Revive the wisdom of Jerusalem and rekindle the deeper meaning of Israel
From Jerusalem, Beith David works to make known a forgotten key for our generation: the need for a collective wisdom capable of illuminating Israel, overcoming its divisions and accompanying it towards its vocation among the nations.
“Israel exists. But has it become what it is called to be?”
Returning to the land and restoring Israel’s sovereignty are an immense achievement. But they do not yet answer all the questions of our generation.
How can we recover deep unity without erasing our differences? How can justice, responsibility and meaning become shared reference points? And how, from Jerusalem, can we recover a wisdom capable of illuminating Israel’s collective choices?
For nearly two thousand years, Israel preserved the Torah in exile with remarkable faithfulness. What remains today is to recover the conditions for a collective wisdom capable of connecting its different streams and illuminating its national life.
A question already raised by the prophets
« Israel has cast off that which is good; the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not from Me; they have made princes, and I knew it not; of their silver and their gold have they made themselves idols, that they may be cut off. »
Hosea 8:3–4
01
Moral clarity
Recovering a voice able to distinguish what is just, true and enduring.
02
Deep unity
Coming together without erasing differences, around a shared and higher vocation.
03
Central wisdom
Learning anew to seek direction rooted in the Torah and carried by sages.
Our reason for being
Why Beith David?
Beith David was born in Jerusalem as an initiative to awaken an essential collective awareness: of Israel’s vocation, of Jerusalem’s true role and of the need for a wisdom capable of illuminating our generation, particularly at a time when many reference points are fading and upheavals are accelerating.
Its aim is to make these questions known as widely as possible: to religious and non-religious people, believers and sceptics, in Israel and among the nations, and to all who sincerely seek truth, Israel’s renewal and a deeper understanding of its vocation in the world.
At the heart of Beith David is a conviction: Israel is missing a fundamental institution of its history — the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem — and its restoration is one of the great questions of our generation.
For Israel’s true strength does not lie only in its material power. “The L-rd will give strength unto His people; the L-rd will bless His people with peace” (Psalms 29:11), and our Sages teach: “There is no strength but Torah.”
A Torah that, far from having anything to fear from the contemporary world, can be heard today with renewed strength in the face of the great questions of science, consciousness, the origin of life, history and the discoveries of our time. Not to withdraw into itself, but to speak the language of the world with confidence, depth, intelligence and truth.
It is not about imposing a way of living or believing, nor about making Israel uniform. It is about recovering a collective wisdom capable of illuminating, advising and serving the whole people, above political and social divides — in the service of justice, truth, the common good, the protection of the most vulnerable and a genuinely better society.
From vision to action
What Beith David undertakes
I
Awaken
Give rise to a shared aspiration in the heart of the people of Israel.
II
Unite
Nurture a shared will across Israel’s different perspectives.
III
Prepare
Allow this aspiration to mature through reflection, dialogue and the drawing together of hearts.
IV
Build
Undertake, together with the sages, the concrete work towards re-establishing the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem.
“It is not study that is the essential thing, but action.”
A wisdom at the service of all Israel, without exception
Beith David does not seek to make Israel “orthodox,” nor to impose any practice or belief on anyone.
Religious, traditional, non-religious, believers, skeptics or seekers: all are part of Israel, and each deserves to be regarded with respect and with love.
To serve the people, not to make use of it.
To awaken consciences, not to coerce them.
Israel lacks neither rabbanim, nor houses of study, nor teachings of Torah. An immense wisdom is already present within the Jewish people. What seems to be missing today is of a different nature: a place of shared wisdom, capable of linking the depths of Torah to the great collective questions of Israel and speaking to the whole people in its diversity.
Our aspiration is therefore not to add one more teaching to those that already exist, but to help create the conditions for recognizing, bringing closer and gathering the great spiritual figures of our generation: those whose Torah, depth and love of Israel can be heard well beyond their own community.
With the help of G-d, the conditions for a true assembly of sages and tsadikim at the service of all Israel could thus gradually mature: not to replace the rabbanim, the masters of Torah or existing institutions, but to allow a collective wisdom to emerge once again, capable of linking Torah to the great shared responsibilities and to Israel’s vocation.
Such an assembly could, however, only find its full meaning in living connection with the people: not above it, but attentive to its reality, its wounds, its aspirations and to what deeply unites its different components. It is in this meeting between the wisdom of the great masters and the heart of Israel that, with time and the help of G-d, the spirit of an institution such as the Great Sanhedrin could be reborn: a body of Torah and shared wisdom recognized not by coercion, but because it would truly know how to illuminate, unite and serve the people.
In this spirit, Rav Yitzchak Guinsburgh teaches the necessity of finding once again figures of a spiritual stature comparable to that of the great disciples of the Baal Shem Tov: men whose depth in Torah is accompanied by humility, compassion and a gaze capable of revealing the good present in each person.
Tsadikim who do not seek to dominate souls, but to elevate them; who know how to listen before speaking, to bring people closer without coercion, to unite without erasing differences; men whose Torah, kindness and inner stature naturally inspire hearts and turn them towards G-d.
It is this wisdom that Beith David wants to help seek out, make known and gather, so that Israel may progressively recover a wisdom capable of speaking to the whole people, of linking its different components and of truly serving it.
And it shall come to pass in the latter days…
« Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Hashem their G-d, and David their king; and shall come with awe unto Hashem and to His goodness, in the latter days. »
Hosea 3:5
This prophecy links the recovery of Israel to Hashem, to His goodness and to David.
But before asking who this “David” is, the prophets invite us to understand something more fundamental: how G-d Himself regards His people, and what He expects from those responsible for leading it.
G-d loves His people
When G-d rebukes the shepherds of Israel for not having taken care of the people entrusted to them, He Himself describes what He will do for His sheep.
“I Myself will feed My flock, and I Myself will cause them to lie down, says the Lord G-d.
I will seek that which was lost,
and bring back that which was driven away,
and will bind up that which was broken,
and will strengthen that which was sick…”
Ezekiel 34:15–16
These words first reveal something of G-d’s relationship with His people. No one is considered negligible.
The one who is lost must be sought out.
The one who has strayed must be brought back.
The one who is wounded must be healed.
The one who is weak must be strengthened.
“To serve Israel is, first of all, to love those who compose it.”
In the biblical vision, governing is therefore not primarily about exercising power. It is about answering for the people entrusted to you.
The weak, the wounded, the one who strays or the one whom society leaves behind are not a peripheral question: they become precisely a measure of the quality of power.
“The greatness of a power may be measured not only by its strength, but by how it cares for those entrusted to it.”
A heart that listens
When G-d appears to Solomon and asks him what he desires, the young king asks for neither wealth, nor power, nor long life.
Facing the people G-d entrusts to him, his first request is something altogether different.
“And Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen […]
Give therefore Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.”
I Kings 3:8-9
The request pleases G-d.
Solomon asked neither for long life, nor riches, nor the death of his enemies. He asked for the discernment needed to render justice.
G-d then grants him “a wise and understanding heart,” and also gives him what he had not asked for: riches and honor.
“The first quality Solomon asked for in order to govern was therefore not strength.
It was a heart able to listen.”
Before knowing how to command, the leader of Israel must know how to hear the people entrusted to him.
Serving the people… or making use of it
The Bible also presents the opposite risk: an authority that, instead of serving the people, gradually ends up making use of it.
Samuel warns the people: the power will be able to take their sons, their daughters, their fields, their vineyards and a portion of their produce — leading to this conclusion:
“And you shall be his servants.” (I Samuel 8:17)
This is not a condemnation of kingship, but a warning against an authority that inverts its purpose.
“Is power at the service of the people,
or does the people end up at the service of power?”
Then the prophets utter a name: David
« And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them: My servant David. I, Hashem, will be their G-d, and My servant David a prince among them. And I will make with them a covenant of peace. »
Ezekiel 34:23-25
But David had been dead for nearly four centuries when Ezekiel spoke these words. So why does the prophet still proclaim “David” for the future?
Exploring freely
The people, power and David
A question that cannot be carried by one man alone
A question that surpasses any one man
So fundamental a question cannot belong to an individual, a political movement or a particular current.
If the sources themselves present several levels of understanding of the figure of David — a messianic descendant, David HaMelech himself, resurrection, the permanence of David, gilgul or ibbur — clarifying them calls precisely for what is missing today: a collective wisdom capable of bringing together the great sages of Israel, confronting the sources and hearing the different traditions of Torah.
The Rambam thus describes the Great Beit Din of Jerusalem:
« The Great Beit Din in Jerusalem is the foundation of the Oral Torah; it is the pillar of instruction, and from it law and judgment go forth to all Israel. »
Rambam — Hilchot Mamrim 1:1
בית דין הגדול שבירושלים הם עיקר תורה שבעל פה, והם עמוד ההוראה, ומהם חוק ומשפט יוצא לכל ישראל
It is in this sense that Beith David sees in the Great Sanhedrin the collective framework of Torah par excellence for so fundamental a search to one day be carried with the authority, diversity and responsibility it requires.
Not to proclaim today an answer already written.
Not for one man or group to claim the figure of David for himself.
But so that the great sages of Israel can study, confront, clarify and build together.
Beith David does not claim this authority. Our role lies upstream: to bring these texts back into the light, to reopen the questions they carry and to help prepare the conditions for a collective inquiry worthy of their depth.
Israel has recovered its land, its sovereignty, an army, an economy and national strength. In a few generations, it has achieved what seemed impossible.
But is this sovereignty the culmination of our history, or the beginning of a new stage?
Having regained its capacity to defend itself and build a state, another question opens up: how can this sovereignty become a force that does not merely protect its people, but also knows how to listen to it, care for it, lift up those who fall and place justice at the heart of collective life?
“Moving from an Israel that has recovered its strength
to an Israel that recovers the deep meaning of its vocation.”
This may also be the meaning of these words of Rav Yitzchak Guinsburgh:
“A country that loves its inhabitants.”
A very current question
The cost of living and housing, the hardships faced by many families, the fractures within society, or the weight of certain administrative and economic mechanisms also compel us to ask a simple question:
“Is the state at the service of the people,
or does the people end up at the service of the state?”
The vision
A vision of wisdom for Israel and the nations
« For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem. »
Isaiah 2:3
Israel has not returned to its land merely to survive, defend itself or prosper.
After nearly two thousand years of exile, it has returned to fully recover its vocation and to make its voice heard once again.
This vocation is not one of domination over the nations, but of responsibility towards them. Israel is called to make heard from Jerusalem a word strong enough to answer the upheavals of the world, just enough to illuminate, and deep enough to help bring it peace.
The prophetic vision links precisely these two dimensions: “Out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem,” and immediately after: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares… nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” — Isaiah 2:3-4
« Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. »
Isaiah 55:3
Since Moses, Israel has carried a particular responsibility in history. The prophets expressed it repeatedly, notably through the call to become a “light unto the nations” (Isaiah 49:6).
The strength that the Torah entrusts to Israel therefore does not aim at domination, but at peace. A peace born neither of the erasure of truth nor of weakness, but of a wisdom capable of illuminating the peoples, calming conflicts and reminding humanity that it shares a common destiny before G-d.
An awareness to be revived
Israel must recover its eyes
Israel has returned to its land. But the physical return is only a beginning: spiritual clarity, justice and Israel’s deep vocation still remain to be recovered.
In the sources of Israel, this image takes on a precise meaning: our Sages associate with the Sanhedrin the biblical expression “the eyes of the assembly.” Just as the body follows its eyes, Israel needs sages capable of discerning, illuminating and seeing further than the urgency of the moment.
Beith David wishes to revive this awareness: a word of Torah, of justice and of peace carried from Jerusalem, for Israel and the nations.
Great Sanhedrin
The model of the Great Sanhedrin: a light for Israel and the nations
In the tradition of Israel, the Great Sanhedrin represents the ideal of a central wisdom: an assembly of sages capable of standing together before the Torah, seeking the truth and uniting justice, discernment and collective responsibility.
The Great Sanhedrin is not merely a memory of the past. It represents the horizon of a central word of Torah, carried by the greatest sages of Israel, capable of counseling the nation, strengthening its unity and guiding its essential choices in justice and peace.
This tradition also reminds us that wisdom is not measured only by its intellectual height, but by its capacity to link law, justice, compassion and the concrete life of the people — and in particular to protect the most vulnerable: the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger.
« You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. »
Exodus 22:21
This model reminds us that Israel is not called to be guided by a single isolated voice, but by a collective wisdom: sages capable of seeking together what is just for the whole people.
“The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem is not first a power to be claimed, but a wisdom to be recovered.”
A collective wisdom rooted in Torah can illuminate Israel and, from Jerusalem, also carry a word of justice and peace towards the nations.
It reminds us that Israel cannot be guided solely by force, urgency or the interests of the moment. A nation called to carry the Torah needs a word of wisdom, truth and justice.
Beith David does not claim to restore alone so elevated an institution. Such a question belongs to the great sages of Israel, to the appropriate halakhic conditions and to a collective responsibility that goes beyond any individual initiative.
Our role is more modest, but necessary: to revive the awareness of this model, make it widely known and open a dignified dialogue around the spiritual recovery of Israel.
Beith David wishes to prepare consciences for this need: that the sages, the tsadikim and the different currents of Torah may meet in truth, without erasing their differences.
Beith David carries, awakens, structures and prepares; the Sanhedrin, when it can be raised again in the proper ways, will accomplish, unify and fully carry the rectifying voice of Israel.
Discover concretely the Great Sanhedrin as a key to Israel’s current challenges
Not as a relic of the past, but as a collective wisdom rooted in Torah, capable of concretely illuminating Israel’s great choices today: justice, unity, governance, science, relations with the nations and the common good.
Watch / listen to our audio and video
Diagnosis Series
Diagnosis of Israel
Understanding Israel’s inner fractures, the challenges of our generation and the conditions for its recovery.
Articles · videos
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After the war, the vocation of Israel
02
Israel: a strong but fragmented nation
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Israel has never lacked sages, but it lacks a shared wisdom
Jerusalem Series
Jerusalem, wisdom and justice
Reflecting on the profound role of Jerusalem as a source of wisdom, justice and responsibility for Israel.
Articles · videos
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Jerusalem: political or spiritual capital?
02
Why Israel needs a shared wisdom
03
Why wisdom should precede the Temple
Great Sanhedrin Series
The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem
Clarifying the role of the Great Sanhedrin according to the sources of Israel and its place in Israel’s vocation.
Articles · videos
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The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem according to our sages: a necessity
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What the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem is not
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Attempts at restoration throughout history
Torah Series
Torah and contemporary challenges
How Torah illuminates the great contemporary challenges without being reduced to a religious practice.
Articles · videos
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Torah and democracy
02
Torah and science
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Torah and artificial intelligence
Israel and the Nations Series
Israel facing the world
Understanding why Israel remains at the center of the nations’ attention, and how its vocation can become legible again.
Articles · videos
01
Why does the world keep talking about Israel?
02
Israel and the nations: truth and responsibility
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A light unto the nations: what meaning today?
Institutions Series
Institutions and governance
Reflecting on the functioning of Israel’s institutions, governance and the recovery of Israeli society in the light of Torah.
Articles · videos
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Justice and public responsibility
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Economy and dignity
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Governing with wisdom
Six major topics carried by Beith David, from study to encounter
Beith David invites us to look seriously at reality, with Torah and with reason.
Science, consciousness, the origin of life, history, archaeology or the transmission of texts: Torah has nothing to fear from a rigorous examination of reality. Our approach is to confront the questions of our time with the sources of Israel without simplification, without fear and without giving up the demand for truth.
Our work
What Beith David is developing today
01
Study and gatherings in Jerusalem
Every Shabbat, a core group of participants gathers in Jerusalem around a seudah to study Torah, the teachings of Kabbalah around Malkhut Israel and their light on the events and questions of our time.
02
A daily teaching
A teaching is shared daily with a community of about 150 people, around Malkhut Israel, Torah, the Geula and the teachings studied at Beith David.
03
Sources and Sanhedrin
A work of clarification around the sources of Torah, Halakha, the history of Israel and the model of the Great Sanhedrin, with fidelity to the sources, rigor and respect for the sages.
04
Outreach and public awakening
Texts, audio, video, meetings and presentations to make this reflection more widely accessible and to make known a vision of Torah capable of concretely illuminating the collective life of Israel.
This question belongs to our generation
Take part in the building
« Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and inherit the land. »
Deuteronomy 16:20
We want to bring this question into the consciousness of Israel.
An approach that asks no one to join a camp, but to rediscover what can unite us beyond political, religious and social divides: truth, responsibility, kindness and the common good.
Religious or secular, right or left, from Israel or the diaspora: we do not need to all think the same way in order to ask together what is just for Israel, what Torah asks of us in our time, and what our vocation is.
This is the meaning of our approach around the Great Sanhedrin.
Today, this idea is almost absent from the collective consciousness. Our work is to bring it back to the center of reflection: making the sources known, teaching, gathering, opening dialogue and allowing this question to become alive again in Israel.
bring together around this question a community, friends, teachers or leaders;
share our texts, videos and teachings;
put us in touch with those who can help advance this endeavor;
financially support the talks, publications, translations, videos and development of Beith David.
Support Beith David
Making the sources of the Great Sanhedrin known. Organizing gatherings and talks. Translating and distributing teachings. Bringing together people from different backgrounds. Carrying this reflection to leaders, teachers, communities and all those who sincerely seek the good of Israel.
This requires resources.
Supporting Beith David means very concretely enabling the funding of these talks, publications, translations, videos, gatherings and the tools needed to reach a much wider audience.
We need people who do not want merely to observe Israel’s fractures, but to help bring forth something else: a search for the common good, beyond parties and movements, rooted in Torah and turned towards the future.
For those who wish to become more involved
Some ideas need support at their beginning, before they become self-evident to everyone.
We are also looking for donors able to accompany Beith David in a significant way, to allow us to move to a new stage: multiply gatherings, expand outreach, reach new audiences and give this question a true presence in the consciousness of Israel.
We would be glad to meet these donors personally, in Jerusalem or elsewhere, to present to them our vision, what has already been undertaken, what we wish to accomplish now and the concrete use of the resources needed.
If this vision speaks to you, help us give it a voice, places, gatherings and the means to grow.
