikhah'' and the Sanhedrin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maimonides |author-link=Maimonides |title=Mishnah, with Maimonides' Commentary (Seder Nezīqīn) |publisher=[[Mossad Harav Kook]] |translator=Yosef Qafih |translator-link=Yosef Qafih |volume=2 |date=1965|location=Jerusalem |page=102 (''[[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]]'' 1:3)|language=he |oclc=233308346 |title-link=Mishnah}}</ref><ref>[[Maimonides]], ''[[Mishneh Torah |Sefer Mishneh Torah (Maimonides' Code of Jewish Law)]]'' (in Hebrew), ''Hil. Sanhedrin'' 4:11</ref> There have been several attempts to implement Maimonides' recommendations by Rabbi [[Jacob Berab]] in 1538, Rabbi [[Yisroel Shklover]] in 1830, Rabbi Aharon Mendel haCohen in 1901, Rabbi Zvi Kovsker in 1940, Rabbi [[Yehuda Leib Maimon]] in 1949, and [[2004 attempt to revive the Sanhedrin|a group of Israeli rabbis in 2004]].

== See also ==
{{portal|Judaism}}
* [[Council of Jamnia]]
* [[Beth din shel Kohanim]]
* [[Great Assembly]] – or {{lang|he-latn|Anshei Knesset HaGedolah}} ('Men of the Great Assembly')
* [[Magnum Concilium]], a similar body in medieval [[England]]
* [[Synedrion]], a general term for judiciary organs of Greek and [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] [[polis|city states]] and treaty organisations.
* [[Tombs of the Sanhedrin]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*Cohen, S.J.D., ''"Patriarchs and Scholarchs,"'' PAAJR 48 (1981), 57–85.
*Goodman, M., ''"The Roman State and the Jewish Patriarch in the Third Century,"'' in L.I. Levnie (ed.), ''The Galilee in late Antiquity'' (New York, 1992), 127.39.
*Habas (Rubin), E., ''"Rabban Gamaliel of Yavneh and his Sons: The Patriarchate before and after the Bar Kokhva Revolt,"'' JJS 50 (1999), 21–37.
*Levine, L.I., ''"The Patriarch (Nasi) in Third-Century Palestine,"'' ANRW 2.19.2 (1979), 649–88.

== External links ==
{{EB1911 poster|Synedrium}}
{{EB1911|wstitle=Jews| volume= 15 |last= Abrahams |first= Israel |author-link= Israel Abrahams | pages= 487–410 [403] {{page?|date=May 2025}}|quote= III. – From the Dispersion to Modern Times}}
{{NIE Poster|Sanhedrin|year=1905}}
* [http://www.thesanhedrin.org/en/main/history.html Secular and religious history of the Jewish Sanhedrin]
* [http://www.thesanhedrin.org/en English web site of the re-established Jewish Sanhedrin in Israel]
* [http://www.aish.com/jl/m/pm/48936377.html The Jewish Court System] by Rabbi [[Aryeh Kaplan]]
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=229&letter=S ''Jewish Encyclopedia'': "Sanhedrin"]
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Sanhedrin}}

{{Jewish history}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sanhedrin| ]]
[[Category:1st-century BC establishments in the Hasmonean Kingdom]]
[[Category:420s disestablishments in the Roman Empire]]
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[[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire]]
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[[Category:Hasmonean Kingdom]]
[[Category:Greek words and phrases in Jewish law]]