The Palestinian Patriarchate was the governing legalistic body of Palestinian Jewry after the destruction of the Second Temple

Second Temple

The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...

 until about 425CE.

It was headed by the chief scholars of the great Palestinian academies

Talmudic Academies in the Land of Israel

The Talmudic Academies in the Land of Israel were yeshivot that served as centers for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in the Levant and had a great and lasting impact on the development of world Jewry....

, and with the decline of the Sanhedrin

Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...

, their spiritual and legal authority was generally accepted, the institution itself being supported by voluntary contributions by Jews throughout the ancient world. Being a member of the house of Hillel

Hillel the Elder

Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...

 and thus a descendant of King David, the Patriarch, known in Hebrew as the Nasi

Nasi

Nāśī’ is a Hebrew title meaning prince in Biblical Hebrew, Prince in Mishnaic Hebrew, or president in Modern Hebrew.-Genesis and Ancient Israel:...

(prince), enjoyed almost royal authority. Their functions were political rather than religious, though their influence was not limited to the secular realm. The Patriarchate attained its zenith under Judah ha-Nasi who compiled the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

.

The system of a Patriarchate of Palestinian Jewry continued under Roman rule until Theodosius II

Theodosius II

Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...

 (408-450) abolished it after a period of some 350 years, its demise having begun with Christianity being made the official state religion in 312 by Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Constantine I

Constantine I

Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...

. The exact reason for the abrogation of the patriarchate is not clear, though Gamaliel VI

Gamaliel VI

Gamaliel VI was the last nasi of the ancient Sanhedrin.Gamaliel came into office around the year 400. On 17 October 415, an edict issued by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II deposed Gamaliel as nasi because he had disregarded an earlier decree by Honorius, which had curtailed his privileges...

, the last holder of the office who had been for a time elevated by the emperor to the rank of prefect

Prefect

Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....

, may have fallen out with the imperial authorities. Thereafter, Jews were gradually excluded from holding public office.

Court of the Patriarch

Rabbinic texts indicate that following the Bar Kokhba revolt, the southern Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

 became the seat of rabbinic learning in the Land of Israel

Land of Israel

The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

. This region was the location of the court of the Patriarch which was situated first at Usha

Usha

Usha was a city in the Western part of Galilee. It is noteworthy because in the 2nd century , the Sanhedrin, or rabbinic court, was moved from Yavne in Judea to Usha, and then from Usha back to Yavne, and a second time from Yavne to Usha....

, then at Bet Shearim, later at Sepphoris and finally at Tiberias.

Summary of Patriarchal powers

The following is a summary of the powers and responsibilities of the Palestinian Patriarchate from the onset of the third century, based on rabbinic sources as portrayed by L.I. Levine:

1. Representative to Imperial authorities;
2. Focus of leadership in the Jewish community:
   1. Receiving daily visits from prominent families;
   2. Declaration of public fast days;
   3. Initiating or abrogating the ban (herem
      Herem
      Herem or cherem , as used in the Hebrew Bible, means ‘devote’ or ‘destroy’. It is also referred to as the ban. The term has been explained in different ways by scholars...
      
      );
3. Appointment of judges to Jewish courts in Palestine;
4. Regulation of the calendar;
5. Issuing enactments and decrees with respect to the applicability or release from legal requirements, e.g.:
   1. Use of sabbatical year
      Sabbatical year
      Sabbatical or a sabbatical is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year. The concept of sabbatical has a source in shmita, described several places in the Bible...
      
       produce and applicability of sabbatical year injunctions;
   2. Repurchase or redemption of formerly Jewish land from gentile owners;
   3. Status of Hellenistic cities of Palestine re: purity, tithing, sabbatical year;
   4. Exemptions from tithing;
   5. Conditions in divorce documents;
   6. Use of oil produced by gentiles;
6. Dispatching emissaries to diaspora communities;
7. Taxation: both the power to tax and the authority to rule/intervene on the disposition of taxes raised for local purposes by local councils.

Up to the middle of the fourth century, the Palestinian Patriarchate retained the prerogative of determining the Hebrew calendar

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...

 and guarded the intricacies of the calculation process in an effort to subdue interference from the Babylonian community. Due to Christian persecution, Hillel II

Hillel II

Hillel II, also known simply as Hillel held the office of Nasi of the ancient Jewish Sanhedrin between 320 and 385 CE. He was the son and successor of Judah III. He was a Jewish communal and religious authority, circa 330 - 365 CE...

 was obliged to fix the calendar in permanent form in 359 CE. This institution symbolised the passing of authority from the Palestinian patriarchate to the Babylonian Academies

Talmudic Academies in Babylonia

The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonic Academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia from roughly 589 CE to 1038 CE...

.

List of Patriarchs

Patriarch	Period	CE
Gamaliel II Gamaliel II Rabban Gamaliel II was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as Nasi after the fall of the second temple, which occurred in 70 CE. Gamliel was appointed nasi approximately 10 years later. Gamaliel II was the son of Shimon ben Gamaliel, one of Jerusalem's foremost men in the war against the...  of Jamnia Council of Jamnia The Council of Jamnia or Council of Yavne is a hypothetical late 1st-century council at which it is postulated the canon of the Hebrew Bible was finalized....	80 80 Year 80 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Domitianus...	118 118 Year 118 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hadrianus and Fuscus...
Eleazar ben Azariah Eleazar ben Azariah Eleazar ben Azariah , was a 1st-century CE Palestinian tanna . He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b. Hananiah, and senior of Akiba...	118 118 Year 118 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hadrianus and Fuscus...	120 120 Year 120 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Fulvus...
Interregnum (Bar Kokhba revolt)	120 120 Year 120 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Fulvus...	142 142 Year 142 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pactumeius and Quadratus...
Shimon ben Gamliel II Shimon ben Gamliel II Simeon ben Gamliel II was a Tanna of the third generation and president of the Great Sanhedrin. Shimon was a youth in Betar when the Bar Kokhba revolt broke out, but when that fortress was taken by the Romans he managed to escape the massacre...	142 142 Year 142 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pactumeius and Quadratus...	165 165 Year 165 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Orfitus and Pudens...
Judah I	165 165 Year 165 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Orfitus and Pudens...	220 220 Year 220 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Eutychianus...
Gamaliel III Gamaliel III Gamaliel III was the son of Rabbi Judah haNasi , who appointed him his successor as nasi. Little certain is known about his activities, but it is likely that the revision of the Mishnah was completed during his era....	220 220 Year 220 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Eutychianus...	230 230 Year 230 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Clementinus...
Judah II Judah II Judah II or Nesi'ah I was a famous Jewish sage who lived in Tiberias in the Land of Israel, in the middle of the third century CE. He is mentioned in the classical works of Judaism's oral law, the Mishnah and Talmud....	230 230 Year 230 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Clementinus...	270 270 Year 270 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antiochianus and Orfitus...
Gamaliel IV Gamaliel IV Gamaliel IV was and father of Judah III.Gamaliel was the president of the Sanhedrin between 270 and 290 CE...	270 270 Year 270 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antiochianus and Orfitus...	290 290 Year 290 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius...
Judah III Judah III It is often difficult to know when the Mishna and Talmud are referring to Judah II or Judah III; they do not clearly distinguish between them. Since the title "Nesi'ah" was borne by both, which of the two in any citation is meant by "Judah Nesi'ah" can be gathered only from internal evidence,...	290 290 Year 290 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius...	320 320 Year 320 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Constantinus...
Hillel II Hillel II Hillel II, also known simply as Hillel held the office of Nasi of the ancient Jewish Sanhedrin between 320 and 385 CE. He was the son and successor of Judah III. He was a Jewish communal and religious authority, circa 330 - 365 CE...	320 320 Year 320 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Constantinus...	365 365 Year 365 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens...
Gamliel V	365 365 Year 365 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens...	385 385 Year 385 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Bauto...
Judah IV Judah IV -References:...	385 385 Year 385 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Bauto...	400 400 Year 400 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus...
Gamaliel VI Gamaliel VI Gamaliel VI was the last nasi of the ancient Sanhedrin.Gamaliel came into office around the year 400. On 17 October 415, an edict issued by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II deposed Gamaliel as nasi because he had disregarded an earlier decree by Honorius, which had curtailed his privileges...	400 400 Year 400 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus...	425 425 Year 425 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus...