01 — The eyes of Israel
The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem reminds us that Israel cannot be guided only by scattered forces. It needs a collective wisdom capable of seeing far, discerning, and lighting the way.
Sanhedrin
The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem
Reopening the eyes of Israel.
In the tradition of Israel, the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem represents the ideal of a collective wisdom rooted in the Torah, capable of uniting justice, discernment, responsibility and national life.
The Torah uses the expression "the eyes of the assembly" (Bamidbar 15:24). Our Sages compare spiritual leaders to the eyes that guide the body: they bear the responsibility of enlightening and directing the people (see Baba Batra 4a and Shir HaShirim Rabbah 7:5). Without such clarity, Israel may advance with strength, but without a shared vision.
Beith David works to place this awareness back at the heart of the people: not as a claim to power, but as an essential key to Israel's spiritual, moral and national restoration.
The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem is not merely an ancient memory. It reminds Israel of its deep vocation: to make a word of Torah, justice, truth and peace radiate from Jerusalem.
"I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."
Today
Why speak of the Great Sanhedrin today?
Israel has returned to its land. But this physical return also calls for an inner restoration.
Our generation faces military, social, educational, economic, moral and spiritual challenges. The fractures between currents, the people's fatigue, the confusion of values, the cost of living, internal tensions, and the constant gaze of the nations make deep reflection necessary.
Speaking today of the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem is not a claim to power. It is reopening an essential question: how can Israel rediscover a shared wisdom, faithful to the Torah, capable of illuminating justice, education, social peace, national life, and its relationship with the nations?
Beith David carries this question with strength and responsibility. Not to impose an answer, but to awaken a conscience: Israel cannot merely survive its trials. Israel must rediscover its light, its justice and its voice.
Collective wisdom
A collective wisdom for Israel
02 — Torah justice
Israel's justice is not limited to social order. It must protect truth, human dignity, the most fragile, and the people's moral responsibility.
03 — Jerusalem
Jerusalem is not merely a political capital. In the vision of the prophets, it is called to become once again a source of Torah, justice and peace for Israel and for the nations. Reference: Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2.
04 — Living Torah
The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem reminds us that the Torah is not meant to remain an abstraction. It must illuminate family, education, economy, justice, social peace and national life.
Study
The great doors of study
Beith David gathers and clarifies several lines of study around the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, its sources, its history, its objections, and its scope for Israel and for the nations.
Questions
Essential FAQ
Questions around the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem are essential. Beith David addresses them with fidelity to the sources, dignity and clarity, in order to touch consciences, the hearts of the people, and the masters of Israel.
Place
Clarity and limits
Because the subject is lofty, Beith David clearly states its place.
Beith David does not claim to
- Restore the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem on its own
- Claim institutional authority
- Replace existing rabbinic authorities
- Speak on behalf of all Israel
- Create a political party
- Impose an interpretation on anyone
Beith David seeks to
- Promote awareness of Israel's collective vocation and of the Torah's central place in its destiny
- Touch people's consciences so that a deep aspiration to rediscover a shared wisdom may take root in their hearts
- Call upon the people of Israel to confront what is still missing for them to fully realize their collective calling
- Study the sources of the Torah and the halakhic, historical and practical conditions for restoring the Great Sanhedrin
- Make this vision accessible to everyone, regardless of background or outlook
- Revive the desire to move forward together, as one man with one heart, toward a common future
- Make the model of the Great Sanhedrin known as a central institution of wisdom, justice and decision-making
- Clarify the path that could, from a genuine collective aspiration, lead to its realization
Our conviction
The restoration of the Great Sanhedrin cannot be the project of a small circle alone. It must first become a living aspiration within the people of Israel.
It is from this awareness, this shared will, and this drawing together of hearts that concrete work with the sages can arise, in keeping with the requirements of Torah and Halakha.
From thought to word, and from word to action.
References
Main sources
This page draws in particular on the Torah, the Prophets, the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash, the Rambam, the Kesef Mishneh, the Jerusalem Talmud, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, and Rav Yitzchak Guinsburgh.
- Devarim / Deuteronomy 17:8-11
- Isaiah 1:26-27
- Isaiah 2:3
- Micah 4:2
- Bamidbar / Numbers 15:24 with Rashi
- Baba Batra 4aIsrael's leaders compared to the eyes of the assembly.
- Shir HaShirim Rabbah 7:5The same image of the eyes that watch over the people.
- Mishnah Sanhedrin 1:5Certain decisions binding the national collective.
- Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 1:3
- Rambam, Hilkhot Sanhedrin 1:1 and 4:11
- Rambam, Hilkhot Mamrim 1:1 and 1:4The Great Beit Din is the foundation of the Oral Torah and the pillar of halakhic teaching; since its disappearance, disagreements have multiplied in Israel.
- Kesef Mishneh on Hilkhot Sanhedrin 4:11
- Likutei Moharan II,67
Conclusion
A wisdom to be rediscovered
The Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem is not first and foremost a power to be claimed. It is a wisdom to be rediscovered.
A wisdom capable of uniting Torah and justice.
A wisdom capable of illuminating national life without erasing differences.
A wisdom capable of reminding Israel of its deep vocation: to be a people of truth, responsibility and peace.
From Jerusalem, Beith David intends to help give rise to a collective aspiration deep enough for the people of Israel and its sages to move forward together toward the concrete preparation of the restoration of the Great Sanhedrin.
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