THE NESIIM, THE TANNAIM AND THE SANHEDRIN
DURING THE TANNAITIC PERIOD


During the Hellenistic Period (308 BCE – 60 BCE) and the Roman Period (60 BCE – 317 CE) in the Land of Israel, the leadership of the sages was organized around a “Nasi” (=President, i.e. of the Sanhedrin, or High Court) and an “Av Beit Din” (=Chief Justice). The first sets of leaders in this format are mentioned in the first chapter of Mishnah Pirkei Avot, and are referred to as the “zugot,” or “pairs.” The last of the pairs is Hillel (Nasi) and Shammai (Av Beit Din), who served in the last half of the first century before the common era. Hillel’s presidency became hereditary, and his descendents maintained the dynasty until the closing of the Sanhedrin at the beginning of the fifth century. For study of the Tannaitic period, six nesiim are relevant, in chronological order: Hillel, Gamaliel I, Shimon b. Gamaliel I (from the period when the Sanhedrin was in the Temple and in the city of Jerusalem, until its destruction), Gamaliel II (from the period of the Sanhedrin in Yavneh), Shimon b. Gamaliel II (from the periods of the Sanhedrin in Yavneh and the Galil, Yehuda (HaNasi, editor of Mishnah, from the period of the Sanhedrin in the Galil). Before the presidency of Gamaliel II, the dynasty was interrupted for a number of years in which the Sanhedrin was being moved and re-established in Yavneh.

The Sanhedrin was forced to move about in order to escape Roman persecution throughout the Tannaitic period. The rightful place of the High Court was in a special chamber in the southern flank of the Temple on Mount Moriah, but during the first half of the first century CE the Sanhedrin was on the move – from the Temple Mount to the city of Jerusalem, then to Yavneh when the Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed (70 CE), then to the Galil after the Bar Kochba rebellion, the Sanhedrin was in Usha (135 CE), Shefaram, Beit She’arim, Zippori, and finally Tiberias until its closure. The following table matches the six nesiim with the locations of the Sanhedrin:

Hillel Temple Mount
Gamaliel I Temple Mount/Jerusalem
Shimon I Jerusalem
(Yochanan ben Zakkai) Yavneh
Gamaliel II Yavneh
Shimon II Usha, Shefaram, Beit Shearim
Yehuda Zippori

All Tannaim can be dated and grouped according to the above, that is, with which Nasi they were active, and in the period of which Sanhedrin. All told, over one hundred and fifty Tannaim are mentioned in Mishnah, but the vast majority are mentioned infrequently. Knowledge of twenty Tannaim and their periods resolve nearly eighty per cent of all mishnayot. In addition, major events can be catalogued according to this structure as well. This basic historical framework allows us to identify in which periods the various opinions in Mishnah were expressed, and helps us understand the context of many opinions and developments in Halachah. For instance, many halachot mentioned in Mishnah were adaptations of old halachot to the new reality after the destruction of the Temple and the uprooting of communities and rabbinical courts.

When we are familiar with the generations of the Nesiim, the Tannaim, the events of their lives and their periods, and the movements of the Sanhedrin, we are ready to develop one of the most important skills in Mishnah study – recognizing and understanding layers in Mishnah.

For more study, please see:

· Learning Mishnah According to Revadim
· Layers in the Mishnah

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