For over 2,000 years, Tiberias has been a popular tourist destination. During the Roman occupation, this thriving town was a recreational destination with a spa, built around 17 mineral hot springs. Built by Herod Antipas (one of Herod the Great's three sons), the city was named in honor of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Like in ancient times, Tiberias is a gateway to the Galilee and welcomes visitors from every part of the world.

There is no record of Jesus ever going to Tiberias. Dominated by the Hellenistic cultural practices of Herod Antipas and his Roman friends, it simply wasn’t the kind of place a band of good Jewish boys would visit except for the construction work it would have provided.

Tiberias witnessed a potentially profound event this past October. Seventy-one rabbis gathered in the city situated on the Sea of Galilee to re-instate an institution that dominated the Jewish political and religious landscape during the life of Jesus. The 21st century version of the Sanhedrin was born in the location it disappeared from around 425 A.D.

The word ‘Sanhedrin’ never appears in an English Bible, but no one disputes its existence. Ezra recognized the need for a return to the observance of the Law following the Babylonian and Persian exile. The people had forgotten how to serve and worship God. It was Ezra who selected and organized a group of men to study the Law, practice what they learned, and then to teach it to the people returning from captivity (Ezra 7:10). Their interpretations of how the Jews should observe the Mosaic Law became the foundation of what became known as the ‘traditions of men’. By the time Jesus was born, what had started as a good process became a complete perversion. This Oral Law eventually came to supercede what God originally gave to Moses in importance. The Sanhedrin was the supreme governing authority of this evolved Oral Law. They viewed Jesus’ exploding ministry as a threat and conspired to get rid of Him as the New Testament records.

All of the members of this new Sanhedrin are ordained rabbis. Judaism’s religious leaders in Israel hope this new Sanhedrin will one day leave Tiberias and return to Jerusalem as the supreme governing authority over all aspects of life for Jews practicing Judaism.