Semikhah (Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s: סמיכה, "leaning [of the hands]"), also semichut (Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s: סמיכות, "ordination"), or semicha lerabbanut (Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s: סמיכה לרבנות, "rabbinical ordination") is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is undergoing the process of ordination, is sometimes of a rabbi The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic era, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. In more recent centuries, the duties of the rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian Minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis", and in 19th century within Judaism Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law Halakha — also transliterated Halocho (Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation) and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions. Although presently most functioning synagogue A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. (it might also be of interest that the word when broken down could mean, "learning together" (syn - gr. together and aghoghei gr. learning or training) rabbis hold semikhah by some rabbinical institution or academy, this was until quite recently not always required, and in fact many Haredi Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi rabbis may not be required to hold a "formal" semikhah even though they may occupy important rabbinical and leadership positions.
Classical semikhah refers to a specific type of ordination that, according to traditional Jewish teaching, traces a line of authority back to Moses Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, Lit. "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi"), is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important and the seventy elders. The line of classical semikhah seems to have died out in the fourth or fifth century CE but it is widely held that the line of Torah conferment remains unbroken. Some believe evidence exists that classical semicha was existent during the 12th century when semuchim from Lebanon and Syria were traveling to Israel in order to pass on semikhah to their students. [1] Others, such as Rav Yisroel of Shklov (1770-1839), believed it may not have been broken at all but that it continued outside of the land of Israel. Even though classical semikhah may have declined many believe in an unbroken chain of tradition and authority dating back to the time of Moshe and Yehoshua[2] [3] (See "The Unbroken Chain of Torah" below).
A third and distinct meaning of semikhah is the laying of hands upon an offering of a korban Korban or Qorban , in Judaism, is the term for a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. Such sacrifices were offered in a variety of settings by the ancient Israelites, and later by the Jewish priesthood, the Kohanim, at the Temple in Jerusalem. A Korban was usually an animal sacrifice, such as a sheep or a bull ("sacrifice Sacrifice is the religious practice of offering food, objects (typically valuables), or the lives of animals or people to the gods as an act of propitiation or worship") in the times of the Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of ancient Jewish worship. According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple acted as the figurative "footstool" of God's, see Semicha in sacrifices.
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Semikhah in the times of the Torah
According to the Hebrew Bible The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets&, Moses Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, Lit. "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi"), is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important ordained Joshua Joshua , according to the Hebrew Bible, became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses. His story is told chiefly in the books Exodus, Numbers and Joshua. According to the Bible, Joshua's name was Hoshea the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but that Moses called him Joshua, (Numbers 13:16) and that is the name by which he through semikhah. (Num 27:15-23, Deut 34:9). Moses also ordained the 70 elders (Num 11:16-25). The elders later ordained their successors in this way. Their successors in turn ordained others. This chain of hands-on semikhah continued through the time of the Second Temple The Second Temple stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE, during which time it was the center of Jewish sacrificial worship. It was the second temple in Jerusalem, built to replace the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon, to an undetermined time.
Traditionally Moses is also assumed to be the "first rabbi" of the Children of Israel The Biblical Israelites were the descendants of the Biblical patriarch Jacob, who also bore the name Israel. He is still known to most Jews as Moshe Rabbeinu ("Moses our Teacher"). Moses was also a prophet Nevi'im is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh. It falls between the Torah (teachings) and Ketuvim (writings) and is considered to be the greatest of all the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible is a term referring to the books of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh) as originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew, with some Biblical Aramaic. It is also called the Hebrew Scriptures. The term closely corresponds to contents of the Jewish Tanakh and the Protestant Old Testament (see also Judeo-Christian) and does not include the's prophets. Moses passed his leadership on to Joshua as commanded by God in the Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers or Bəmidbar (Hebrew: במדבר, literally "In the desert [of]") is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch. This book may be divided into three parts: where the subject of semikhah ("laying [of hands]" or "ordination") is first mentioned in the Torah:
- Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers or Bəmidbar (Hebrew: במדבר, literally "In the desert [of]") is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch. This book may be divided into three parts:: "Moses spoke to God, saying, 'Let the Omnipotent God of all living souls appoint a man over the community. Let him come and go before them, and let him bring them forth and lead them. Let God's community not be like sheep that have no shepherd.' God said to Moses, 'Take Joshua son of Nun, a man of spirit, and lay your hands on him'. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the entire community, and let them see you commission him. Invest him with some of your splendor so that the entire Israelite community will obey him. Let him stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall seek the decision of the Urim before God on his behalf. By this word, along with all the Israelites and the entire community shall he come and go.' Moses did as God had ordered him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the entire community. He then laid his hands on him and commissioned him as God had commanded Moses." (Num 27:15-23) *Book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy or Devarim (Hebrew: דְּבָרִים, literally "things" or "words") is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fifth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch: "Joshua son of Nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him. The Israelites therefore listened to him, doing as God had commanded Moses." (Deuteronomy 34:9)
Semikhah in the Mishnah and Talmud
Despite the name, the classical semikhah did not actually require a literal laying on of hands; the operative part of the ceremony consisted of a court of three, at least one of whom himself had semikhah, conferring the authority on the recipient.[4] Both the givers and the recipient had to be in the Land of Israel, but they did not have to be in the same place.[5] In the Mishnaic era it became the law that only someone who had semikhah could give religious and legal decisions.[6]
The title ribbi (or "rabbi") was reserved for those with semikhah. The sages of the Babylonian Jewish community had a similar religious education, but without the semikhah ceremony they were called rav. The Talmud also relates that one can obtain the title of Rabbi by those to whom he teaches or counsels.
After the failed revolution by Bar Kokhba in 132–135 CE, the Romans put down the revolt, and the emperor Hadrian Publius Aelius Hadrianus , commonly known as Hadrian (as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after his apotheosis), was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian is also a notable Stoic and Epicurean philosopher. A member of the gens Aelia, Hadrian was the third tried to put a permanent end to the Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel, the supreme legislative and religious body of the Jewish people. According to the Talmud, Hadrian decreed that anyone who gave or accepted semikhah would be killed, any city in which the ceremony took place would be razed, and all crops within a mile of the ceremony's site would be destroyed. The line of succession was saved by Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava's martyrdom: he took no other rabbis with him, and five students of the recently martyred Rabbi Akiva, to a mountain pass far from any settlement or farm, and this one Rabbi ordained all five students. These new Rabbis were: Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yehudah (ben Ila’i), Rabbi Yosi and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua – an entire generation of Torah leadership. When the Romans attacked them, Rabbi Yehuda blocked the pass with his body allowing the others to escape and became one of Judaism's ten Rabbinic Martyrs himself by being speared 300 times. Hence, semikhah is also granted from one Rabbi to a new Rabbi, without the need of two witnesses, and the above five Rabbis carried on this tradition. The footnote gives a page of Talmud in Aramaic. See Sanhedrin 14a.[7]
The exact date that the original semikhah succession ended is not certain. Many medieval authorities believed that this occurred during the reign of Hillel II, around the year 360 CE.[8] However it seems to have continued at least until 425, when Theodosius II Flavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was a Eastern Roman Emperor (408-450). He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code as well for the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople. He also presided over the outbreak of two great christological controversies executed Gamaliel VI and suppressed the Patriarchate Nāśī’ is a Hebrew title meaning prince, in Biblical Hebrew, Patriarch (of the Sanhedrin) in Mishnaic Hebrew, or president, in Modern Hebrew and Sanhedrin.[citation needed]
The formula for Semikhah
The ancient formula for Semikhah was ‘Yoreh Yoreh. Yaddin Yaddin’ (‘May he decide? He may decide! May he judge? He may judge!’); and in the early days of rabbinical Judaism any ordained teacher could ordain his students.
The unbroken chain of Torah
Classical semikhah was granted by a court of three judges (Mishnah Sanhedrin 2a), and it later required the participation of at least one who had attained this status, himself. According to Rambam (hil. Sanherin 4:3) the other two did need not be semukhim. Semikhah represents an unbroken chain of tradition and authority dating back to the time of Moshe and Yehoshua. [9] It is believed that Hashem taught the Torah The term Torah , also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: Πεντάτευχος from πεντα- penta- [five] and τεῦχος teuchos [tool, vessel, book]), refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts. A "Sefer Torah" (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, "book of Torah") or to Moshe Rabbeinu on Mt. Sinai in 1312 BCE and that since that time, the knowledge of Torah has been passed from generation to generation by the conferment of semikhah, rabbinic ordination, or the unbroken transmission of authority dating back to the time of Moshe. This unbroken chain of tradition is believed by many to have continued for over 3,300 years and continues to this day. [10] [11]
Types of Semikhah
The Talmud lists three classes of semikhah issued:[6]
- Yoreh Yoreh
- The recipient of this semikhah demonstrated sufficient education and proper judgment to be able to render halakhic Halakha — also transliterated Halocho (Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation) and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions judgments on matters of religious law as it pertains to daily life such as kashrut Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér (כָּשֵׁר), meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption by Jews according to traditional Jewish law). Food that is not in accordance with Jewish law is, nidda, and permissible or forbidden activities on Shabbos Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of sunset at or Yom Tov A Jewish holiday or festival is a day or series of days observed by Jews as a holy or secular commemoration of an important event in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov (Yiddish: yontif) or chag ("festival") or ta'anit ("fast").
- Yadin Yadin
- The recipient of this semikhah demonstrated sufficient education and proper judgment to be able to render halakhic Halakha — also transliterated Halocho (Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation) and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions 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 fourth or fifth centuries. The Geonim Geonim were the presidents of the two great rabbinical colleges of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta (Exilarch) who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands, 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. [12]
Sometime after the Black Death The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, although this view has been challenged by a number of scholars. Usually thought to have started in Central Asia, it had reached the 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 France is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th and Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state,, Ashkenazic Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish ethnic divisions 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 1st row: Maimonides • Isaac Abrabanel • Baruch Spinoza • David Nieto • Daniel Mendoza • David Ricardo , who viewed the practice as "presumptuous and arrogant", and an imitation of gentile The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible, most notably the King James Version customs (in this case, the university doctorate); eventually however this practice was adopted by the Sephardic Jewish community as well.
