Q&A: A Religious Court Greater in Wisdom and Number in Our Time
A Religious Court Greater in Wisdom and Number in Our Time
Question
Hello Rabbi, how do you see the concept nowadays of a religious court greater in wisdom and number? Why do people say that in our generation we cannot be a religious court greater in wisdom and number than previous courts? After all, today we live in an age of enormous Torah knowledge, unlike anything that has ever existed in the history of the Jewish people. Is it possible to say that we are inferior in wisdom to earlier courts that did not have the accessibility that we have? Likewise regarding number: especially in light of the ingathering of the exiles, isn’t it actually easier now to have a larger number?
Answer
Hello Eldad.
The problem today is not greatness, which of course can be debated. The problem is that there is no religious court, because there are no ordained sages and no Sanhedrin. Therefore, the whole law of a religious court greater in wisdom and number is not relevant in our time, even if we are many times greater than anything that came before us.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t know whether ordination can be renewed, especially since Maimonides also makes it dependent on the agreement of the leading sages of Israel as a whole, and that does not exist today. But even without ordination, if there were a supreme institution, authority would return to it. I pray that there won’t be one, of course, because the candidates for it nowadays don’t really do it for me.
So what is your opinion about renewing ordination in our time, especially in light of Maimonides’ remarks on the subject?
Thank you for addressing it.