(also known as Great Synagogue; Heb. Keneset Gedolah). An institution in Jerusalem from the Persian period about which little is known. In the opening paragraph of Mishnah Avot, the Torah (Oral Law) is said to have been handed down by the prophets directly to "the men of the Great Assembly." In a parallel passage (Avot De-R. Natan), Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi form an intermediary stage between the prophets and the men of the Great Assembly.
The precursor of the Great Assembly, according to some scholars, is to be found in the assembly convened by Ezra and Nehemiah in 444 BCE, at which a compact was signed by 83 leaders of the community, priests, Levites, and Israelites. This compact included a number of significant enactments (Neh. 10). They included an agreement not to buy or sell on the Sabbath; to observe the Sabbatical Year; not to intermarry with neighboring nations; to pay an annual tax of a third of a shekel for the sacrifices brought to the Temple; and for wood offerings for its altar to be brought by the various priestly watches (see Mishmarot and Ma'Amadot).
Three sayings are attributed in Avot to the men of the Great Assembly and are seen as a reflection of its activities: "Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and erect a fence around the Torah" (Avot 1:1). The first of these reflects the judicial function of that body; the second, the fact that Scribes (soferim), whose task it was to interpret and teach the Torah, were members of the Great Assembly; the last is an expression of the Great Assembly's legislative function. On the basis of these conclusions, some scholars view the Great Assembly as the institution which in time developed into the Sanhedrin.
Sources offer conflicting reports regarding its number of members. One refers to 85 members including 30 prophets; another speaks of 120 elders, also including some prophets. It has been conjectured that out of the Great Assembly evolved a body originally known by the Greek name of Gerousia ("governing council"). It was in this body that learned laymen joined for the first time with priests and Levites in interpreting the Law. Subsequently, the Greek name of the council was dropped in favor of the Hebrew name Bet Din ha-Gadol ("the High Court").
The legislative function of the Great Assembly took the form of ordinances (Takkanot) and enactments (gezerot). The former introduced new procedures to be followed in the practice of Judaism, among which the Talmud mentions: the practice of the public reading of the Pentateuch on Mondays and Thursdays (market days in ancient Erets Israel); the fixing of Purim; a preliminary determination of the canon of Scripture so as to include the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve Minor Prophets; the fixing of the content and number of benedictions in the Amidah; the formation of the Kiddush (prayer of sanctification recited over wine on Sabbaths and festivals); and the Havdalah prayer (recited at the end of Sabbaths and festivals). It was probably during the days of the Great Assembly that the square Hebrew script replaced the script that was in use during the First Temple period (see Alphabet).
Only one enactment (Gezerah) in the Talmud is ascribed to the period of the Great Assembly, viz., the prohibition on handling vessels on the Sabbath not actually required for use. However, some of the prohibitions enacted by later sages may well have originated with the Great Assembly.
