Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin refer to the efforts from 1538 to the present aimed at renewing the Sanhedrin, which was the high court and legislative authority for Jews before it was dissolved by Roman Emperor Constantius II in 358. Although 358 was the year of the proclamation, no documentation exists regarding when the Sanhedrin actually dissolved.
Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin rely on the opinion of Maimonides (1135–1204), who proposed a mechanism by which semikhah and the Sanhedrin could be reestablished.Maimonides, Sefer Mishneh Torah (Maimonides' Code of Jewish Law) (in Hebrew), Hil. Sanhedrin 4:11 Several attempts have been made to implement Maimonides's recommendations. In 1538, Rabbi Jacob Berab of Safed attempted to restore the traditional form of semikhah and ordained several other rabbis, including Yosef Karo. However, this attempt was controversial, and the chain of ordination died out after several generations. Several later attempts have been made, including one attempt in 2004, which established a full Sanhedrin of over 70 members. However, its validity has not been widely accepted.
The relevance of the Sanhedrin in Jewish law cannot be minimized: it was the only judicial body in the Land of Israel putatively having the statutory and constitutional authority to render a verdict of capital punishment to would-be offenders, and it was solely authorized to send forth the Jewish people to a voluntary war.
The dissolution of the classical Sanhedrin
By the end of the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin achieved its quintessential position, legislating on all aspects of Jewish religious and political life within the parameters laid down by Biblical and Rabbinic tradition. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sanhedrin was re-established in Yavne. It later then moved to a succession of different locations, finally (in 220) to Tiberias. 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 Beth HaMidrash.
In the year 363, the emperor Julian (r. 355–363 CE), an apostate from Christianity, ordered the Temple rebuilt.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 23.1.2–3. However, this attempt failed with Julian's death. 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 ordination illegal. Capital punishment was prescribed for any Rabbi who received ordination, as well as complete destruction of the town where the ordination occurred. Gamaliel VI (400–425) was the Sanhedrin's last president. With the death of this patriarch, executed by Theodosius II for erecting new synagogues contrary to the imperial decree, use of the title Nasi, the last remains of the ancient Sanhedrin, became illegal after 425.
Possible early attempts at revival There are records of what may have been of attempts to reform the Sanhedrin in Arabia,The Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614CE compared with Islamic conquest of 638CE in Jerusalem under the Calif Umar, and in Babylon (Iraq),Sefer Yuchsin, cf. Yarchei Kallah, Rabbi Nassan describes "the seventy judges who comprise the Sanhedrin" but none of these attempts were given any attention by Rabbinic authorities and little information is available about them.
Maimonides' semicha by consensus Maimonides (1138–1204) was one of the greatest rabbis of the Middle Ages. Influenced by the rationalist school of thought and his general preference for a natural (as opposed to miraculous) redemption for the Jewish people, Maimonides wrote that in every generation the Jewish people are religiously required to set up a Sanhedrin and courts of law. Faced with the absence of classical semicha (Biblical ordination), which is a prerequisite for serving on the Sanhedrin, Maimonides tentatively proposed a rationalist method for reestablishing semichah: It appears to me [Maimonides] that if all the sages of the Land of Israel consent to appoint dayanim (judges) and grant them semichah (ordination), they have the law of musmachim and they can judge penalty cases and are authorized to grant semichah to others [thus restoring Biblical ordination].
If so, why did the sages bemoan [the loss of] semichah? So that the judgment of penalty cases wouldn't disappear from among Israel because Jews are so spread out that it's not possible to get their consent [to authorize a dayan]. If someone were to receive semichah from someone who already has semichah, then he does not require their consent – he may judge penalty cases for everyone since he received semichah from beit din (rabbinical court). However, this matter requires a final decision.Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sanhedrin 4:11
The wording of this teaching is vague and tentative and leaves several points open. Firstly, it opens with "It appears to me" and ends with "this matter requires a final decision". Secondly, it is not specified what is meant by "consent". Thirdly, it leaves open as to who are "all the sages of the Land of Israel" and lastly—although not apparent here—how literally the word "all" must be taken. These questions led to significant debate within Rabbinic circles, from those who completely disregarded this teaching to others who differed on its meaning.
Maimonides' ruling was accepted as definitive Jewish law by Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), author of the Shulchan Aruch.Cf. Rabbi Yosef Karo's treatise Ma'aseh Bet Din and his commentary the Beis Yosef, Choshen Mishpat 295, see also Rabbi Yakov Beirav Iggeret Hasemicha Similarly, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov (1770-1839), a leading disciple of the Vilna Gaon, wrote in the name of the Gaon that there is no need to wait for the messiah to come before forming a Sanhedrin.The attempt of Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov to re-establish the Sanhedrin in 1830
However this conclusion has been disputed by other rabbis, including Nahmanides (Ramban, 1194–1270), Rabbi Levi Ibn Chaviv (the Ralbach, ), Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (the Radvaz, 1479–1573), and Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (the Chazon Ish, 1878-1953), who rejected the possibility of forming a Sanhedrin before the messiah comes.
Semīkhat zekeinīm [= the ordination of elders], this refers to the appointment of the judges, while the allusion to this is in what was said (Numbers 27:23), ‘and he laid his hands on him and commanded him.’ We, however, do not need the actual laying on of hands. Rather, the man who is worthy of being appointed [judge], the court who appoints him says to him: ‘You, rabbi so-and-so, lo! You are ordained, and you are permitted to judge cases of monetary laws.’ That man then becomes ordained, and he is [thereafter] called a judge, and may judge in all judiciary matters. This thing, however, has no legal basis except only in the Land of Israel, [for] they have said that there is no ordination (semikha) outside the Land of Israel (Talmud, Sanhedrin 14a), but both he that is appointed and those appointing him are required to be together in the Land of Israel. Whenever a man has received ordination in the Land of Israel, he is authorized to adjudicate in laws relating to [biblical] fines, even outside the Land of Israel, since there is a general rule with us that states that the [duties of the] Sanhedrin apply in the Land of Israel and outside the Land of Israel, as shall be explained in what follows. But as for whether the three judges who ordain are required themselves to have been previously ordained, and only afterwards is it possible for them to ordain another person, there is in this matter a doubt. However, it appears from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 14a) that the greatest among them needs to have been ordained, and that he is to be joined by another two [judges], while he appoints whoever he wishes. I am of the opinion, however, that if there is general consensus of all the students and rabbinic sages to appoint a man in the seat of learning, that is to say, to make him [their] head, and on condition that this is done in the Land of Israel, just as we have premised, behold, the seat of learning would be established unto that same man, and he will be ordained, and he can then ordain another person in this manner, whosoever he wishes. [Such is my view], since if you do not say so, the reality of a Great rabbinic court will never be realized, seeing that each of them requires to be ordained [from successive generations of ordained judges] without having befallen them a [single] doubtful case. Behold, God has already promised [to do these things] at their return [to the land], by saying (Isaiah 1:26), ‘And I will restore your judges as at the beginning.’ Now, unless you should say that the Messiah will appoint them, even though they are not ordained [from successive generations of ordained judges], lo! That [view] is rejected, since we have already explained in the beginning of this, our book, that the Messiah will not add [aught] to the Torah, nor will he detract from it, whether it is the Written law or the Oral law. I am of the opinion that the Sanhedrin will return before the advent of the Messiah, and this will be one of the signs, [for] he said (Isaiah 1:26), ‘And I will restore your judges as at the beginning and your counselors as at the start; Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness.’ This will happen, without doubt, when God makes right the hearts of men and their benevolent deeds are multiplied and their desire for God and His law will increase, and their integrity will pervade [all places] before the coming of the Messiah, just as it has been explained in the scriptural verses.
Rabbi Berab's attempt In 1538 Rabbi Jacob Berab attempted to restore the traditional form of semikhah.Based on Jewish Encyclopedia: BERAB, JACOB, Rabbi Tzvi Eidan's Asot Mishpat, and also Semicha and Sanhedrin Controversies by Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff His goal was to unify the scattered Jewish communities through the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin. Numerous scholars, including Professors Jacob Katz and Robert Cover, have authored articles that critically examine the efforts to renew ordination in Safed, analyzing them from both historical and legal-halachic perspectives.
Rabbi Yakov Berav was born in Spain. Evidence of the great respect is afforded by the following lines of Rabbi Abraham Gavison in Omer ha-Shikchah: "Say not that the lamp of the Law no longer burns in Israel! Jacob Berab has come back! once more he sojourns among us!" In 1533 he became Rabbi at Cairo; and several years after he seems to have finally settled in Safed, which then contained the largest and most learned Jewish community in the Land of Israel.
After the Spanish expulsion, many Jews remained in Spain, practicing their Judaism in secret, while publicly appearing to be Christians. Thousands of these Marrano Jews eventually escaped to areas where they could practice their religion with relative freedom, yet they were haunted by the sins they had committed in previous years. As chief Rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Jacob Berab proposed the creation of Jewish courts that would carry out the punishment of malqot, lashes, which releases someone from the punishment of kareth (Mishnah Makos 23a). But in order to create these Jewish courts, classical ordination had to be reinstituted.
Renewal of semicha