Jewish voting: How ancient Jewish tradition helped shape modern democracy - opinion

Shortly after the destruction of the First Temple, in the Greek city of Athens around the year 500 BCE, the process of democratic voting began. Soon after, other Greek city-states followed suit. 

Voting was not open to all. It was a privilege given only to members of the ekklesia – an assembly of the eligible male citizens of Athens. Most often, the vote was conducted via raising the right hand for the voters to signify their choices.

Sometimes, votes were cast by casting pebbles. White stones, when dropped into a container, signified a favorable decision. If a voter was not in favor, black stones were cast. The pebbles were then counted.

In those days in Athens, on important issues, a quorum of 6,000 citizen voters was required.

Jewish history records the Jewish style of voting and decision-making, which did not follow Greek tradition. 

The Mishna, as well as other rabbinic works, detail voting procedures that were revolutionary for their time and that were handed down for generations. They were so proper and even-handed that they influenced democratic procedures today.

Much was done by consensus, by the majority.

The Sanhedrin, a rabbinical court of 71 who functioned as judges and jury, were those who voted. Smaller cities had courts with 23 rabbis and/or judges who judged and voted. Even smaller towns had courts of 3 people.

Voting by the Sanhedrin was not ad hoc; it followed a procedure. The judges had a seating order. For obvious reasons, there were always an odd number of judges in every Sanhedrin.

Member judges of the Sanhedrin were seated in a semi-circle in order of seniority. First was the av beit din (chief judge), and next to him sat the nasi (president) of the court. Then, seating was in order from most senior to most junior.

They spoke and voted in a prescribed manner, always in the same order. The most senior member was first, the most junior was last – with one exception: the capital case.

In a capital case, where a person’s life was at stake, the junior members spoke and voted first, and senior judges went last. That reverse order assured that everyone voted according to their conscience.

It was an assurance that senior judges could not influence younger members, and that it was their decision – not reliance on the influence of their mentors in their decision-making.

In a capital case, there was a presumption of innocence, and the defendant’s defense went first. Additionally, the defendant could not be convicted on a simple majority of one. In these cases, the court needed to convict with a majority of at least two.

In one very unusual incident, the disciples of Beit Shammai packed the court and did not permit the disciples of Beit Hillel, their nemesis, to attend.

According to one recorded description, disciples of Beit Hillel were actually assaulted – and some were even killed – by the disciples of Beit Shammai.

As described in both the Babylonian Talmud and, in a slightly different version in the Jerusalem Talmud, that court met in the attic of Rabbi Hananya ben-Hezekiah. The Talmud refers to this day as one as awful as the day the golden calf was made.

In another outstanding vote, there was a case in which the vote was all against one.

The entire court ruled against Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus on the kosher status of an oven. According to the record, even a heavenly voice came to testify on Rabbi Eliezer’s behalf, and that, too, did not sway the vote.

Jewish councils and where it meets us today

During the medieval period, the Jews had councils like SHUM (Speyer, Worms, and Mainz) in Germany. From 1580 to 1764, there was the Council of Four Lands in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which consisted of delegates who were sent to represent their communities.

Smaller communities sent a single delegate, but larger cities – like Krakow, Poznan, and Lviv – sent two. In 1759, in Amsterdam, they had the Mahamad, a merger of communities. These representatives decided and voted on issues, including the excommunication of Baruch Spinoza on July 27, 1656.

We know this because we have the actual records and notes as well as the votes on these issues. Many communities had notebooks that recorded the events of the community.

They recorded the names of those who visited and what occurred during those visits. We have the numbers and the vote tallies on issues voted on by the Jewish community in Amsterdam.

It was the Zionist Congress that voted on issues that determined the future of the Jewish people. In order to vote, you needed to donate one shekel – that’s all, a single shekel. 

In 1903, the Sixth Zionist Congress voted to accept the Uganda Plan in a vote of 295 to 178. In 1905, that decision was reversed by an overwhelming majority.

A short while later, in 1908, the New York Kehillah in NYC was created, representing 222 organizations. Jews in America were on the path to assimilation. They were workers and union members.

Many Jews were actually the founders and backbones of the unions.

The unions wanted their members to vote, and it was the Jewish membership that taught their fellow workers about the power of democracy and democratic voting. Because of the unions, members were taught how to read, organize, and get safer jobs and better pay.

And it all started with the raising of a hand.

The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on JBS.