(“Men of the Great Assembly”), assembly of Jewish religious leaders who, after returning (539 bc) to their homeland from the Babylonian Exile, initiated a new era in the history of Judaism.
The assembly dates from the Persian period, of which very little factual history is known. In fact, scholars argue about whether the reference to an assembly in the Book of Nehemiah (8–10) refers to a legend, an existing group, or a model for a future group.
The reference “Ezra and his companions” seems to place Ezra as a leader of the Great Synagogue at the end of the 4th century bc. Another reference, to Simeon the Just as one of “the remnants” of the assembly, is thought to be identified with Simeon II (219–199 bc).
The assembly may have been a tribunal to pass judgments, but contemporary scholarship suggests that the assembly was chiefly or solely a legislative and administrative council, probably a loosely formed representative body meeting for major enactments. It is thought that much of the Jewish liturgy, at least the benedictions of the Kiddush and Havdala, assumed their current form under the assembly.
The members of the Great Assembly are also said to have classified Jewish oral law into three fields of study: Midrash, Halakha, and Haggada. They established the festival of Purim. All the work attributed to the Great Assembly suggests a group of supreme religious authorities, meeting over a long period of time. The title Anshe Kneset ha-Gedola, “Men of the Great Assembly,” reflects the idea that the leaders themselves, and not the assembly as an institution, were honoured. There was probably no fixed membership or fixed number of members.
There is some evidence that the assembly also served as a centre of research and learning, with both adults and children as students.
The modern Israeli parliament, the Knesset, takes its title from the Great Assembly of old.
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