What is the difference between Sanhedrin and Kenesset Hagedola?
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Factually, Knesset Hagdola was the Supreme counsel during the Babylonian exile and sometime after, during the beginning of the second Temple. Slowly the number dropped from 120 to 71, which equals the 70 of the Elders mentioned everywhere in the Torah.
Since the mid-second Temple, the era of Zugot, the Supreme Court of 71 was given the Greek name of Sanhedrin. This court is Biblically mandated (Sanhedrin 2a, from Bamidbar 11:31), but it was not called the “Sanhedrin” until the second Temple era.
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The concept of Sanhedrin, even if it didn’t go by that name, goes back to the times of Moshe. Btw, where’s that Gemara that says they had 86 instead of 120? – DonielF Mar 04 '19 at 22:35
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@DonielF Just for fun, it doesn't. That's the Greek invention - democracy, as long as we had prominent king-like leaders we never had a real Sanhedrin. It's a common psychological bias, projecting one's reality onto the past and thinking the previous generations had exactly the same way of life. And the Shtreiml! Look at the Amsterdam Haggada (around 1700s) - all Egyptians wore Shtreimls! – Al Berko Mar 04 '19 at 22:49
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...Did you just compare having the Sanhedrin in the days of Moshe, which was Biblically mandated (Sanhedrin 2a, from Bamidbar 11:16, which spells it out pretty clearly - no exposition needed) to a cute picture in a Haggadah drawing streimels on previous generations? – DonielF Mar 04 '19 at 22:51
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Also, if the Gemara doesn’t actually mention 86, surely you wouldn’t mind taking that misinformation out of your post, right? – DonielF Mar 04 '19 at 22:52
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@DonielF "The number eighty-five is taken from Neh. 10:2–29; but the origin of the entire number (120) is not known. " from WIKI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Assembly#Number – Al Berko Mar 04 '19 at 22:56
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@DonielF I know it sounds weird. There are too many inconsistencies in Sanhedrin from Moses to the second Temple. I am sure there was some kind of an institution, but its role is seriously hyped. The fact is, it is rarely mentioned and used (וקמת ועלית) in the Gemmora – Al Berko Mar 04 '19 at 22:59
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Wiki doesn’t think, say, Megillah 17b counts as a primary source? :) Where in Nechemiah 10 does it say that those people made up the entirety of the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah, or that those groups were the same to begin with? – DonielF Mar 04 '19 at 22:59
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Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist from then, contrary to what you claim. – DonielF Mar 04 '19 at 23:00
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@DonielF Don't let your facts spoil my theory. I'm trying hard to reconciliate so many questions I previously asked about Sanhedring. I tend to think, just as the Kohen Gadol it becamevery quickly a place of politics and power strugles instead of Torah. – Al Berko Mar 04 '19 at 23:05
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As you’ve asked me many times before, are you trying to defend your position or seek the truth? Facts should spoil your theory, if you can’t defend against them. Anyway, the Sanhedrin absolutely never became a political body; just because we don’t hear much from them doesn’t mean that they’re not important. Anyway anyway, none of this has anything to do with the question at hand, which your answer is still only half-correct in answering. – DonielF Mar 04 '19 at 23:27
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@DonielF I was thinking to myself, from everything I know about Sanhedrin, what part is "knowledge" and what is "belief"? We tend to treat so many beliefs as they were "true knowledge". I's say, we know the same things, I just doubt more. – Al Berko Mar 05 '19 at 14:18
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Getting back to the topic at hand... You say the Gemara claims there was 86 at some point yet freely admit that no such Gemara exists. You claim that the Sanhedrin only existed post-Anshei Knesses HaGedolah yet freely admit that that’s not true either; your only question was about its role. To try to salvage your post i edited it accordingly; of course you can always roll it back. – DonielF Mar 05 '19 at 15:52