Palestinian rabbis
The history of Palestinian rabbis encompasses the Israelites from the Anshi Knesses HaGedola period up until modern times, but most significantly refers to the early Jewish sages who dwelled in the Holy Land and compiled the Mishna and its later commentary, the Jerusalem Talmud.
During the Talmudic and later Geonim period, Palestinian rabbis exerted influence over Syria and Egypt, whilst the authorities in Babylonia had held sway over the Jews of Iraq and Iran.
[10][11] According to recent scholarship, any influence wielded by the Palestinian rabbis during the second century was not due to an established hierarchical position, as they lacked institutionalised power: no synagogues or other communal institutions were under their control.
[12] While being approached for advice and guidance, most of the Palestinian rabbis never held any official authority and instead engaged in teaching a select group of students.
This changed with the establishment of the Sanhedrin in the Galilee, called the "Great Patriarchate", towards the end of the second century, when some rabbis found employment at its various institutions.
[13] From the third century, the circumstances of rabbis continued to change, with many taking on formal positions as communal preachers, scribes, or beth din judges.
[3][20] A further indication of the Palestinian rabbis' effort to strengthen bonds with the commoners is revealed by their willingness to approach the wealthy among them for financial support.
[21] Other Palestinian rabbis were engaged in a range of livelihoods, including occupations as scribes, physicians, merchants, artisans, blacksmiths, builders and shoemakers.
From the middle of the ninth century onwards, the rabbis of Palestine had established a structured central legalistic body representing the Jewish community.
They also fixed the division of the Hebrew Bible, called the Masoretic Text (abbreviated as 𝕸), still regarded as authoritative today.
The centres of Masoretic activity in Palestine developed along the lines of the Western or Palestinian tradition, distinguishable from the textual and vocalization systems that evolved in Babylonia.
A rabbi from Safed, Jacob Berab, believed the time was ripe to reintroduce the semikhah "ordination" tradition, which would create for the Jews a recognised central authority on subjects relating to the comprehension and interpretation of the Torah.
Modelled on the Sanhedrin, the requirement for ordination was a necessity but proved an obstacle, as the procedure had fallen into disuse in the fourth century.
However, circumstances changed when Berab ordained the chief rabbi at Jerusalem, Levi ben Jacob ibn Habib, who had for many years been his opponent.
He wrote to the scholars of Safed, explaining his objections to their proceeding, which he considered illegal, and asserting that their action was a threat to rabbinical Judaism because a new Sanhedrin might use its authority to alter the calendar.
A more serious setback occurred when it became apparent that the Turkish authorities regarded the ordination of rabbis as the first step toward the restoration of the Jewish state.
Palestinian scholars of this period whose Responsa merit mention are: Joseph Karo's comprehensive guide to Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, was considered so authoritative that the variant customs of German-Polish Jewry were merely added as supplement glosses.
[36] The town was also a centre of Jewish mysticism, notable kabbalists included Moses Cordovero and the German-born Naphtali Hertz ben Jacob Elhanan.
20th-century Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, cites 17th-century Moses ibn Habib in his halachic work on medical ethics.
[46] In the early 1820s, Palestinian rabbis on missions to Amsterdam, London and New York established charitable societies that solicited funds for Jewish communities in the Holy Land.
[50] In 1839, Palestinian rabbis concerned with the economic problems of their communities, petitioned philanthropist Moses Montefiore for assistance in helping them develop the land for agricultural production.
"First to Zion"), and Moshe ben Yonatan Galante, one of the leading Talmudic scholars in Jerusalem who died in 1689, was the first chief rabbi officially recognised by the Ottoman sultan.
[55] While Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld opposed the idea because it included laymen and secularists,[56] Abraham Isaac Kook responded with great enthusiasm.
He saw it as an opportunity to introduce order and discipline into society[57] and also viewed the establishment of the Palestinian Rabbinate as the fulfilment of the prophetic promise.
