Language:
English
Year of publication:
2023
Titel der Quelle:
Review of Rabbinic Judaism - Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
Angaben zur Quelle:
26,2 (2023) 194-211
Keywords:
Hakohen, Aharon Mendel ben Natan,
;
Hazan, Elija Bechor,
;
Ha-Cohen, Mordecaį,
;
Sanhedrin
;
Rabbis Ordination
;
History
Abstract:
Before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Rabbi Aharon Mendel HaKohen indefatigably promoted a program of reconvening the Sanhedrin and resuming semikha – the historical form of rabbinical ordination that entailed “laying of hands.” Holding a rabbinical post in Cairo, he observed a diminishing status of the community rabbi, caused, he thought, by the growing Zionist idea. To restore rabbinic power, he wished to establish an association of rabbis that would serve as a Jewish authority for the election of the Sanhedrin and the resumption of semikha. By examining Rabbi Mendel’s view, along with those of other rabbis of his age, including Rabbi Mordechai HaKohen and Rabbi Eliyahu Bechor Chazan, this article provides an important perspective on a central issue of the period of the emergence and growth of Zionist ideology.
DOI:
10.1163/15700704-12341411
URL:
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