Q&A: If There Were a Sanhedrin Nowadays and It Issued an Instruction to Desecrate Yom Kippur That Falls on the Sabbath in Order to Save a Jew
If There Were a Sanhedrin Nowadays and It Issued an Instruction to Desecrate Yom Kippur That Falls on the Sabbath in Order to Save a Jew
Question
A halakhic ruling was publicized by Rabbi Habramsky and Maran Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv that it is permitted to desecrate the Sabbath in order to save a yeshiva student from being drafted into the army. Therefore, what would you do if you received such an instruction from the Sanhedrin? After all, that would create a contradiction for you between your morality and Jewish law.
The dramatic halakhic ruling: https://www.bhol.co.il/news/1701013
Answer
That is why a Sanhedrin will not arise in our time. If they do set one up, they will seat fools on it. I assume that if a Sanhedrin were established nowadays, I would not recognize it.
Discussion on Answer
Even if you are 100 percent at risk of being declared a “rebellious elder”?
I mean, of course, in a situation where they would have the ability to carry out the four death penalties of the religious court without fear.
Hey, Michi! Tell me, is the man with us??
If a Sanhedrin were established today, then in my opinion it should be made up of judges and advisors, not judges and enforcers. Coercion is out of place. Anyone who would want to have his case heard in a Hebrew law court, in all areas, could do so if he chose. But not abolish the existing legal system. In Arab countries, for example, there are places—I think Morocco, for instance, and there are a few others—where Muslims in the past, and even today, chose to litigate in Jewish courts because they found Hebrew law appealing. In my opinion, there is also no reason for a Sanhedrin to be established in order to permit all kinds of things and look for leniencies. That would not be for its own sake. Rather, so that we can fulfill all 613 commandments. If they want, they could also appoint a king for whoever wants his rule. If the Messiah comes, there needs to be a Sanhedrin to confirm that it is indeed him. Then, even theoretically, it would be possible to build the Chosen House, and not wait for it to descend from heaven. Rabbi, what do you rule?
It seems to me that Rabbi Zilberstein is one of the most prominent among the halakhic decisors who lack common sense. The man is not with us.