The Times of Israel is reporting that remains of a building from the time of the Sanhedrin has been uncovered in Yavne for the first time. Yavne, in the central plain, is the ancient city where the supreme Jewish legislative assembly relocated to escape the destruction of the capital, Jerusalem, and the second temple in 70 AD. Inside the find, archeologists uncovered chalkstone cups that the Israeli Antiquities said were “clear evidence that its occupants were observing Jewish laws of ritual purity.”
A find like this can often be overlooked, but this discovery is very important because Yavne is actually a major transition moment in Jewish history. After the destruction of the temple, the religious leaders of Israel needed to figure out how to be Jewish without a temple and yet still obey the law. Much of modern Judaism practiced in synagogues around the world today have their roots in this major transition moment that happened when the Jewish leaders moved from Jerusalem to Yavne.
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