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Sunday, January 06, 2008

Happiness of the 28th of Teves

Today is a festive day according to Megillas Taanis. It is the day that the Sanhedrin was restored to the Rabbis who believed in the authority of the Oral Law.

It seems that for quite a long period of history, during the Second Temple, the Saducees controlled Judaism, converted the King to their way of thinking, and killed or expelled the Rabbis who believed in the Oral Law. Normative Judaism was at threat of being lost completely. The Oral Law that could be traced back to Moshe and Mount Sinai was about to be lost to the Saducees who (like the Karaites later in history) denied its validity.

Yehoshua ben Perachia fled to Alexandria in Egypt with some of his students to avoid being killed. Only Shimon ben Shetach remained under the protection of his sister, the Queen.

Interestingly the downfall of the Saducees was the fact that they Written Torah didn’t provide answers to all the questions that were asked. They were undone because they were forced to acknowledge the need for an Oral Law. And the irony is that it was Shimon ben Shetach, the leader of authentic Judaism, who believed in the Oral Law, who was able to bring proofs for everything from the Written Torah!

This is the wording of <a href="http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/toshba/makor/megilat-2.htm" title="Megillas Taanis">Megillas Taanis</a>:

<blockquote>בעשרים ושמונה בטבת ישבה הכנסת על הדין

יום שנסתלקה סנהדרין של צדוקים וישבה סנהדרין של ישראל עשאוהו יום טוב.

מפני שהיו הצדוקין יושבין בסנהדרין ינאי המלך, ושלמינון המלכה יושבת אצלו, ולא אחד מישראל יושב עמהם חוץ משמעון בן שטח.

והיו שואלין תשובות והלכות, ולא היו יודעין להביא ראיה מן התורה.

אמר להם שמעון בן שטח: כל מי שהוא יודע להביא ראיה מן התורה כשר לישב בסנהדרין.

פעם אחת נפל דבר של מעשה ביניהם ולא היו יודעים להביא ראיה מן התורה אלא אחד שהיה מפטפט כנגדו, ואומר תן לי זמן ולמחר אשוב.

נתן לו זמן. הלך וישב לו בינו לבין עצמו, ואינו יכול להביא ראיה מן התורה.

למחר נתביש לבא ולישב בסנהדרין, והעמיד שמעון בן שטח אחד מן התלמידים והושיבו במקומו.

אמר להם: אין פוחתין בסנהדרין משבעים ואחד.

וכך עשה להם בכל יום ויום, עד שנסתלקו כלם וישבה סנהדרין של ישראל.

</blockquote>

<blockquote>On the 28th of Teves the Kinesses (Sanhedrin) was properly constituted.

The Saducees sat in the Sanhedrin of King Yannai (who was a Saducee) and his wife, Shalminon (Shlomtzion), sat with him. There was nobody of Israel in the Sanhedrin except for Shimon ben Shetach (who was Shlomtzion’s brother). They would ask questions and laws, and they were unable to bring proofs from the Torah. Shimon ben Shetach announced that only someone who is able to bring a proof from the Torah is fitting to sit on the Sanhedrin.

One time a halachic issue arose, and they were unable to bring a proof from the Torah. One of their number was claiming that he needed more time to find a proof from the Torah. He asked for 24 hours to find the answer.

They gave him 24 hours, and he went and sat by himself, but was unable to bring a proof from the Torah. The next day he was too embarrassed to return to the Sanhedrin. Shimon ben Shetach replaced him with an Israelite, saying that the Sanhedrin cannot have less than 71 members.

They continued doing this every day until all the Saducees were removed and the Sanhedrin consisted entirely of Isralites.

The day that the Sanhedrin of Saducees was removed and replaced with a Sanhedrin of Israel (followers of Rabbinic tradition) was made into a festive day.

</blockquote>

May we merit to once again see the authority returned to its authentic source, and may the decisions that affect all of Klal Yisrael be made by those who believe in the Torah and Israel.