Sanhedrín

From Safon.org

Sanhedrín is the term for a Jewish religious court with 23 to 71 members. According to the Mishná of massékhet Sanhedrín, the smaller sanhedrín had 23 members and the greater Sanhedrín had either 70 or 71.

[edit] Why 23 members of the smaller Sanhedrin?

The Tora says 70 zekenim:

Vayyómer A. el-Mošè: “Esfo-llí šib‘ím íš mizziqné Yisra’él, ašèr yadà‘ta, ki-hém ziqné ha‘ám vešóteráv; veláqaḥtá otám el-óhel mo‘éd, vehityaṣṣebú šám ‘immákh.” (Bammidbar (Numbers) 11:16)

(And said A. to Moshe: “Gather to Me seventy men from the elders of Yisrael, who you know to be elders of the people and their leaders; and take them to the tent of gathering, and they shall stand there with you.”)

Vayyēṣé Mošè vaydabbér el-ha‘ám, ét dibré A.; vayyè’esóf šib‘ím íš mizziqné ha‘ám, vayyà‘améd otám sebibót ha’óhel. Vayyéred A. bè‘anán vaydabbér ēláv, vayyáṣel min-harúaḥ, ašèr ‘aláv, vayyittén ‘al-šib‘ím íš hazzekēním; vayhí, kenóaḥ ‘alēhém harúaḥ, vayyitnabbe’ú, veló yasáfu. (idem, 11:24−25)

(And went Moshe out and spoke to the people the words of A.; and he gathered seventy men from the elders of the people, and placed them around in the tent. And descended A. in the cloud and spoke to him, and (A.) took of the spirit that was on him, and gave to the seventy men of the elders; and it came to happen that the spirit rested on them and they prophesied, but they did not continue (to prophesy afterwards).)

Vayyiššá’arú šné-anaším bammàḥanè, šém há’eḥád “Eldád” vešém haššēní “Mēdád”, vattánaḥ ‘alēhèm harúaḥ, vehémma bakketubím, veló yáṣe’ú ha’óhela; vayyitnabbe’ú bammàḥanè. (idem, 11:26)

(And there remained two men in the camp – the name of the one was “Eldad” and the name of the other was “Medad” – and the spirit rested on them, and they were of the enlisted, but had not gone out to the tent; and they prophesied in the camp.)

In Mishna Sanhedrin, we learn that the smallest communal Bet Din has 3 members. This Bet Din of three deals with monetary issues and personal damages, but cannot deal with cases of potential death penalty.

Seeing the great Sanhedrin to be a meeting of three equal parties, similar to the basic Bet Din, the closest approximation to 70/3 is 23.

Three groups of 23 adds up to a total of 69. With a Nassí, the number is 70.

Hence a reason to understand the passage about the 70 zekenim to include Moshe. Moshe in his time carried extra authority, and one could say that with him being part of the seventy, he would also extend it beyond the seventy.

Later on, without the special authority of Moshe, it is reasonable to believe that the Sanhedrin was expanded with one member to avoid the even number, making a total of 71.

• 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 ( in certain cases of doubt: > 3 + 1 + 1; > 5 + 1 + 1)
• 10 + 10 + 3 = 23
• 23 + 23 + 23 + 1 = 70