Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/193

147 —

i

ImrntMlliitrly ni'.vt to Ilie president the following onliT of rank soon tif tho>(* are reslie iHttHMIi'Nt row, fonslsllng of ton inm three ))f them are eulle^l "hiilierMii liisso<-iates]. kallah Kaeh of the seven reshe kallah has under him ten menealled 'allntlm [mastei-s]. The seventy alliiOin foi-m the Procedure at Sanhedrin, and are willed behind the abovementioned rii-st ripw, in seven rows, their faees the Kallah. belnn Inrned toward the |ii-sldent. Behind them are seated, withrtut speeial locations, the I'emalniuj? member* of the aeademv and the ]Ls.senihled dlsel[)les. " The e.xamination proeeeds In this wise They that sit in the first row recite aloud the subject-matter, while the membei-s of When they reach a pasllie reiiuilnlntf ntws listen In silence. 8a*fe that recpilres discussion they debate It airi<»ng themselves, the head silently takinp note of the suliject ipf discussion. Then the head himself let-tures uimhi the treatise under considerathm. and adds an e.pnly iiy the scholiir named Ity Uw head. The head adds his own exposition, and when everylhiiiL' has been made



'



'



1

clear one of iliose in lli<* Ili-st row arises and delhei's an addres.s. Intended for llie whole as.sembly, summint;^ up the arguments on the ihemi- Ihey have been i-onsiderlng. "in the fouilh week of the kallah-month the members of the Siinhedrin, as well as the other- disclpl.-s. arc examined individually by the head, to proe ihcii- kiiouicilL'c and capacity. ,

,

.

Whoever is shown to have Insulllilentlv pii'pared himself is reproved by the head, ami thivalened wilh the withdrawal of the stipend appropriated for his suhsisieuce, . . The questions that have lieen n-eelved fnim various i|uarters are alsodlscussed at th<!se kallah assi-iohlies for Ilnal solution. The head listens to the opinions of ihose present ami formulates the decision, which Is immediately vviiiien d<»wn. At the end of the month these collective answers (resjionsaj are read aloud to the asaeinbly, and signed by the head.".

niiir.TodUAPitY: L(tliriif Shrrira

Omm:

Zacuto, Sc fc i rii(Jratz, fiCvh. ./. Jmi, ii, -M ed., v. idem, Hetrans., ill. Mitt; Is. Ilalivy. linnil lia-Itixhnnim, ill. X'14-iSI: Wilss, Ixir. ill. 42.14.5; Iv. see Index, p. .301; Ad. hitfiii:

«m;M:

W

brew

Si'hwarA llniUsclniUn J(i/ir/i. /.

in I'nliMiiin uinl Uahi/lnnii

JIht. (lexch. tiwl

IM.

...

l.silil.

ACADEMIES IN PALESTINE: to

ii,

„

in

According

llnsluiydh (a Cdllcctiir of Timiiaile tradiliuns. wlio lived in C'a'.s;iiva in llic first lialf (jf llie lliird ci'iilurv). there existed in ,Jerunil (lit iiuiilcil

sideiii

4H0

tnnlitiiPM of

syiia.ifi lilies, nil

ol'

which

were destroyed

with the Temple. Each of these syna,irosed of the scribes (Slices and teachers), whose |iu|iils, having outgrown the .schools, ijallicred around thctn for furtlicr instruction ami were callcil. therefore, talviiile hithnniim ("disciples of (he wise"). Theri' is, however, no certain inforniatioii as tn tlic oriranization of this iiislilule, iw of the relaliidi in which it stood to Hie (Jriiil Sanhedrin. whose Pharisee mem bcrs certainly belonoeil lo it. The mosi importaiil details of its activity arc alTorded by the accounts concernino the schools ("ludises") of IIiii.ki. and SllAMM.vi, whose colli rovcrsiesiini ilebales belonj; to the last century of the period of Ihe Second Temple, and relate not caily to the IlalaUah, but also to i(Ueslioiis of liibli<al exegesis and reliLrioiis philosophy. For cMimplc, il is .-ijiid llnil the schools of Slmmnmi and Millel occiipic'd two and a half years in discussiiii; the (|UcslicMi wlielher il had becii helily discrcdiled. their

—

I

ler for

The

man

not lo have been cnaled (Er. V.Vi). ileslniclion of .lerusalem put as abrupt

an end to the disputes of llic schoofs as it did lo llic contests between poljlical imrties. Il was tlii'U that R disciple

of Millel, the venerable .Ioiianan

iikx

Zakkai, founded a new lionic for .lewish I,aw in J.MiNKil (,IMM), and thus evoked ii new intellcc tuiil life from Hie ruins of a fallen political exist ciicc.

Academies in Babylonia Academies in Palestine

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

147

The

luted itstlf

.laliucli, which at on<-c const siictfssor of tin- Circat Sunlicdiin of

college at llif

by )nitting into practise the ordiniinces body as far as was uccesstiry and practic;ible, attracted all those who had csJabneh, eapcd the national catastrophe and Temporary who had become prominent by their Center of character and Ihcir learning. '^Morcthe Jewish over, it rearcil a new generation of Nation. similarly gifted men, whose task it becanie to overcome the evil results of

Jidiisiilcin

of that

—

another dire catastrophe the unfortunate liar Kipklia w;ir wilh its melancholy ending. During

still

till'

interv;il

between these two disisters

(.")(>-117),

more accurately,

or,

under

until the "War of Quietus" Trajan, the schoipl at .Jabneh was the recog-

nized tribunal that gathered the traditions of llie past and contirmed them; that ruled and ri'gulaled existing conditions; and that sowed the seeds for future development. Next to its founder, it owed its splendor and its undis|>uted supremacy es|)ecially to the energetic Gamaliel, a great-grandson of Hillel, called (Jamai.iki, II., or Gamaliel of .Tabneh, in order lo distinguish him from his grandfather, Gamaliel I. To him Hocked the jnipils of .lohiiiaiii ben Zakkai and other masters and students of the

Eaw and

(pf

Biblical interpretation.

Though some

—

taught and labored in other places Eliezer ben llyrcanusin Eydda .Joshua ben llanaiiiah in liekiin; Islimael ben Elislia in Refar Aziz, .kiba in Hine Henik; JIananiah (Il.iiiinii) ben Teradyon in Siknin .labncli remained the center; and in "the vineyanr' of .labneli, as they called llieir place of meeting, IIk'V used to assemble for .ioint action. In the fertile ground of the .Iiibneh Aeademv Ihe roots of the literature of tradition— Midrash and of

llicin



—

>Iislinah.

and

Talmud and llaggadali— were iKMirishecl There, too, the way was paved

sirengllieiied.

for ;i systematic lie:itmint of Ilalakali and exegesis. In .labneli were held ihe decisive debates upon the canonicily of ccrt;iin IJiblical books; lliere Ihe praverlituigy received its permanent form and there, prcpbably, was edited the Targum on the Pentateuch, which became the foundation for the later Targum called after Onkclos. It was .labneh that inspired and sanctioned the new Greek version of Ihenible lliat of .Vkylas (.Viiuila). The evcnisthat preceded and fipllowed Ihe greal civil revolution under Har Kokba (from Ihe year 117 lo about 14(1) resulted in the decay and dealli of the school at .labneli. According to inidilion (K. II. ;!l/>), the Sanhedrin was removed from .labneli lo I'sha, from I'sha liiick to .labneli, aiul a second lime from Jabneh lo I'slm, This linal setllcmcnl in I'sha in<li(iites Ihe iiltimato spirilual supremacy of Galilee over Palestinian .Imlea, the latter having become doJudaism ppppulated by the war of Hadrian. Restored. I --ha ninained foralong time the seat of Uie academy; its imporlance being due lollie pupils ipf .Vkiba. one of whom, .ludah ben

llai,

had

his

home

in I'sha.

Here was undertaken

great work of Ihe lesloralioii of Palestinian liidaism iiflcr its disinlegration under Hadrian. The study of the Law nourished anew; anil Simon, a son of Gamalii'l, was invisted with Hie rank that had been his falher's in .labneli. Willi him Ihe rank of palriiirch became liercdilary in Ihe house of llilIcl, and Ihe .si'at of liie academy was maile idcnlical with that of the palriiirch. In Ihe time of Simon ben Oiunnllel the s<'at of the Sanhedrin was freipiently changed; its iii-st move being from I'sha lo Shefarain (Ihe modern Slief'a '. ir, a village about twelve miles ea.st ward of Haifa); llicnce, under Simon's .son and successor, .ludah I., lo Itet Shearim; and tlnally to SkI'I'lioms tZipporin). the miHlern Scfooiieli, where a lln'