(, "leaning [of the hands]"), also
(, "
ordination"), or
(, "rabbinical ordination") is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the
ordination of a
rabbi within
Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in
Jewish law. Although presently most functioning
synagogue rabbis hold
by some rabbinical institution or academy, this was until quite recently not always required, and in fact many
Haredi rabbis may not be required to hold a "formal"
even though they may occupy important rabbinical and leadership positions.
Classical refers to a specific type of ordination that, according to traditional Jewish teaching, traces a line of authority back to Moses and the seventy elders. The line of classical seems to have died out in the 4th or 5th century CE but it is widely held that the line of Torah conferment remains unbroken. Some believe evidence exists that classical was existent during the 12th century when from Lebanon and Syria were traveling to Israel in order to pass on to their students.
Types of Semikhah
The Talmud lists three classes of
semikhah issued:
;
Yoreh Yoreh:The recipient of this
semikhah demonstrated sufficient education and proper judgment to be able to render
halakhic judgments on matters of religious law as it pertains to daily life such as
kashrut,
nidda, and permissible or forbidden activities on
Shabbos or
Yom Tov.
;
Yadin Yadin:The recipient of this
semikhah demonstrated sufficient education and proper judgment to be able to render
halakhic judgments on matters of religious law as it pertains to monetary and property disputes.
;
Yatir Bechorot Yatir:The recipient of this
semikhah demonstrated sufficient education and proper judgment to determine the ritual status of firstborn animals that have developed a blemish. This degree required extensive veterinary knowledge.
While the first two classes are still issued today, the last one is not.
Post-Talmudic Semikhah
The decline of classical semikhah
The original line of succession seems to have died out in the 4th or 5th centuries. The
Geonim, early medieval Jewish sages of Babylon, did not possess semikhah, and did not use the title "rabbi". They were formally known as "rav" and were entrusted with authority to make legal and religious decisions.
Some believe that classical semikhah may have even survived until the 12th century when semuchim from Lebanon and Syria were traveling to Israel in order to pass on semicha to their students.
Sometime after the Black Death struck Europe, the Jewish community was influenced by the formal issuing of diplomas conferred by European Christian universities. In the areas today known as France and Germany, Ashkenazic Jews began using the term semikhah again, this time using it to refer to a formal "diploma" conferred by a teacher on his pupil, entitling the pupil to be called Mori (my teacher). This practice was at first frowned upon by Sephardi Jews, who viewed the practice as "presumptuous and arrogant", and an imitation of gentile customs (in this case, the university doctorate); eventually however this practice was adopted by the Sephardic Jewish community as well.
===Attempts to revive classical semikhah===
Maimonides, in his Mishneh Torah, rules that "if all the sages In Israel would unanimously agree to appoint and ordain judges, then these new ordinants would possess the full authority of the original ordained judges" (Hilchoth Sanhedrin 4:11). His code of law was accepted as normative by the majority of Jewish scholars since that time, though this section was mainly viewed as theoretical, especially because he concludes that "the matter needs deciding". The Sanhedrin of Rabbi Jacob Berab purported to enact this into practical law, changing minor details. However, since the legal existence of this Sanhedrin depends on the validity of Maimonides' view, the question is circular.
Attempt by Rabbi Jacob Berab, 1538
In 1538 Rabbi
Jacob Berab of
Safed,
Land of Israel, attempted to restore the traditional form of Semikhah. His goal was to unify the scattered Jewish communities through the re-establishment of the
Sanhedrin. At his prompting, 25 rabbis from the land of Israel convened; they ordained Jacob Berab as their "
Chief rabbi". Berab then conferred semikhah through a laying on of hands to four rabbis, including
Joseph Caro, who was later to become the author of the
Shulchan Aruch, widely viewed as the most important code of Jewish law from the 17th century onwards. Joseph Caro in turn ordained Rabbi
Moshe Alshich, who in turn ordained Rabbi
Hayyim Vital.
Berab made an error in not first obtaining the approval of the chief rabbis in Jerusalem, which led to an objection to having a Sanhedrin at that time. One should note that this was not an objection to the semikhah, but to reinstituting a Sanhedrin. Levi ibn Habib, the chief rabbi in Jerusalem, wrote that when the nascent Sanhedrin took the authority of a Sanhedrin upon itself, it had to fix the calendar immediately. However, by delaying in this matter, it invalidated itself. Rabbi David ibn abi Zimra (Radvaz) of Egypt was consulted, but when Berab died in 1542 the renewed form of semikhah gradually ground to a halt.
Attempt by Rabbi Yisroel Shklover, 1830
In the 1830s, Rav
Yisroel of Shklov, one of the leading disciples of the
Vilna Gaon who had settled in Jerusalem, made another attempt to restart semikhah. Rav Yisroel was interested in organizing a
Sanhedrin, but he accepted the ruling of
Levi ibn Habib and
David ibn abi Zimra that we cannot create semikhah by ourselves.
At the time the Turkish Empire was crumbling, and losing wars against Russia, Prussia, Austria and others. In attempt to modernize, the Turkish Empire opened itself up to more and more Western "advisors". For the first time the Arabian Peninsula and the Yemen was opened up to westerners. Scientists and Sociologists were convinced that in the Yemen lay communities that had been cut off and isolated from the western world for centuries. At the time, leading European scientific journals seriously considered that the remnants of the "Ten Tribes" would actually be found in the Yemen.
Rav Yisroel of Shklov, influenced both by this rush of scientific thought and interested in utilizing a suggestion of the Radvaz of receiving semikhah from one of the "Ten Tribes", specifically Reuven and Gad. Rav Yisroel charted out where he thought the Bnei Reuven were probably located, and sent an emissary, Rav Pinchas Baruch, to locate them (Sefer Halikutim to the Shabsei Frankel edition of Rambam, Hilchos Sanhedrin 4:11). Unfortunately, Rav Baruch did not succeed in locating the shevet of Reuven and he was either killed or died while attending to the medical needs of poor Yemenite villagers.
An interesting point of Jewish Law arises in that Rav Yisroel raised the question how could the Tribe of Reuven have kept the semikhah alive, since they were outside the Land of Israel and the semikhah can be granted only in Land of Israel. He answered that since the Bnei Reuven had been distant from the rest of Klal Yisroel before this ruling had been accepted, there is no reason to assume that they accepted this ruling, and there was a chance that they were still keeping the institution of semikhah alive.
Attempt by Rabbi Aharon Mendel haCohen, 1901
Rabbi Mendel collected the approval of approximately 500 leading Rabbis in favor of the renewal of Semikhah according to the view of
Maimonides. His involvement in the founding of
Agudath Israel and the intervening of
World War I distracted him from implementing this plan.
Attempt by Rabbi Zvi Kovsker, 1940
Rabbi
Zvi Kovsker came to Israel from Soviet Russia. Seeing the condition of Jews in the years leading up to
World War II, he undertook an effort to contact and work with many Rabbinic leaders in Israel towards getting their approval for the renewal of Semikhah, and the reestablishment of a Sanhedrin, as an authentic government for the Jewish people (this was before the establishment of the State of Israel).
Attempt by Rabbi Yehudah Leib Maimon, 1949
In 1948, with the establishment of the modern
State of Israel, the idea of restoring the traditional form of
semikhah and reestablishing a new "
Sanhedrin" became popular among some within the
religious Zionist community. Rabbi
Yehuda Leib Maimon, Israel's first minister of religious affairs, promoted this idea. A small number of religious Zionist rabbis of
Modern Orthodox Judaism's
Rabbinical Council of America voiced support for this idea; some rabbis within
Conservative Judaism entertained the idea as a potentially positive development. However, most secular Jews, most
Haredim, and most non-Orthodox Jews did not approve of this goal. Israel's Chief Ashkenazic rabbi at the time,
Isaac Herzog, was hesitant to support this goal, and the idea eventually died away.
Attempt in Israel in 2004
On October 13, 2004, a group of orthodox rabbis of various streams met in
Tiberias and declared itself a re-established Sanhedrin. The
basis of re-establishing semikhah had been made into halakha by Rabbi
Jacob Berab's Sanhedrin as is recorded by Rabbi
Yosef Karo (author of
Shulchan Aruch). The group in Tiberias intended to learn from the mistakes of
Jacob Berab in 1538 by contacting rabbis all over Israel instead of only local rabbis.
An election was held, as required by halakha. Seven hundred rabbis were contacted either in person or in writing and Rabbi
Moshe Halberstam of the
Edah Charedis was the first to receive semikhah after Rabbis
Ovadiah Yosef and
Yosef Shalom Eliashiv found him fit for this honour, although he was too old to actually serve as a
judge. He then ordained Rabbi
Dov Levanoni, who ordained some more rabbis..
See also
Semicha in sacrifices
Chief Rabbinate of Israel: Semicha
Notes
Further reading
Levitas, Isaac, Aaron Rothkoff, and Pamela Nadell: Semikhah. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica. Eds. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 18. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. p. 274-279.
Julius Newman: Semikhah (ordination). A study of its origin, history, and function in Rabbinic literature. Manchester University Press. Manchester 1950.
External links
Rabbi Yaakov Beirav's attempt to re-establish a Sanhedrin in 1538
130 "Documented" "Generations" of Semicha, from Mt. Sinai to the present
Curriculum for the Semikhah Tests of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Category:Hebrew words and phrases
Category:Jewish law and rituals
Category:Jewish courts and civil law
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