Nasi (Hebrew:נָשִׂיא,romanized: nāśī) is a title meaning "prince" inBiblical Hebrew, "Prince [of theSanhedrin]" inMishnaic Hebrew. Certain great figures fromJewish history have the title, includingJudah ha-Nasi,[1] who was the chiefredactor of theMishnah as well as nasi of the Sanhedrin.
InModern Hebrew, its meaning has changed to "president".
The noun nasi (including its grammatical variations) occurs 132 times in theMasoretic Text of theHebrew Bible and is usually translated "prince", or occasionally "captain." The first use is for the twelve "princes" who will descend fromIshmael, in theBook of Genesis (Lech-Lecha,Genesis 17:20), and the second use (inChayei SarahGenesis 23:6), is theHittites recognisingAbraham as "a godly prince" (נְשִׂיא אֱלֹהִיםnǝśi ʾǝlohim).
In theBook of Leviticus (Vayikra,Leviticus 4:22–26), in the rites of sacrifices for leaders who err, there is the special offering made by a nasi.
In theBook of Numbers (NasoNumbers 7), the leader of each tribe is referred to as a nasi, and each one brings a gift to theTabernacle. InNumbers 34:16–29, occurring 38 years later in the Biblical story, thenǝśiʾim (נְשִׂיאִים, plural) of each tribe are listed again, as the leaders responsible for apportioning tribal inheritances.
Later in the history of ancient Israel, the title of nasi was given to theKings of Judah (Ezekiel 44:2–18;Ezra 1:8). Similarly, theMishnah defines the nasi of Leviticus 4 to mean the king.[2]
During theSecond Temple period (c. 530 BCE – 70 CE), the nasi was the highest-ranking member and leader of the Sanhedrin (סַנְהֶדְרִין fromKoine Greek:Συνέδριον,romanized: sunédrion,lit. 'council'), including when it sat as acriminal court. The position was created in c. 191 BCE when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the ability of theHigh Priest of Israel to serve as its head.[3]
In the time of theRoman Republic, the Romans recognized the nasi as Patriarch of the Jews and required all Jews to pay him a tax for the upkeep of that office, which ranked highly in the Roman official hierarchy.
After theSiege of Jerusalem (70 CE), in the time of the destruction of theTemple in Jerusalem and theJewish diaspora, the office of nasi inPalestine was comparable with the office ofexilarch inMesopotamia.[4]
This position as patriarch or head of court was reestablished several years after theBar Kokhba revolt.[5] This made thenasi a power which both Jews and Romans respected. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, referred to by the Jews asBabylonia, also recognized him. The nasi had leadership and served as a political representative to the authorities while the religious leadership was led by Torah scholars. He had the power to appoint and suspend communal leaders inside and outside of Israel.
The Romans respected the nasi and gave extra land and let control of own self-supported taxes. UnderJewish law, theintercalary thirteenth month in theHebrew calendar,Adar Bet, was announced by the nasi.[6]
The last nasi of the Judean Sanhedrin wasGamaliel VI (d. 425); theByzantine Empire subsequently issued an edict recorded in the legal code of theCodex Theodosianus of 426 that transformed the nasi tax into an imperial tax deposited into theAerarium, or Roman treasury.
The term nasi was later applied to those who held high offices in the Jewish community, and Jews who held prominence in the courts of non-Jewish rulers. The nasi were also prevalent during the 8th-centuryFrankish kingdom. They were a highly privileged group inCarolingian France. The Jews ofNarbonne collaborated withPepin the Short to end Muslim rule over their city in 759. The Jews accepted surrender and Pepin was able to hold off the Saracens in the Iberian peninsula. Pepin rewarded the Jews with land and privileges such as the right to judicial and religious autonomy. The heirs of the king and nasi held a close relationship until the tenth century.[7]
According toethnologistErich Brauer, among theJews of Yemen, the title of nasi was conferred upon a man belonging to the community's most noble and richest family. There was no direct election for this post. In general, the nasi was also a scholar, well-versed in Torah, but this was not a condition for his office. Among his duties, he was a representative of the community in all its affairs before the government. He was also entrusted with the duty of collecting the annualjizya or poll-tax, as well as settling disputes arising between members of the community.[8]
The term nasi was used byMenachem Mendel Schneerson to refer to the spiritual leaders ofChabad. In particular, he used the termNesi Hador (נשיא הדור; "prince of the generation") orNesi doreinu (נשיא דורנו; "prince of our generation") to refer to his father-in-law,Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.[9]
InModern Hebrew,nasi means "president", and is not used in its classical sense. The word nasi is used, in Israel, as the title of thePresident of Israel and the Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Israel. In Hebrew, the word "prince" is now expressed by asynonym:nasi (as inYehuda HaNasi) andnasīkh (נָסִיך).
Much more recently,Adin Steinsaltz took the title nasi in an attempt to reestablish the Sanhedrin in its judicial capacity as thesupreme court ofJudaism.
During the Mishnaic period, the office of nasi was filled as follows:[10][11]
| Nasi | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|
| Yose ben Yoezer | 170BCE | 140BCE |
| Joshua ben Perachyah | 140BCE | 100BCE |
| Judah ben Tabbai (who later absconded)[12] | 110BCE | ca. 80BCE |
| Simeon ben Shetach | ca. 80BCE | 60BCE |
| Sh'maya | 65BCE | c. 31BCE |
| Hillel the Elder | c. 31BCE | 9CE |
| Shimon ben Hillel | 9 | 9 |
| RabbanGamaliel the Elder | 30 | 50 |
| RabbanShimon ben Gamliel | 50 | 70 |
| RabbanYohanan ben Zakai | 70 | 80 |
| RabbanGamaliel II ofYavne | 80 | 118 |
| RabbiEleazar ben Azariah | 118 | 120 |
| Interregnum (Bar Kokhba revolt) | 120 | 142 |
| RabbanShimon ben Gamliel II | 142 | 165 |
| RabbiJudah IhaNasi | 165 | 220 |
| Gamaliel III | 220 | 230 |
| Judah IINesi'ah | 230 | 270 |
| Gamaliel IV | 270 | 290 |
| Judah IIINesi'ah | 290 | 320 |
| Hillel II | 320 | 365 |
| Gamaliel V | 365 | 385 |
| Judah IV | 385 | 400 |
| Gamaliel VI | c. 400 | 425 |
| President | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|
| Chaim Weizmann | 1949 | 1951 |
| Yitzhak Ben-Zvi | 1952 | 1963 |
| Zalman Shazar | 1963 | 1973 |
| Ephraim Katzir | 1973 | 1978 |
| Yitzhak Navon | 1978 | 1983 |
| Chaim Herzog | 1983 | 1993 |
| Ezer Weizman | 1993 | 2000 |
| Moshe Katsav | 2000 | 2007 |
| Shimon Peres | 2007 | 2014 |
| Reuven Rivlin | 2014 | 2021 |
| Isaac Herzog | 2021 | incumbent |
Rabban was a higher title thanrabbi and was given to thenasi starting withGamaliel the Elder.
The titlerabban was restricted in usage to the descendants ofHillel the Elder, the sole exception being RabbanYochanan ben Zakai (c. 30–90CE), the leader in Jerusalem during theSiege of Jerusalem in 70CE and who safeguarded the future of the Jewish people after theGreat Revolt by pleading with theEmperor Vespasian.
RabbiEleazar ben Azariah, who wasnasi between 118 and 120CE, was not given the titlerabban, perhaps because he only occupied the office ofnasi for a short while, after which it reverted to the descendants of Hillel.
Prior to Rabban Gamliel the Elder, no titles were used before anyone's name, in line with theTalmudic adage "Gadol miRabban shmo" ("Greater than the titlerabban is a person's own name"). For this reason, Hillel the Elder has no title before his name: his name is in itself a title. Similarly,Moses andAbraham have no titles before their names, but anepithet is sometimes used to differentiate between biblical and historic personages, henceAvraham Avinu (Abraham 'Our Father') andMoshe Rabbeinu (Moses 'Our Teacher').
Starting with RabbiJudah IhaNasi (born 135CE), not even thenasi was given the titlerabban. In its place, JudahhaNasi was given the lofty accoladeRabbeinu HaKadosh ('Our Holy Teacher').[13]
These are thenasi'im of Israel: Hillel the Elder, Shimon his son, Gamliel his son, Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel who was killed with R. Ismael ben Elisha. These [lived] during the Second Temple period.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Jeremy Cohen, "The Nasi of Narbonne: A Problem in Medieval Historiography," AJS Review, 2 (1977): pp. 45–76,
Jones, Lindsay, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. Detroit: Gale, 2005. s.v. "Yehudah Ha-Nasi."
Pearl, Chaim, ed. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life and Thought. New York: Digitalia, Inc., 1996. s.v. "Judah the Prince (Judah Ha-Nasi)."
Pearl, Chaim, ed. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life and Thought. New York: Digitalia, Inc., 1996. s.v. "Prince (Heb. Nasi)."