Nesi’im

The first clearly regarded nasi (“prince”) was R. Judah the Prince, although some claim he inherited the title as the grandson of Rabban Gamaliel (the other possible originator of its use). In either case, the particulars of this dynastic authority are somewhat vaguely understood. Referred to by the Theodosian Code and other texts from late antiquity as “patriarchs” (not to be confused with Abraham and his immediate descendants or with contemporary Christian authorities, after which the Jewish equivalent was likely named), this group had rabbinic roots but was eventually associated with political and financial status. The nesi’im acted as intermediaries with the non-Jewish government and as patrons within Jewish communities. There is some indication of growing tension between the patriarchate and the rabbis, but the rabbis also held in high regard the patriarchs’ rabbinic origins and their role in rabbinically supervised courts. The mishnah excerpted here indicates an interplay between the patriarchs (Rabban Gamaliel himself, as well as the “elders,” a term often understood to indicate the nesi’im) and the rabbis regarding a matter of halakhah in the synagogue. As with their treatment of the priests, the rabbinic attitude toward the patriarchs may have been both the result of genuine respect and an attempt to put their authority in its place, especially in the ritual space of the synagogue. The Theodosian Code may not position the patriarchs accurately within the structures of communal authority, but it does give a clear indication of the disposition of non-Jewish authorities toward Jewish political and social power.