Rabban Gamli'el used to say: Make yourself a master, escape all doubt, and do not tithe by estimation too often.
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
13:
Rabban Gamli'el the Elder is also known to us from a non-Jewish source. The period in the history of Christianity that followed immediately after the death of Jesus of Nazareth falls squarely into the period when Rabban Gamli'el was at the head of Pharisaic Judaism. We are in the first half of the fourth decade of the first century of the common era. (It is commonly assumed that Jesus of Nazareth was executed around the year 33 CE.) We must remember that in these first years after the death of Jesus, his followers were Jews and led a Jewish life. According to the author of the books of Acts in the Christian scriptures, this small group of followers would meet regularly in the main esplanade of the Bet Mikdash, enjoying the shade offered by the portico. (For the topography of this area of the bet Mikdash see the description we gave when we studied Tractate Tamid. The description starts at explanation #3.)
14:
The activities of this group made the echelons of the Jewish leadership very jittery, and it seems that the Sanhedrin decided to take action. According to the book of Acts
the High Priest and his colleagues, the Sadducean party as it then was, were goaded into action… They proceeded to arrest the apostles [agents, representatives], and put them in official custody.
From the description of these proceedings it seems that the composition and procedure of the Sanhedrin were different than what has been handed down to us from Jewish sources. Most scholars are agreed that the description of the Sanhedrin during the period before the destruction of the Bet Mikdash is probably an unhistorical 'throwback' from its procedure after the destruction. (My own unscholarly opinion is that there was more than one Sanhedrin at this time: there was one which was officially recognized by the Roman government of occupation, and this Sanhedrin was dominated by the Sadducees, though there were Pharisaic representatives. The Pharisees had their own Sanhedrin headed by Rabban Gamli'el.)
15:
The description in the book of Acts continues with a description of the opening speech of the High Priest, who was probably the presiding officer:
We expressly ordered you to desist from teaching in that name; and what has happened? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you are trying to make us responsible for that man's death.
The leader of the group, Shim'on Kefa (known to later history as Simon Peter) gave a bold response.
This touched them [the members of the Sanhedrin] on the raw, and they wanted to put them to death. But a member of the Council rose to his feet, a Pharisee called Gamli'el, a teacher of the law held in high regard by all the people. He moved that the men be put outside for a while. Then he said, "Men of Israel, be cautious in deciding what to do with these men."
He then reasoned that there had been in recent years many messianic claimants [see Avot 069, explanation 10] and they had all come to nothing in the end. Why should a different assumption be made concerning the present claims?
And so now: keep clear of these men, I tell you; leave them alone. For if this idea of theirs or its execution is of human origin, it will collapse… They took his advice. They sent for the apostles and had them flogged…
16:
I have omitted from this account several sentences which are obviously unhistorical and have a distinct propagandist lilt to them. (The book of Acts was written by a non-Jew, a Greek doctor of medicine.) Nevertheless, the main gist of the contribution attributed to Gamli'el seems to accord with what we know of him. He is moderate in his view, following in the footsteps of Hillel. And his guess as to the eventual fate of this movement was, in fact, correct. For the "Jewish Christianity" headed by Shim'on Kefa did, in fact, eventually die out completely. It ceased to be a developing movement after the first war against the Romans (70 CE) and completely disintegrated after the second war against the Romans (135 CE). Gentile Christianity was a different kettle of fish, but that is not our concern here.
To be continued.
NOTICE:
Because of the incidence of the start of the festival of Sukkot our next shiur will be on Monday 4th October. Usually we take a break for the whole of Sukkot, but this year I shall try to send out a shiur (maybe two) during Ĥol ha-Mo'ed. I wish everyone a Ĥag Same'aĥ.
