(1st cent. BCE). One of the Zugot (pairs of scholars who headed the Sanhedrin between the Maccabean era and the time of Herod). Simeon served as presiding officer (Nasi) of the Sanhedrin during the reigns of King Alexander Yannai and Queen Salome Alexandra; the latter, according to one source, was Simeon's sister. As leader of the Pharisee party, Simeon came into conflict with Alexander Yannai, who favored the Sadducees, but eventually the two were reconciled. Although he was nasi of the Sanhedrin, most of its members were Sadducees; however, during the reign of Salome Alexandra, he was able to bring the Pharisees into a dominant position in the Sanhedrin.
Two important enactments were decreed by Simeon. One of them made him a pioneer in the establishment of schools maintained by the community, ensuring that all boys received a basic elementary education (TJ, Kit., 8:11, 32c). Previously the teaching of the young had been the exclusive responsibility of parents, who employed private tutors, which poor parents could not afford.
Simeon's second decree had a far-reaching effect on Jewish Marriage customs and is in practice to this day. In his time, a groom was required to deposit a certain sum of money with his intended father-in-law prior to marriage. Because poor grooms could not afford to do so, many young women remained unmarried. Simeon ruled that the practice be replaced by a written undertaking on the part of the groom at the time of marriage that he would mortgage all his assets for the payment of a stipulated sum to his wife if he should divorce or predecease her (see Ketubbah).
As nasi of the Sanhedrin, Simeon ben Shetaḥ established rules for proper court procedure and the cross-examination of witnesses. In one famous case, in which Alexander Yannai was summoned to stand trial for a murder committed by his slave, Simeon's fellow members of the Sanhedrin were intimidated by the presence of the king, but Simeon fearlessly charged him with responsibility for the crime (Sanh. 19a-b, 2:1).
