For the source text click/tap here: Rosh Hashanah 31
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The Sanhedrin's first stop after leaving Jerusalem was the city of Yavne, which was established as a center of Torah study by Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai and became most famous under the direction of Rabban Gamliel of Yavne.
Throughout its continuing travels, the Sanhedrin was headed by descendants of the family of Hillel. It appears that the Sanhedrin was moved to Usha in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion, where a series of Rabbinic enactments - called takkanot Usha - were established. Under the leadership of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel there was an unsuccessful attempt to return the Sanhedrin to Yavne, but due to the overwhelming devastation in the southern part of the country, they returned to the Galilee, first to Usha and then to Shefaram.
We examine the conflicting rabbinic myth of Yavneh judaism with the modern Israeli myth of Masada.