The av beit din ( Hebrew : אָב בֵּית דִּין , romanized : ʾāḇ bēṯ din , lit. 'chief of the court, chief justice'), abbreviated abd ( אב״ד avad ), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period and served as an assistant to the nasi . The av beit din was known as the "Master of the Court;" he was considered the most learned and important of these seventy members.
9-683: Menahem the Essene served as av beit din in the 1st century BCE before abdicating to "serve the King" in 20 BCE. The House of Shammai attained complete ascendency over the Sanhedrin from 9 CE until Gamaliel became nasi in 30 CE. The post of av beit din was eventually filled since the Babylonian Talmud states that Joshua ben Hananiah was the av beit din in Baba Kamma 74b and Nathan
18-522: A dispute among the sages over where Menahem "went forth [out]" to. Abaye argues that "He went forth [out] into evil courses [culture]", while Rava argues "He went forth [out] to the King's service". The Talmud then quotes a baraita supporting Rava's opinion: "Thus it is also taught: Menahem went forth [out] to the King's service, and there went forth [out] with him eighty pairs of disciples dressed in silk [regally]". The Jerusalem Talmud cites an additional opinion, that Menahem agreed to be appointed to
27-780: A ministration position in order to revoke Governmental predestinations against Torah studying. The "Menahem" recorded in the Mishnah is thought to be the same as the one recounted in Josephus ' Antiquities of the Jews , in which a story is told about a Menahem of the Essenes ' sect. According to Josephus, when Menahem saw young Herod the Great going to school, he clapped him on the back and addressed him as king, announcing to him that he would reign successfully, despite Herod not being in
36-446: Is higher than that of rosh beit din , the rankings are sometimes reversed. The London Beth Din specifically addresses this, saying: "The Chief Rabbi formally holds the title of Av Beth Din" but that "Due to his extensive workload as well as convention of his office" he's "not generally personally involved;" the rosh beth din runs the court. The holder of the title rosh beth din (Hebrew: ראש בית דין , lit. 'Head of
45-481: Is often used as an honorific for the presiding rabbi of a beth din "rabbinical court", who is typically the salaried rabbi of the local Jewish community and usually a posek or "decisor" of Halakha . It is also abbreviated as avad when it is after the name of the Chief Rabbi of a national Jewish community. It can also refer to the most senior member of the court. Although the title av beit din historically
54-584: The Babylonian was av beit din in Horayot 13b in the Babylonian Talmud . The Jerusalem Talmud tells the story of how Gamaliel II was deposed and Eleazar ben Azariah replaced him as Nasi. After Gamaliel was reinstated, Eleazar ben Azariah was made av beit din. The parallel story in the Babylonian Talmud has Eleazar ben Azariah remaining as a co-nasi with Gamaliel. In modern times the title
63-520: The Court';, abbreviated ראב״ד ravad ) is often the person to whom outsiders look for rulings. In 1934, Yehezkel Abramsky was given this title. Federation of Synagogues ' Yisroel Yaakov Lichtenstein used this title when he published a major response in 2009, even though he was ABD . In smaller communities, the avad also serves as the ravad . Menahem the Essene Menahem
72-533: The Essene ( Hebrew : מנחם ) was a Jewish tanna sage living during the era of the Zugot (lit. "pairs"). As such, he was "paired" with Hillel the Elder and served as Av Beit Din . The Mishnah , states that he "went forth [out]", and as a result of that he was replaced by Shammai , who became from that point on the zug of Hillel the Elder. He was contemporary with Herod the Great . The Babylonian Talmud cites
81-411: The line of the royal dynasty. When Herod became king, he asked Menahem how long his reign would be. Initially, Menahem didn't reply, and Herod urged him "Would my reign last ten years?". Menahem replied that Herod would reign at least 30 years, but did not specify the exact number. Herod was pleased with Menahem's answer and dismissed him with a clasp of the hand and thenceforth bestowed special honors upon
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