ad hominem<\/em> attacks into the Sanhedrin\u2019s debates.<\/p>\nTellingly, he referred to that august rabbinic institution\u2019s members as baalei trisim<\/em> \u2013 \u201carmored combatants\u201d (Berachot 27B). Gamliel demeaned Rabbi Yehoshua during disagreements regarding Yom Kippur, sacrificial protocols, and whether the evening prayer is obligatory or optional. Gamliel threatened to call witnesses to testify against his colleague.<\/p>\nSanhedrin members (perhaps reflecting public sentiment) finally objected to Gamliel\u2019s unseemly, divisive conduct, and deposed him from leadership. Who would succeed him? Not Yehoshua: he was tainted as a party to the antagonistic exchange. Ultimately, eighteen-year-old Elazar ben Azarya was appointed Nasi<\/em> (though his wife expressed misgivings about assuming leadership in such a toxic political climate!).<\/p>\nElazar\u2019s first act as Nasi<\/em> was to increase transparency in the Sanhedrin, by adding 400 (some say 700!) benches to its chambers, accommodating as many scholars as possible.<\/p>\n1900 years ago, Jewish tradition understood that dysfunctional national leadership demands a change\u2026 that broad popular engagement in the deliberative process is required\u2026 and that a principled new generation of leaders may have a critical role to play.<\/p>\n
(Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the National Chaplain of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting.)<\/em><\/p>\n
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