The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five lines that together connect the six sections of Portland; the communities of Beaverton, Clackamas, Gresham, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, and Oak Grove; and Portland International Airport to Portland City Center. Trains run seven days a week with headways of between 30 minutes off-peak and three minutes during rush hours. In 2019, MAX had an average daily ridership of 120,900, or 38.8 million annually. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted public transit use globally, annual ridership plummeted, with only 14.8 million riders recorded in 2021.

MAX was among the first second-generation American light rail systems to be built, conceived from freeway revolts that took place in Portland in the 1970s. Planning for the network's inaugural eastside segment, then referred to as the Banfield Light Rail Project, started in 1973 ahead of the cancelation of the Mount Hood Freeway project. Construction began in 1982, and service commenced between downtown Portland and Gresham on September 5, 1986. The original 27-station,  line has since been expanded to 94 stations and  of tracks. The latest extension, from Portland to Milwaukie, was opened in 2015, while on-going improvements for the Red Line will be completed by 2024.

MAX is one of three urban rail transit services operating in the Portland metropolitan area, the other two being the Portland Streetcar and WES Commuter Rail. MAX directly connects to them as well as to other services such as Amtrak, Frequent Express, and local and intercity buses. Trains operate at a maximum of two-car consists due to downtown Portland's short city blocks. Vehicles and platforms are fully accessible, and fares are collected through the Hop Fastpass payment system.

History

Predecessors

In the early 20th century, privately funded interurbans and streetcars gave Portland one of the largest urban rail systems in the American West, with lines that once extended as far north as Vancouver, Washington, south as Eugene, east as Troutdale, and west as Forest Grove. Ben Holladay brought over Portland's first trolleys from San Francisco in 1872; operated by the Portland Street Railway Company, they were drawn by horses and mules. In 1890, the first electric streetcar opened in Albina while the first cable car began running along 5th Avenue; these marked the start of an era of major rail expansion. In 1892, the East Side Railway Company opened the first long-distance interurban service—a  line running from Portland to Oregon City. The Portland Railway, Light and Power Company had taken over all local streetcars by 1906, and interurbans by 1908. In 1912, as Portland's population exceeded 250,000, transit ridership rose to 70 million passengers annually. Passenger rail services had started to decline by the 1920s with the rise of the automobile and suburban and freeway development. Portland's original streetcar lines had ceased operating by 1950, replaced by buses until 2001, when the modern Portland Streetcar opened in downtown Portland. Meanwhile, the region's last two interurban lines, which traveled to Oregon City and Bellrose (Southeast 136th Avenue), permanently closed in 1958.

Early beginnings

At the height of local freeway revolts in the 1970s, studies for public transit began using funds made available by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973. These funds had been intended for the Mount Hood Freeway and Interstate 505 (I-505) projects, which were abandoned amid strong opposition from the Portland city government and neighborhood associations. In 1973, Governor Tom McCall assembled a task force that helped determine several alternative options, including a busway and light rail. Local jurisdictions originally favored the busway alternative but support for light rail prevailed following the mode's inclusion in a 1977 environmental impact statement. The proposal became known as the Banfield light rail project, named for the Banfield Freeway, a segment of I-84 that part of the alignment followed. TriMet approved the project in September 1978. Construction of the , 27-station line between 11th Avenue in downtown Portland and Cleveland Avenue in Gresham began in March 1982. Inaugural service commenced on September 5, 1986. Less than two months before opening, TriMet adopted the name "Metropolitan Area Express", or "MAX", following an employee contest.

As the planning of a light rail line to the west side gained momentum in the mid-1980s, the original MAX line came to be referred to as the Eastside MAX to distinguish it from what would become the Westside MAX extension. Early proposals called for the extension to terminate just west of the Beaverton–Hillsboro boundary on 185th Avenue in Washington County. A dispute between TriMet and the Urban Mass Transportation Administration over a financing plan suspended the project for several years but planning resumed in 1988 and studies were completed in 1991. Staunch lobbying by local and state officials led by Hillsboro Mayor Shirley Huffman forced an extension of the line further west to downtown Hillsboro in 1993. Construction of the 20-station,  line began that August with the excavation of the Robertson Tunnel. The Westside MAX opened in two stages following delays in tunneling: the section from 11th Avenue to Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street was opened in 1997 and the section to Hatfield Government Center—the segment's current western terminus—was opened in 1998. The resulting  MAX line began operating as a single, through service on September 12, 1998. This service was renamed the Blue Line in 2001 after TriMet adopted color designations for its light rail routes.

South/North plan

At the same time TriMet was planning the Westside MAX in the mid-1980s, Metro regional government announced new light rail proposals for Clackamas County. Its planning committee—the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT)—proposed two separate routes that would have run between downtown Portland and Oregon City via Milwaukie and between Portland International Airport and Clackamas Town Center via I-205. Further planning led JPACT to favor the I-205 corridor due to an existing right-of-way along the I-205 Transitway, an unfinished mass transit component of the freeway that had been built to accommodate a busway. TriMet, however, prioritized the Westside MAX during its bid for federal matching funds and the I-205 plans were put on hold. In 1989, studies for both I-205 and Milwaukie proposals received funding from the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations under the condition that they included potential route extensions to Clark County, Washington. Metro completed the studies in 1993, ultimately abandoning I-205 in favor of a route along the I-5 and Willamette River corridors. It finalized a single  line from Hazel Dell, Washington south to Clackamas Town Center via Milwaukie, which Metro and TriMet formally named the South–North Line. Metro said it adopted the name "South/North" instead of the more conventional "North/South" word order, at the request of representatives in the southern part of the corridor after the southern leg, which had long been planned to be the next-priority MAX corridor after the Westside line, was merged with the northern leg as a single proposed project.

In November 1994, 63% of Portland area voters passed a $475million ballot measure to fund Oregon's portion of the project. The following February, however, Clark County residents defeated a tax measure that would have funded Washington's share. To move the project forward, TriMet downsized the plan and abandoned the line's Clark County and North Portland segments up to the Rose Quarter. That July, the Oregon House of Representatives approved a $750million transportation package, which included $375 million for the scaled-back line. The funding was annulled by the Oregon Supreme Court due to the inclusion of unrelated measures that violated the state's constitution. The legislature met again in February 1996 and passed a revised $375million package, but light rail opponents forced a statewide vote and defeated it the following November. A third proposal between Lombard Street in North Portland and Clackamas Town Center followed. This time, Metro and TriMet pursued the project without seeking contributions from either Clark County or the state, instead sourcing funds from Clackamas County and Portland. In 1998, TriMet placed a new ballot measure to reaffirm voter support for the $475million originally approved in 1994. The measure failed by 52% in November of that year, effectively canceling the proposed line.

Airport and Interstate lines

Compelled by the rapid expansion of Portland International Airport in the 1990s, the Port of Portland began exploring ways to alleviate worsening traffic congestion, including the possibility of introducing MAX service, which regional planners had not anticipated for at least another 20 years. In 1997, engineering firm Bechtel accelerated plans by submitting an unsolicited proposal to design and build an airport rail link in exchange for  of Port property. A public–private partnership between the company and local governments was negotiated and construction of the Airport MAX began in June 1999. With no federal assistance requested and right-of-way already secured, it was completed in just under two years. The four-station,  line between Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center and Portland International Airport station opened on September 10, 2001. Celebrations scheduled for that weekend were canceled in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Red Line service originally ran between the airport and downtown, turning around at the loop tracks on 11th Avenue. On September 1, 2003, it was extended west along existing tracks to Beaverton Transit Center to relieve overcrowding on the Blue Line and to create a one-seat airport connection for the west side.

In 1999, Portland business leaders and residents who were opposed to the cancellation of the South–North Line urged TriMet to revive the project. TriMet responded with a new proposal that would expand MAX solely to North Portland via North Interstate Avenue. The agency moved forward with this plan and the Interstate MAX broke ground in February 2001. To minimize costs to taxpayers, the city created an urban renewal district and federal matching funds were allocated from the Airport MAX and Portland Streetcar projects, since these projects were locally funded. The 10-station,  extension from the Rose Quarter to the Expo Center opened on May 1, 2004, with its new service designated the Yellow Line. From 2004 to 2009, the Yellow Line ran from Expo Center station in North Portland to 11th Avenue in downtown Portland, following the Blue and Red lines' downtown alignment from the Steel Bridge. On August 30, 2009, it was rerouted to terminate at the PSU Urban Center stations with the addition of light rail to the Portland Transit Mall. In September 2012, this was extended further south to the PSU South stations, which had not been built due to the construction of nearby transit-oriented development. The Yellow Line became interlined with the Orange Line in 2015; it now only operates the northbound segment of the transit mall.

South Corridor extensions

In 2001, Metro revisited its former light rail plans for Clackamas County by reconsidering proposals similar to those of the canceled South–North Line project, with two routes extending to Clackamas and Milwaukie. This resulted in a new study, which Metro referred to as the South Corridor transportation project, that evaluated light rail among other alternatives. The study's task force recommend both light rail options in 2003 and suggested splitting the project into two phases. The first phase planned for the addition of light rail to I-205, between Gateway Transit Center and Clackamas Town Center. In October of that year, the first phase plans were amended to include adding light rail to the Portland Transit Mall following a petition from Portland business leaders. The combined project was approved for federal funding in 2006 and work began in January 2007. Light rail commenced service along the 14-station,  Portland Transit Mall on August 30, 2009, first served by the Yellow Line. The opening of the eight-station,  I-205 MAX and Green Line service followed on September 12.

The South Corridor project's second phase initially proposed the extension of MAX between downtown Portland and Milwaukie via the Hawthorne Bridge. Studies showed that this alignment would cause severe traffic bottlenecks in downtown. As a result, Portland businesses pushed for the construction of a new bridge further upstream that led to the southern end of the Portland Transit Mall. The locally preferred alignment was finalized in mid-2008; a new bridge would carry light rail across the Willamette River from the South Waterfront to just south of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). TriMet designed this bridge, which was eventually inaugurated as Tilikum Crossing, to be "car-free" and to accommodate only transit vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Construction of the line began in June 2011. In September 2012, opponents passed a ballot initiative—with 60% of the vote—requiring all Clackamas County spending on light rail to be approved by voters. Following the county's attempt to end its involvement and a suit filed by TriMet, a circuit court upheld the project's continuation. The 17-station,  Portland–Milwaukie segment and Orange Line service opened on September 12, 2015. The Orange Line, operating along the Portland Transit Mall's southbound segment, became the third service to serve this corridor.

Future plans

TriMet works with local jurisdictions and agencies to identify and recommend priority transit projects to include in Metro's Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The 2018 RTP is Metro's latest iteration, and it lists three funding scenarios that divide the region's proposals into three priority levels. The highest priority projects, which are referred to as "2027 Constrained", are proposals the region expects to have funding for by 2027. The "2040 Constrained" lists projects that fit within the region's planned budget through 2040, while the "2040 Strategic" are projects that may be built if additional funding becomes available.

Current projects

The 2018 RTP lists two MAX-related projects it expects will be funded by 2027; these are the "A Better Red" and "Southwest Corridor" projects.

Other proposals

TriMet has indicated that other extensions and improvements have been studied or discussed with Metro and cities in the region. These proposals include the following, with light rail and alternatives being considered:

 Extension to Forest Grove
 Extension to Oregon City via McLoughlin Boulevard (OR 99E)
 Extension to Hillsboro via Sunset Highway (US 26)
 Extension to Vancouver, Washington

Operation

Segments

The MAX rail network is approximately  long. It was built in a series of six projects starting with the  Banfield—now called Eastside—segment between downtown Portland and Gresham. Each successive project has either been an extension or a branch of an existing segment. TriMet has typically paired each project with the opening of a new line, often making the line and segment synonymous (e.g. "Airport MAX Red Line").

Lines

For MAX, a "line" refers to the physical railroad tracks and stations a train serves within its designated termini, i.e. a train "route" or "service". MAX operates five lines, each assigned a color. TriMet adopted the use of colors to distinguish separately operated routes in 2000 and brought them into use the following year when it opened the Airport MAX extension. On that day, trains that had been running between Hillsboro and Gresham were designated the Blue Line, while trains running between downtown Portland and Portland International Airport were designated the Red Line.

Every MAX line interlines with at least one other service, particularly as it approaches the system's central area. The Steel Bridge accommodates the most interline routes with four lines (Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow) utilizing the same tracks. TriMet has modified train routes over time, often as part of system expansions. For example, the Yellow Line, which began service in 2004, originally followed the same route into downtown Portland as the Blue and Red lines. It was realigned to the transit mall in 2009 when light rail service was introduced to that corridor.

Right-of-way

MAX operates on a mixture of shared and exclusive transit right-of-way. Within downtown Portland, trains run on surface streets. They operate in dedicated lanes restricted to personal vehicles, and operators abide by the city's traffic control system. On the Morrison and Yamhill couplet, MAX travels in the left lanes. On the Portland Transit Mall (5th and 6th couplet), MAX shares dedicated lanes with buses; both vehicle types travel in the center or right lanes and stop at their respective curbside platforms on the right lane. Lanes may be separated by turtleback delineators or double-solid white lines, and marked with white diamonds or white "T"s.

Outside of downtown Portland, MAX runs on street medians and viaducts, alongside freeways and freight lines, and underground. Where the tracks run within a street median, intersections are controlled by traffic signals that give trains preemption. Where tracks run on a separate right-of-way, trains are protected by automated grade crossing gates when traversing level crossings. Some segments of MAX are elevated to carry trains over busy thoroughfares and difficult terrain. A  section of tracks runs beneath Washington Park in Portland's West Hills through the Robertson Tunnel, the system's longest underground segment.

MAX crosses the Willamette River using the Steel Bridge and Tilikum Crossing. In studies conducted for the Eastside MAX, planners recommended using the Steel Bridge due to its former role as a river crossing for the city's historic streetcars. When MAX commenced service in 1986, trains shared the bridge's center lanes with vehicular traffic. In 2008, workers closed the bridge's upper deck to construct a junction between the Eastside MAX tracks and the newer Portland Transit Mall tracks. Upon reopening, the two inner lanes became exclusive to MAX trains, while cars, buses, and other motorized traffic were restricted to the two outer lanes. TriMet designed and built the newer Tilikum Crossing to accommodate transit vehicles (MAX, streetcar, and buses), cyclists, and pedestrians only; with the exception of emergency responders, private vehicles are prohibited. Tilikum Crossing is thus recognized as the first major "car-free" bridge in the United States.

Power and signaling

MAX is powered by a conventional 750-volt direct current (DC) overhead wire system. Most of the system uses a dual-wire catenary, with a contact wire supported by a messenger wire. In central city areas such as downtown Portland, however, it uses a single contact wire to minimize the amount of overhead wiring. To further minimize visual impact, ornamental street light poles, buildings, and bridge structures are used to support the wiring. Substations, spaced approximately every  apart, convert the high-voltage public supply to the voltage power used by trains. The power system can bridge any one substation so that trains can continue to operate should a substation or its supply go down.

Approximately 70 percent of the MAX system uses automatic block signaling (ABS), which allows for relatively fast operating speeds—up to —and short headways. For example, between Lloyd Center/Northeast 11th Avenue station and Gateway Transit Center along the Banfield Freeway, ABS can accommodate an operating headway of two minutes. Within these sections, automatic train stops (ATS) enforce speed limits and automatically apply the brakes should a train operator fail to do so. The remaining 30 percent of the system relies on traffic signals and line-of-sight operation. Speeds do not exceed  in these sections.

Stations

MAX consists of 94 stations, of which 48 are served by the Blue Line, 30 by the Green Line, 26 by the Red Line, 17 by the Orange Line, and 17 by the Yellow Line. Furthermore, 32 stations are served by at least two lines and eight stations are served by three lines. The system's central stations, where all MAX services interconnect, border the two city blocks in downtown Portland occupied by the Pioneer Courthouse and Pioneer Courthouse Square; they are the Pioneer Courthouse and Pioneer Place stations—served by the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines—and the Pioneer Square stations—served by the Blue and Red lines.

MAX stations vary in size but are generally simple and austere. Platforms are about  long as a result of Portland's short city blocks in downtown, which restrict trains to two-car consists. Like other North American light rail systems, MAX stations do not have faregates; paid fare zones are delineated but remain accessible to anyone. In 2015, TriMet proposed installing turnstiles at some stations along the Portland–Milwaukie segment but never did so. Stations are typically equipped with trash cans, shelters, and ticket vending machines. Most stations have arrival information displays that show when trains arrive and other service information. These displays were first installed at I-205 and Portland Transit Mall stations, and a federal grant in 2013 enabled TriMet to add more at other locations. Concessionaires sometimes open coffee shops at certain stations.

A majority of MAX stations are at street level, correlating to the system's predominant alignment. Sunset Transit Center, , and stations along the Banfield Freeway are below street level. One station, , is elevated. Washington Park is the system's only underground station and holds the distinction as North America's deepest transit station at  below ground.

Many MAX stations facilitate transfers to other modes of public transit. 11 stations are transit centers with connections to multiple local and intercity bus routes. Beaverton Transit Center is the only MAX-served transit center with a transfer to the region's commuter rail line, WES Commuter Rail, which operates between Beaverton and Wilsonville in Washington County. Within the Portland Transit Mall, trains connect with buses serving downtown Portland; bus stops take up transit mall blocks unoccupied by light rail platforms. MAX riders can transfer to the Portland Streetcar at points where MAX and streetcar lines intersect and to Amtrak via two stations near Portland Union Station. The Red Line operates as an airport rail link with a stop at a MAX station attached to the main passenger terminal of Portland International Airport.

TriMet has built a total of six infill stations. Four were built on the original Eastside MAX alignment—Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue (1990), Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue (1990), Convention Center (1990), and  (2010)—while two were built on the Portland Transit Mall—PSU South/Southwest 6th and College (2012) and PSU South/Southwest 5th and Jackson (2012). On March 1, 2020, TriMet permanently closed the Mall infill stations in an effort to speed up travel times in downtown Portland. The agency also temporarily closed Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street station for a trial period ending on March 1, 2021.

Accessibility

Stations built as part of the Banfield Light Rail Project were originally fitted with electric wayside lifts to accommodate riders with mobility devices on the system's high-floor, first-generation vehicles. Each station had two lifts, one for each direction of travel. The lifts were installed on platforms rather than on trains to prevent malfunctions from delaying service. Increased use of the lifts eventually became the cause of delays, and many users felt stigmatized by the lifts' "box" design and time-consuming operation. With the passing into law of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), TriMet developed a paratransit plan in January 1992. Just before the start of the Westside MAX Project, MAX became the first light rail system in North America to procure low-floor vehicles after a TriMet study of European systems. The low-floor cars, which TriMet and Siemens jointly developed, entered service in August 1997.

MAX achieved full accessibility in April 1999. Ticket vending machines provide information and instructions in audio, braille, and raised lettering. Station platforms also have signs with braille and raised lettering to indicate which lines provide service and where they go. The edge of platforms have tactile paving to warn riders from standing too close to the edge. Non-street-level platforms may be accessed with elevators. Most light rail cars, with the exception of Type 1, are low-floor and have ramps that extend onto platforms to allow mobility devices to board. High-floor Type 1 cars are paired with low-floor Type 2 or 3 cars to maintain accessibility. In each train, an audio system and LED signs announce the name of each upcoming station. All trains have spaces and priority seating areas reserved for seniors and people with disabilities, and service animals are permitted on board.

In 2011, TriMet began upgrading the oldest sections of MAX to improve pedestrian safety and compliance with updated ADA standards. TriMet installed pipe barriers at Gateway Transit Center platform crossings to force pedestrians to slow down and face oncoming trains before crossing the tracks and realigned sidewalks and crosswalks at four at-grade crossings in Gresham. Other improvements made throughout the line include the installation of pedestrian warning signals and tactile paving upgrades.

Parking

Based on a report published in 2019, TriMet provides a total of 12,614 park-and-ride spaces, of which 10,219 directly serve 25 MAX stations. The agency's parking facilities are either surface lots or multi-level garages, and they are free to use. TriMet allows vehicles to park at most stalls overnight as long as they do not remain for more than 24 hours. At some locations, TriMet negotiates with nearby establishments for additional parking spaces. Westside MAX stations contain 3,643 parking spaces, the most number of spaces in a corridor. Clackamas Town Center Transit Center on the I-205 MAX segment includes a 750-space parking garage, the largest capacity of any single MAX station. Southeast Holgate Boulevard station, also on the I-205 MAX, provides the fewest parking spaces with 125 stalls.

In the 2019 report, passengers originating from TriMet park and rides accounted for five percent of TriMet's total weekday ridership. In 2017, the Portland–Milwaukie segment had a 100-percent usage rate of its available spaces while the Westside MAX segment had 85 percent. The corridor with the lowest use of available parking spaces was the I-205 MAX at 30 percent; TriMet attributes this to factors such as inconvenient lot access and the Green Line's indirect route to downtown Portland compared with the availability of more direct bus routes. The cost-per-space for building park and rides is estimated at $18,000 per surface-lot space and $52,000 per structured space.

TriMet additionally offers four different bicycle parking options at its MAX stations, although not all options are available at every station. Bike and rides are secure, enclosed spaces that are accessible by keycard and are monitored 24 hours per day by security cameras;  they are available at eight stations. Electronic bicycle lockers, or eLockers, are secure lockers that may also be accessed by keycard and are made available on a first-come, first-served basis. TriMet contracts some keycard access to BikeLink and uses its Hop Fastpass on others. Other lockers may be rented by users. Bicycle racks are the most common form of bicycle parking.

Rolling stock

, TriMet operates five models of light rail vehicles designated as "Type 1" through "Type 5", of which two are successive upgrades of the same model. The MAX system's 145 cars vary in length, from  to , and are used interchangeably on every line. Downtown Portland's  downtown blocks allow the operation of only one or two consists to prevent stopped trains from blocking intersections. Type 2 and 3 low-floor vehicles may run singularly or coupled to another Type 1, 2, or 3 vehicle. Type 1 high-floor vehicles are also capable of running singularly, but doing so would constrain accessibility due to a lack of wheelchair access. Thus, a high-floor car must be coupled with a low-floor car. Type 4 and 5 cars can only be coupled to one another.

Twenty-six Type 1 high-floor vehicles were produced for the Banfield light rail project by a joint venture between Bombardier and La Brugeoise et Nivelles beginning in 1983. TriMet announced it would purchase seven additional vehicles that August, but a budget shortfall forced the agency to withdraw this proposal the following November. The cars are similar in design to Bombardier vehicles that had been used in Rio de Janeiro. Bombardier built the frames in Quebec but its factory in Barre, Vermont, manufactured the majority of each car, the first of which arrived in Portland in 1984. Each  car is single-articulated and contains six axles. The high floors connect with the low platforms through interior steps, which necessitated platform wheelchair lifts until the arrival of low-floor cars. A car sits 76 people and has an overall capacity of 166.

In 1992, TriMet officials conducted an accessibility study and determined that low-floor cars were the most cost-effective alternative to providing universal access. MAX then became the first light rail system in North America to acquire low-floor train sets when TriMet procured 39 model SD660 cars from Siemens in 1993. These Type 2 cars were equipped with doorway wheelchair ramps. They entered service during the partial opening of the Westside MAX in 1997. By 2000, TriMet had ordered 17 more Type 2 cars including six for the Airport MAX project. The system's 27 Type 3 vehicles, which the agency purchased as part of the Interstate MAX project and first brought into use in 2003, are the same model as the Type 2 vehicles but with technical upgrades and a new livery.

Twenty-two Siemens S70 low-floor cars, which were designated Type 4, were purchased in conjunction with the I-205 MAX and Portland Transit Mall projects, and were first used in 2009. Type 4 cars have a more streamlined design and more seating, and are lighter and more energy-efficient than the previous models. The Type 4 cars were the first in the MAX network to use LED-type destination signs. The second series of S70 cars, TriMet's Type 5 vehicles, were procured for the Portland–Milwaukie light rail project. TriMet placed an order for the Type 5 cars with Siemens in 2012 and delivery commenced in 2014. These vehicles include some improvements over the Type 4 cars, including less-cramped interior seating, and improvements to the air-conditioning system and wheelchair ramps. These introduced a new seating layout in the center section, among other changes, and Siemens later retroactively redesignated TriMet's Type 5 cars as model S700.

In July 2019, TriMet placed an order for 26 Siemens S700 light rail vehicles that are intended to replace the system's Type 1 vehicles. The first car was delivered in December 2022.

Maintenance

TriMet's vehicle-maintenance complexes for the MAX system are the Ruby Junction facility in Gresham and the smaller Elmonica facility in Beaverton. The Ruby Junction facility is located near Ruby Junction/East 197th Avenue station while the Elmonica facility is adjacent to Elmonica/Southwest 170th Avenue station; both are on the Blue Line.

Ruby Junction began with one building that TriMet built as part of the original MAX project in the early 1980s; it had expanded to three multi-story buildings totaling  occupying  by 2010, and to four buildings totalling  occupying  by 2016. It contains 13 maintenance bays and its yard tracks have the capacity to store 87 light rail cars. In 2016, around 200 employees worked at Ruby Junction and almost 200 MAX operators operated trains that were based there. In addition to vehicle maintenance, crews who maintain the MAX system's tracks and signals are also based at Ruby Junction. In 2015, some maintenance-of-way personnel moved into the Portland Vintage Trolley carbarn next to Rose Quarter Transit Center after Vintage Trolley service was discontinued.

Ruby Junction originally housed TriMet's operations, communications, and administrative workers.

The Elmonica facility was built as part of the Westside MAX Project in the mid-1990s and was completed in 1996. Its building has  of space.

Services

From Monday to Thursday, MAX trains run for 22 hours per day. Additional late-night trips are provided on Fridays. Except for additional late-night trips on Saturdays, weekend service runs on a slightly reduced schedule. TriMet designates all MAX lines as "Frequent Service" routes, which ensures service runs on a 15-minute headway for most of each day. During the early morning and late evening hours, trains operate with headways of up to 30minutes. During rush hours, headways can be as short as three minutes, particularly in the central section of the system where lines overlap. At many stations, a live display shows the destination and time-to-arrival of the next several trains using data gathered by a vehicle tracking system installed on the light rail tracks.

Ridership

MAX carried over 38.8million total passengers in 2019, an average of 120,900 riders per day on weekdays. This is slightly lower than the number of riders recorded in 2018 and represents the system's third consecutive year of fallen ridership. MAX ridership peaked in 2012, when the system recorded around 42.2million annual passengers. 2016 marks the last year ridership increased; this was due to the opening of the Orange Line. TriMet attributes falling ridership to perceived crime within trains and stations and lower-income riders being forced out of the inner city by rising housing prices. In 2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), MAX was the fourth-busiest light rail system in the United States after the light rail services of Metro Rail in Los Angeles, the MBTA in Boston, and Muni Metro in San Francisco.

Fares

As is standard practice on North American light rail systems, MAX uses proof-of-payment for fare collection, and stations do not have ticket barriers. TriMet employs an automated fare collection system through a stored-value, contactless smart card called Hop Fastpass, which can be purchased from the TriMet ticket office or participating retail outlets. Smartphone users may download a virtual version of Hop Fastpass, while single-use Hop Fastpass tickets are dispensed by ticket vending machines at every MAX station. Smartphones with a debit or credit card loaded into Google Pay, Samsung Pay, or Apple Pay, and Portland Streetcar 2-hour tickets and one-day passes can also be used to board MAX. Riders must tap their fare medium onto a card reader with each boarding. Fares are flat rate and are capped according to use. The cost of fare for adults is $2.50 for a 2-hour ticket, $5 for a day pass, and $100 for a month pass. For youth and honored citizens, it is $1.25 for a 2-hour ticket, $2.50 for a day pass, and $28 for a month pass. Using Hop Fastpass, riders may transfer to other TriMet services, C-Tran, and the Portland Streetcar.

Discontinued services

From the MAX system's opening until 2012, riding trains within Fareless Square, which was known as the Free Rail Zone from 2010 to 2012, was free of charge. Fareless Square included all of downtown and, starting in 2001, part of the Lloyd District. The 37-year-old fare-free zone was discontinued on September 1, 2012, as part of system-wide cost-cutting measures. As part of the same budget cuts, TriMet discontinued its zonal fares and moved to a flat-fare system. Zones had been in place since 1986; higher fares were charged for longer journeys across four paid zones.

The MAX Mall Shuttle operated on weekday afternoons from when it was introduced on September 14, 2009, until 2011. It acted as a supplement to the light rail service provided on the Portland Transit Mall by the Green and Yellow lines. The Mall Shuttle operated between Union Station and Portland State University every 30 minutes from noon until 5:30p.m. TriMet discontinued this supplementary shuttle service on June 5, 2011. Along with bus services, the mall continues to be served by two MAX lines in each direction—Green and Yellow lines northbound and Green and Orange lines southbound—which provide a combined average headway of 7.5 minutes in each direction at most times.

The Portland Vintage Trolley operated on the MAX system on most weekends from 1991 until 2014, serving the same stops. This service used 1991-built replicas of 1904 Portland streetcars. Originally, the Vintage Trolley service followed a section of the original MAX line between the Library and Galleria stations and Lloyd Center. In September 2009, the service moved to the newly opened MAX alignment along the transit mall, running between Union Station to Portland State University, and remained on this route in subsequent seasons. In 2011, the service was reduced to seven or eight Sundays per year, and in July 2014 it was discontinued entirely and the two remaining faux-vintage cars were sold to a group planning a streetcar line in St. Louis.

Safety

TriMet employs a transit police division to patrol MAX and other TriMet property. Most of its officers serve with local law enforcement agencies and are assigned terms with the transit police; this partnership with local police enables the closest available unit to respond to incidents. TriMet also partners with the Transportation Security Administration, which provides a canine unit. Riders are encouraged to alert TriMet employees using on-board intercoms or to dial 9-1-1 upon witnessing a crime or suspicious activity. TriMet operates over 4,000 security cameras; all MAX trains and stations became fully equipped with cameras in 2014.

2017 train stabbing incident

On May 26, 2017, at approximately 4:30pm, a man fatally stabbed two people and injured a third after he was confronted for shouting anti-Muslim slurs at two teenage girls inside a MAX train. Two men—a technician and U.S. Army veteran, and a recent university graduate—died from wounds to their necks while a third victim, who is also male, survived. The attacker, who described himself as a white nationalist, was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, and other crimes. On February 21, 2020, the perpetrator was found guilty on all charges, including two counts of first-degree murder.

This resulted in a mural being painted on the station entrance of the Hollywood Transit Center, where the stabbing occurred.

2022 Train Accident
On August 5, 2022, a MAX Light Rail train crashed into a buffer at Southeast Park Avenue station, no deaths were reported, but 3 people were injured.

See also
List of rail transit systems in the United States
Transportation in Portland, Oregon

Notes

References

External links

1986 establishments in Oregon
750 V DC railway electrification
825 V DC railway electrification
Electric railways in Oregon
Light rail in Oregon
Passenger rail transportation in Oregon
Railway lines opened in 1986
Transportation in Hillsboro, Oregon
Transportation in Multnomah County, Oregon
Transportation in Washington County, Oregon
TriMet

MAX Light Rail


The Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students (, FMSF, "Free Moderate Student League") is a Swedish student organisation. It considers itself to be non-partisan, but is politically close to the Moderate Party. The organisation is a founding member of the European Democrat Students.

History
The Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students was formed in 1942 as the Swedish Union of Conservative Students (Sveriges konservativa studentförbund, SKSF) but changed its name in 1969, a couple of months before the Moderate Party adopted its current name.

The European Democrat Students arose from cooperation between the Swedish Union of Conservative Students and the Association of Christian Democratic Students, that started when a delegation from Sweden attended the annual meeting of the Association of Christian Democratic Students in West Berlin in 1958.

Organisation
The Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students consists of several independent student clubs, found in many universities across Sweden. The biggest is the one at Lund University. Other clubs that exist throughout Sweden is for instance FMS Freja in Västerås and FMSF Uppsala. The Council of Chairmen (Ordföranderådet), consisting of the chairmen of each constituent club, is formally the board of the League. In practice most power is in the hand of the Presidium which is made up by the Chairman and four deputies.

Ideology
The organisation takes great pride in its approach to politics. It claims that "the arguments are more important than the opinions" and "the debate is more important than the decisions". It takes more care in fostering open debate than taking policy decisions or writing manifestos.

The League has, however, been known for its fierce libertarianism. At its annual conference debate has through the years centred on things like legalisation of narcotics, free immigration and abolishing the ban on prostitution. It, in contrast to the Moderate Party, opposed Sweden's membership of the euro.

Relationship with the Moderate Party and the Moderate Youth League
Even though no formal links exists, there is considerable personal contacts between the League and the organisations of the Moderate Party. Former Prime Minister Carl Bildt is a former chairman, as well as his predecessor as leader of the Moderate Party Ulf Adelsohn and the  Minister for Finance Anders E Borg. Sven Otto Littorin, the former Party Secretary and current Minister for Employment, has also been an active member.

There is widespread cross-membership between the Student League and the Moderate Youth League, which perceived as less radical than its student counterpart and remains formally connected to the party. In Uppsala, for example, most local leaders of the Youth League are also active in the Student League. This means that the neoliberalism of the Student League can also be found in the local Youth League.

References

External links

Student wings of political parties in Sweden
Student wings of conservative parties
Moderate Party
International Young Democrat Union


Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who now coaches the Cardiff City U23s.

A centre-back, he began his career at Leyton Orient, before winning a £100,000 move to Oxford United in July 1996. He continued to impress and was bought by Birmingham City for £700,000 in February 1998. He played for the "Blues" in the Premier League and the 2001 Football League Cup Final, before switching to West Bromwich Albion for a £750,000 fee in June 2004. After a year with the "Baggies", he was transferred to Championship side Cardiff City for just under £1 million.

Appointed as club captain, he was an unused substitute in the 2008 FA Cup Final, where they were defeated by Portsmouth. He joined Sheffield Wednesday in July 2009, and was again appointed as captain. The "Owls" suffered relegation into League One, and he moved on to Millwall in January 2011. Loaned out to Yeovil Town, he switched to Plymouth Argyle for a 12-month spell in January 2012.

He left Plymouth for Port Vale in January 2013, and helped the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2012–13. He left England in August 2013 to play for Finnish club IFK Mariehamn, before heading into English non-League football with Chesham United, Welling United, Staines Town, AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Hayes & Yeading United, Bishop's Stortford, and Enfield Town. Over the course of his 24-year playing career he made 796 league and cup appearances, scoring a total of 51 goals.

Club career

Leyton Orient
Purse was born in Stepney, London and attended Cardinal Pole Roman Catholic School in Hackney. As a youngster Purse played in the same Sunday league side as Lee Bowyer. He rejected apprenticeships at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in favour of training with the Leyton Orient first-team on the promise of a professional contract on his 17th-birthday. He made his senior début at Orient under Peter Eustace just three days after his 17th-birthday, in a defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at the Goldstone Ground. He spent close to two seasons at Brisbane Road, and scored five goals in 66 league and cup appearances for the club. Orient were relegated out of the Second Division in last place in 1994–95, and finished 21st in the Third Division in 1995–96. He also spent time in Finland on loan at Kakkonen (Second Division) club BK-IFK.

Oxford United
In July 1996, Purse was signed by Oxford United for a £100,000 fee. He made 31 appearances in the 1996–97 season, as Denis Smith's "Yellows" posted a 17th-place finish in the First Division. Purse impressed at the Manor Ground, and scored six goals in 35 games in 1997–98.

Birmingham City
Purse joined Birmingham City for £600,000 plus Kevin Francis (valued at £100,000) in February 1998. He started just two First Division games at the end of the 1997–98 season after making an unimpressive debut. He made 11 league starts and nine substitute appearances in the 1998–99 campaign, and also appeared at St Andrew's as a substitute in the play-off defeat to Watford after David Holdsworth was sent off – he converted a penalty in the shoot-out, which ended in a 7–6 victory for Watford.

Purse established an effective centre-back partnership with Michael Johnson in the 1999–2000 season, making 41 starts in league and cup competitions for the "Blues". He played at the Millennium Stadium in the 2001 League Cup Final, and scored a 90th-minute penalty to take the game into extra time. He also converted his penalty in the shoot-out, which was won by Liverpool 5–4. With four goals in 49 appearances in the 2000–01 season, Purse won the vote to be named as the club's player of the season. This represented a significant turnaround for a young defender who was barracked by City supporters at the start of the campaign.

He missed the start of the 2001–02 season after a training ground shot from manager Trevor Francis broke his wrist. Francis was sacked just after Purse returned to full fitness, though the defender managed to keep his first team place under new boss Steve Bruce, and started 40 matches in the 2001–02 season.

In August 2002, Purse "ended months of speculation" by signing a three-year deal (with an option for a fourth year). Having been courted by Arsenal, Charlton Athletic and Everton, he had previously been stripped of the club captaincy after twice rejecting Birmingham's offer of a £10,000 per week five-year contract. The protracted negotiations were put down to his ambitions for top-flight football, which were secured with victory in the 2002 play-off final (Purse did not feature in the matchday squad). However, he missed a large chunk of the 2002–03 season after his ankle became infected following surgery.

Purse had a quiet 2003–04 campaign, making only nine Premier League appearances. He did, however, hit the headlines after elbowing Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu; the Romanian reportedly launched a "volley of expletives" at Purse in a post-match dressing room incident.

West Bromwich Albion
Purse moved to Gary Megson's West Bromwich Albion for £750,000 in June 2004. On signing with the club he said "I've probably got the best years of my career ahead of me." He spent a single season with Albion in the Premier League, making 24 appearances in all competitions, and was frozen out of the first team from February onwards. He therefore played no part in the "Survival Sunday" victory over Portsmouth that ensured the "Baggies" retained their top-flight status. He had made "significant errors" on the pitch, and, as at Birmingham, was deemed surplus to requirement at The Hawthorns by new boss Bryan Robson.

Cardiff City
In July 2005, Purse moved to Cardiff City in a deal worth just under £1 million. Five players (Alan Lee, Rhys Weston, Tony Warner, Chris Barker and Neil Alexander) accepted "substantial reductions in their wages" to allow the club to meet Purse's wage demands. He was appointed team captain, and forged a reputation for hard work and consistency as the foundation of the Cardiff defence, forming an effective partnership with Glenn Loovens. He scored six goals in 43 games in 2005–06 and scored four goals in 33 games in 2006–07. Purse signed a one-year extension to his contract at Ninian Park in July 2007.

In August 2007, he received an injury to his knee cartilage and it was expected that he would be unavailable for up to four weeks, but he contracted an infection during an operation on the injured knee that delayed his return for a much longer period. He made his return to first team football in October, and went on to score a headed goal in the 2–1 League Cup defeat by Liverpool at Anfield on 31 October. The 2007–08 season turned into a disappointment for Purse as he was forced out of the side by "Bluebirds" fan favourite Roger Johnson. He also scored several own goals, including a spectacular volleyed backpass that proved too powerful for Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman. He was also labelled a "muppet" by Burnley forward Andrew Cole, after Purse was sent off for what was deemed a dangerous tackle against Cole, although Cardiff manager Dave Jones defended the player and the ban was later overturned. Purse did not feature in City's FA Cup run to the final at Wembley, and was an unused substitute as Cardiff were beaten 1–0 by Portsmouth.

Purse began the 2008–09 season on the bench until Glenn Loovens was sold to Celtic, and he returned to the starting line-up alongside Roger Johnson in September. He spent three months in the first team before losing his place in the side again, this time to Hungary international Gábor Gyepes who was signed as a replacement for Loovens, after a 2–1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle on 22 November after which Cardiff manager Dave Jones slammed the defensive performance of the team. Purse responded by criticising his manager and stating that he did not deserve to be dropped from the side. Purse was told that he could leave the club if a replacement could be signed during the January transfer window and was allowed to open talks with fellow Championship side Norwich City, but Cardiff could not find a suitable replacement in time and the move was cancelled. Able to secure a play-off place on the last day of the 2008–09 season, Cardiff instead suffered defeat and missed out on the play-offs on goal difference. At the end of the season Purse was not offered an extension to his contract and left the club.

Sheffield Wednesday

Purse signed a two-year contract with Championship club Sheffield Wednesday in May 2009. He was immediately named as team captain. He made 41 appearances in the 2009–10 season, only missing a handful of games due to a hamstring injury. The "Owls" struggled, and manager Brian Laws was sacked and replaced by Alan Irvine. On the final day of the season, a win over Crystal Palace at Hillsborough would ensure survival at Palace's expense. Purse scored an 87th-minute goal to level the game at 2–2, however no more goals followed and Wednesday were relegated into League One.

He made 30 appearances in the first half of the 2010–11 season, before he left the cash-strapped club by mutual consent in January 2011.

Millwall
The day after his release from Sheffield Wednesday, 21 January 2011, Purse signed with Millwall – the club he supported as a boy – on a contract until the end of the 2010–11 season. Purse made his début for Millwall two days later in a 4–2 defeat away at Leicester City. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 April, in a 4–0 win over Preston North End at The Den, and dedicated the goal to his father. He signed a one-year contract with Kenny Jackett's "Lions" in April 2011.

Having found himself out of the first team at the start of the 2011–12 campaign, Purse joined Yeovil Town on a one-month loan in October in the hope of proving himself worthy of a starting place at Millwall. He made five appearances during that time and "Glovers" manager Terry Skiverton stated that he would have liked to extend his stay at Huish Park.

Plymouth Argyle
In November 2011, Purse moved to Plymouth Argyle on loan with a permanent 18-month contract to be signed when the transfer window opened the following January. He ended the 2011–12 campaign with 24 appearances for the "Pilgrims", as the team's "solid" defence helped to keep the club in the English Football League. He later said that helping Plymouth to stay in the league was "one of the best things I have done in my career".

At the start of the 2012–13 season, Purse was named as the club's new captain by manager Carl Fletcher. The 35-year-old said he would be "honoured" to captain the club. In December, he was transfer listed "with some reluctance" in the hope of releasing funds for recruitment of new players in the January 2013 transfer window. In January 2013, he was reported to have begun talks with League Two club Port Vale. He left Home Park by mutual consent on 4 January, having made 46 appearances for Argyle in all competitions.

Port Vale
Purse signed for Port Vale on 5 January 2013. His signing was announced on the same day as the "Valiants"' League Two clash with former club Plymouth Argyle, and only a few days after centre-back John McCombe was ruled out of action for several weeks with a knee injury. He was named man of the match on his debut on 12 January, as a 2–1 victory over Gillingham sent Vale to the top of the table. Vale secured promotion with a third-place finish at the end of the 2012–13 season, with Purse providing experience at the back in his 17 games. He was not offered a new contract at the end of the season and was released as a free agent, with manager Micky Adams putting this decision down to the defender's age rather than as a reflection on his performances in the 17 games.

Later career
Purse joined Northampton Town on trial in July 2013, with manager Aidy Boothroyd worried over the fitness of centre-half Kelvin Langmead. The following month he signed with Finnish side IFK Mariehamn until the end of the 2013 Veikkausliiga season. He joined Southern League Premier Division club Chesham United in January 2014, and helped the "Generals" to reach the play-off final at the end of the 2013–14 season, where they were denied promotion following a 3–1 defeat to St Albans City.

In January 2015, Purse signed for Conference National club Welling United. Two months later he moved on to Staines Town of the Conference South, scoring on his debut in a 1–1 draw at Farnborough. Staines dropped out of the division after a last place finish in the 2014–15 campaign. Purse signed with AFC Rushden & Diamonds in December 2015. He moved on to Hayes & Yeading United one month later. He played 18 matches for Hayes as they were relegated at the end of the 2015–16 season. He rejoined Chesham United in July 2016. He signed with National League South club Bishop's Stortford in March 2017. Only one month later, he left the club and rejoined AFC Rushden & Diamonds of the Northern Premier League Division One South. Rushden finished fifth at the end of the 2016–17 season, before losing to Witton Albion in the play-offs; Purse did not feature in the game. In May 2017, he joined Isthmian League Premier Division club Enfield Town as both a player and as assistant manager to Andy Leese.

International career
Purse won two caps for England at under-21 level in 1998, playing against France and South Africa.

Coaching career
In July 2014 he helped to set up the Malcolm Arnold Academy in Northampton, and was appointed director of football. He was appointed as under-16 coach at Oxford United in April 2018. He was appointed as manager of the Cardiff City U23 team in December 2021.

Style of play
Speaking in June 2004, Gary Megson said that Purse is "comfortable on the ball, good in the air, strong and wants to get on and win". In December 2002, Steve Bruce said that "he's big, he's brave, he's honest and he's quick. He needs to learn to take the rashness out of his game and then he'll have a chance." Describing himself in January 2013, Purse said he was a "no-nonsense defender... [who] can play a bit of football if I need to, but I like to organise and motivate people".

Career statistics

Honours
Birmingham City
League Cup runner-up: 2001

Cardiff City
FA Cup runner-up: 2008

Port Vale
League Two third-place promotion: 2012–13

Individual
Birmingham City player of the season: 2000–01

References

External links

1977 births
Living people
Footballers from Stepney
English men's footballers
England men's under-21 international footballers
Men's association football defenders
Leyton Orient F.C. players
English expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Finland
Oxford United F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Yeovil Town F.C. players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
IFK Mariehamn players
Chesham United F.C. players
Welling United F.C. players
Staines Town F.C. players
AFC Rushden & Diamonds players
Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players
Bishop's Stortford F.C. players
Enfield Town F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
Veikkausliiga players
Southern Football League players
National League (English football) players
Northern Premier League players
Isthmian League players
Association football coaches
Oxford United F.C. non-playing staff
Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff

Darren Purse


"Better Off Ned" is the 16th episode of the 31st season of The Simpsons. It was first shown on television on the Fox network on March 15, 2020. In the episode, Homer becomes Nelson's mentor to make Bart jealous when Ned takes care of him. The episode was dedicated to Max von Sydow who died on March 8, 2020. He guest starred in the episode "The War of Art" as Klaus Ziegler.

Plot

Bart's grandpa tells him a war story and pranks him with a fake grenade. Bart takes the grenade to school and pranks them, causing everyone to run away. Ned Flanders throws himself on the grenade as a sacrifice and to save everyone. Superintendent Chalmers is going to suspend Bart from school, but Ned wants to take care of him with his three P's: persistence, prayer, and persistent prayer.

At the Flanders house, Ned goes to take Bart fishing. When Bart catches a fish, Ned teaches him how to roast it in a fire. Bart also joins a church choir and everyone in the church congratulate Ned for making Bart a better person. This makes Homer jealous.

Homer walks around the city and finds Nelson Muntz at a landfill crying because of what is going on at his home. Homer brings him to Krusty Burger and says that he will be his mentor, so that he can make Bart jealous. Lisa says that Homer should go to a counselor because he ends up causing problems. The therapist Homer goes to disagrees with what Homer tries. Homer finds Nelson's mother who asks if he will leave Nelson, like a lot of men did in the past. Homer tries to tell Nelson about it, but he gets sad and plans revenge on Bart.

At the Christian Pride Parade, Nelson tries to start a praying hands machine in order to crush Bart with the hands. Homer sees Nelson and pushes Bart away, getting crushed by the hands. Homer and Bart ride in the ambulance together. Homer apologizes to Nelson and lets Ned take him as a mentor.

Reception

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a score of C- and said that "'Better Off Ned' isn't just a lousy half-hour (minus commercials, minus three episode-ending tags in place of any sort of resolution) of The Simpsons because it's double-dipping on the same premise. It's a truly lousy episode because it fairly rings with indifference, glib cruelty, and enough lamp-shading of creative exhaustion to serve as platonic ideal for late-run 'is that show still on?' disposability." Den of Geek gave the episode a 3 out of 5 stars and says "'Better Off Ned' is sweet but feels like a doughnut where the creamy middle has been sucked out. It doesn't quite miss the edge as much as it dulls it. The opportunities are here for sharper comedy, but the episode cuts across the surface."

References

Other websites

The Simpsons (season 31) episodes
2020 television episodes

Better Off Ned


Daniel Niklaus Chodowiecki (16 October 1726 – 7 February 1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Huguenot and Polish ancestry, who is most famous as an etcher. He spent most of his life in Berlin, and became the director of the Berlin Academy of Art.

Family
He was born in the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in Poland, and in a letter "in typical Berlin humor" wrote "that he moved to Berlin, Germany, which shows for sure, that he is a 'genuine Pole'." He kept close to the Huguenot scene, due to his ancestry.

According to Chodowiecki himself, his Polish nobleman paternal ancestor Bartłomiej Chodowiecki lived in the 16th century in Greater Poland, though thus is not confirmed by independent records. Gottfried Chodowiecki, Daniel's father, was a tradesman in Danzig and his mother, Henriette Ayrer, of Swiss ancestry, was a Huguenot. Daniel's grandfather Christian was also a Danzig tradesman, who had moved his business there from Toruń. When his father died, both Daniel (aged 16) and his younger brother Gottfried Chodowiecki went to live with their uncle in Berlin, who offered to educate them. In Germany Daniel received artistic training from the painter Haid in Augsburg. His brother also became a painter.

He and his wife Jeanne Barez (1726-1785) had three daughters, Jeannette (b. 1761, married the French reformed preacher Jacques Papin), Suzanne (1763–1819) and Henriette (1770–1880). Jeannette's daughter Marianne Gretschel née Chodowiecka Papin (1794–1870) and her son Heinrich Papin (1786–1839) also became artists.

Art

Soon Daniel was able to earn a living by painting. He was admitted to the Berlin Academy in 1764 and became vice-director under Bernhard Rode in 1788. He found his true calling and became the most famous German graphic artist of his time. His works include several thousand etchings, usually rather small, and many drawings and paintings. His book illustrations embrace almost all the great classics. His prints represent in great detail the life of the bourgeoisie during the Zopfstil period, a time between Rococo and Classicism. In 1797 Chodowiecki was appointed director of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, where he died on 7 February 1801. The bulk of his work was in illustrating scientific books by Basedow, Buffon, Lavater, Pestalozzi and others. He also painted many portraits of Polish nobility and was interested in Huguenot and Polish history as well, making some paintings on the subjects.
He was in tune with the developing spirit of the age, and many works reflect the cult of sensibility, and then the revolutionary and German nationalist feelings of the end of the century.

In printmaking, he is credited with the invention of the deliberate remarque, a small sketch on a plate lying outside the main image. These were originally little sketches or doodles by artists, not really meant to be seen, but Chodowiecki turned them into "bonus items" for collectors.

Chodowiecki, though speaking only French and German (due to his offices in the Huguenot French community in Berlin he often spoke French), many times also declared his Polish allegiance and had his son Isaac Heinrich, born in Berlin, painted as a very young child with a Polish outfit and haircut. After the Partitions of Poland Chodowiecki wrote to Gräfin Solms-Laubach: "From my father's side I am Polish, a descendant of a brave nation which will soon vanish". In a letter to :pl:Józef Łęski, a Polish astronomer, he wrote: "I consider it an honour to be a genuine Pole, even though I am now living in Germany". Because of his mother's and his wife's Huguenot descent he was very close to the Huguenots of Berlin. Nearly all his life and career was spent in Germany, writing in German and living in Berlin from the age of almost 17.

One of his most popular books is the "Journey from Berlin to Danzig" (, 1773) with many illustrations. He purchased a horse rather than going by stage coach. This was his first return after 30 years absence and he went specifically to see his elderly mother and sisters in Danzig again. He made only one more trip to Danzig afterwards, to his mother's funeral. He describes and illustrates towns and people in Pomerania and Prussia on the way.

Chodowiecki is buried at the Französischer Friedhof cemetery in Berlin.

A short animation entitled "Chodowiecki", based on Chodowiecki's life and work, was produced in 2020 by Polish director Jakub Pączek. All the scenes in the film were composed of graphics by Chodowiecki, digitized, processed and animated for this sole purpose. The film is available free of charge at www.Chodowiecki.com.

References

Wolfgang Plat, Die Reise nach Danzig, Mit Daniel Chodowiecki durch Pommern

External links

A 2020 film on Daniel Chodowiecki.
541 images of works at the LA County Museum of Art
Gallery of works by Chodowiecki at www.malarze.com
Gallery of works by Chodowiecki's brother - Gottfried at www.malarze.com
Works at www.bildindex.de

1726 births
1801 deaths
Artists from Gdańsk
Polish Calvinist and Reformed Christians
18th-century Polish–Lithuanian painters
Polish male painters
18th-century German painters
18th-century German male artists
German male painters
People from Royal Prussia
German printmakers
Academic staff of the Prussian Academy of Arts

Daniel Chodowiecki


SEMTUR (Sociedad del Estado Municipal para el Transporte Urbano de Rosario, "Municipal State Society for Rosario Urban Transport") was a government-owned corporation based in Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It was managed by the municipality of Rosario and runs a number of urban bus lines, including the Rosario trolleybus system.

SEMTUR was created in 2002, after a private company which ran five bus lines got its authorization revoked due to deficient service. Though concessions for some of the lines were acquired by other companies, the other bids were left deserted. SEMTUR took over these and started renewing their fleet. This also had the effect of raising the standards for the competition.

As of 2014, the company operates twentyregular bus lines (113, 116, 120, 121, 122R, 122V 123, 133N, 133V, 134, 135, 136, 137 and Ronda del Centro), two intra-district lines (Enlace Noroeste and Enlace Sur), a special summer-season line to serve the northern coast and beaches of the city (Línea de la Costa), and a trolleybus line (Line "K").
SEMTUR's buses employ a light gray and orange horizontal colour pattern.

References

External links
 Semtur website

Transport in Rosario, Santa Fe
Public transport in Argentina
Bus companies of Argentina

SEMTUR


The Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre is a major, $17 million aquatic sporting facility located upon the Queens Domain, within less than 1 kilometre of the CBD of Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania, Australia. The venue has hosted the Australian Swimming Championships, the Tasmanian Swimming Championships, FINA Swimming World Cup, Pan Pacific Games and the Qantas Skins. Other major events held at the venue throughout its first seven years of operation include the Australian Canoe Polo Championships, Australian Diving Championships, Australian Water Polo Under Age and National League events and the World and Australian Underwater Hockey Championships.

Name
It was officially renamed on 18 October 2015, the 19th anniversary of its construction, in honour of Doone Kennedy, who was a key proponent for its development.

Construction
The funding and construction of the Hobart Aquatic Centre was spearheaded by Doone Kennedy during her reign as Lord Mayor of Hobart from 1986 to 1996.

The facility is fully indoors, and features a full 50 metre Olympic-size 8 lane competition swimming pool, a smaller 25 metre warm-up pool and leisure pool as well as a 25x20m Dive Pool. It also features a diving tower with 10, 7.5 and 5 metre platforms, and 1 and 3 metre springboards.

Operation
There is a creche, cafe and gymnasium and a wide variety of sport and recreation activities are offered, ranging from competitive swimming, Water Polo and diving, learn to swim programmes, yoga classes, aerobics and circuit and weight training. The Hobart Aquatic centre is open year round, and provides views of the River Derwent, Mount Wellington and the city.

See also

List of sports venues named after individuals

References

External links

Landmarks in Hobart
Sports venues in Hobart
Swimming venues in Australia
Buildings and structures in Hobart

Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre


A convent is a community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, convent means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Communion.

Etymology and usage
The term convent derives via Old French from Latin conventus, perfect participle of the verb convenio, meaning "to convene, to come together". It was first used in this sense when the eremitical life began to be combined with the cenobitical. The original reference was to the gathering of mendicants who spent much of their time travelling. Technically, a monastery is a secluded community of monastics, whereas a friary or convent is a community of mendicants (which, by contrast, might be located in a city), and a canonry is a community of canons regular. The terms abbey and priory can be applied to both monasteries and canonries; an abbey is headed by an abbot, and a priory is a lesser dependent house headed by a prior. In the Middle Ages, convents often provided to women a way to excel, as they were considered inferior to men. In convents, women were educated and were able to write books and publish works on gardening or musicology. or on religion and philosophy. The Abbess of a convent was often also involved in decisions of secular life and interacted with politicians and businessmen. Unlike an abbey, a convent is not placed under the responsibility of an abbot or an abbess, but of a superior or prior.

In modern English usage, since about the 19th century, the term convent almost invariably refers to a community of women, while monastery and friary are used for communities of men. In historical usage they are often interchangeable, with convent especially likely to be used for a friary. When applied to religious houses in Eastern Orthodoxy and Buddhism, English refers to all houses of male religious as monasteries and of female religious as convents.

History
The mendicant orders appeared at the beginning of the 13th century with the growth of cities; they include in particular the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the Augustinians. While the Benedictine monks and their various variants devoted themselves to their agricultural properties, the mendicant friars settled from the start in the cities, or in the suburbs thereof, preferably in the poorer and more densely populated districts. They therefore had to adapt their buildings to these new constraints.

See also

Christian monasticism
Enclosed religious orders

References

External links

Carmelite Monastery of the Sacred Hearts — an example of a modern-day convent

Christian buildings and structures

Types of communities
Nunneries

Convent


Earl H. Pritchard (June 5, 1907 – May 9, 1995) was an American scholar of China and one of the founders of the Association for Asian Studies and served as its president.

Pritchard was born on June 5, 1907, in Pullman, Washington, where he spent his childhood on the farm of his father, Thomas Pritchard. He attended Washington State College and graduated with his B.A. in 1928. He then attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where completed his M.A. in 1929. Returning to Pullman in 1930, he applied for a Rhodes Scholarship and became the second student from Washington State College to win the scholarship. He spent three years at the University of Oxford and was awarded his PhD in history in 1933.

After completing his doctoral dissertation, Pritchard taught at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, from 1934 until transferring to Washington State in 1935, where he stayed until 1937. He studied Chinese at Columbia University and the University of Michigan between 1937 and 1939, but he later regretted that his Chinese did not reach the level of proficiency he felt any serious student of China should be.

Pritchard taught at Wayne State University in Detroit between 1939 and 1947. This stint was interrupted from 1942 to 1945 when he was a civilian analyst with military intelligence during the Second World War. He was in charge of a 15–20 person group that studied Japanese transportation networks in China and Japan. He was the first recipient of the War Department's highest award for intelligence service, the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal. After the end of the war, he was an associate professor of history at the University of Chicago from 1947 until 1962. He was disappointed when the Fulbright Fellowship that he earned in 1948 to go to China was cancelled because of the Communist revolution led by Mao Zedong that was sweeping away the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek at the time. Pritchard never had an opportunity to visit the country he researched and taught about for most of his life, although he did travel to Japan in 1957. He moved to Tucson in Arizona to assume the chair of the Oriental Studies Department at the University of Arizona. He significantly built up the program until his retirement in 1972. He taught for several more years as professor emeritus.

Pritchard was the founder and editor of the Bulletin of Far Eastern Bibliography, which became the Far Eastern Quarterly before assuming its present form as the Journal of Asian Studies. He was one of the founders of the Far Eastern Association, which later became the Association for Asian Studies. Se served as the president from 1962 to 1963, vice president from 1961 to 1962, was a director in 1948–51, 1952–55, and 1961–64.

He cited the major achievements of his career as the foundation of what was to become the Association for Asian Studies and the Journal of Asian Studies, and secondly the growth of oriental studies at the University of Arizona. He cited as his third most important achievement the publication of Anglo-Chinese Relations During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (a compacted version of his M.A. thesis), The Crucial Years of Early Anglo-Chinese Relations 1750–1800 (based in part on his doctoral thesis, 1936), sections written for The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature (1961), the coauthoring of Volume 4 of the UNESCO History of Mankind: Cultural and Scientific Development.

He died on May 9, 1995, in Tucson at the age of 87.

References

1907 births
1995 deaths
Washington State University alumni
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
Columbia University alumni
University of Michigan alumni
Wayne State University faculty
University of Chicago faculty
University of Arizona faculty
People from Pullman, Washington
American people of Welsh descent
Presidents of the Association for Asian Studies

Earl H. Pritchard


The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , synedrion, 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), appointed to sit as a tribunal in every city in the ancient Land of Israel.

There were two classes of Rabbinite Jewish courts which were called Sanhedrin, the Great Sanhedrin and the Lesser Sanhedrin. A lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges was appointed to sit as a tribunal in each city, but there was only supposed to be one Great Sanhedrin of 71 judges, which among other roles acted as the Supreme Court, taking appeals from cases which were decided by lesser courts. In general usage, the Sanhedrin without qualifier normally refers to the Great Sanhedrin, which was presided over by the Nasi, who functioned as its head or representing president, and was a member of the court; the Av Beit Din or the chief of the court, who was second to the ; and 69 general members.

In the Second Temple period, the Great Sanhedrin met in the Temple in Jerusalem, in a building called the Hall of Hewn Stones. The Great Sanhedrin convened every day except festivals and the sabbath day (Shabbat).

After the destruction of the Second Temple and the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Great Sanhedrin moved to Galilee, which became part of the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In this period the Sanhedrin was sometimes referred as the Galilean Patriarchate or Patriarchate of Palaestina, being the governing legal body of Galilean Jewry. In the late 200s CE, to avoid persecution, the name Sanhedrin was dropped and its decisions were issued under the name of  (house of learning). The last universally binding decision of the Great Sanhedrin appeared in 358 CE, when the Hebrew calendar was established. The Great Sanhedrin was finally disbanded in 425 CE after continued persecution by the Eastern Roman Empire.

Over the centuries, there have been attempts to revive the institution, such as the Grand Sanhedrin convened by Napoleon Bonaparte, and modern attempts in Israel.

Hebrew Bible
In the Hebrew Bible, Moses and the Israelites were commanded by God to establish courts of judges. They were also commanded to establish a "supreme court" located at the central sanctuary (after arriving in the Land of Israel), to handle cases too difficult for local courts.

When Moses declared that the task of leading the people was too difficult for him, God had him appoint 70 elders (zekenim) to share the burden of leadership with him. According to the Mishnah, these 70 elders plus Moses himself are the source for the 71 judges of the "Great Sanhedrin". These elders are described as "the elders of the people and its officers", according to a midrash, they were the same officers who were beaten in Egyptian slavery for failing to meet Pharaoh's quota of bricks, and after the Exodus were rewarded with membership on the first Sanhedrin.

The 23 judges of the "Lesser Sanhedrin" are derived from the following exegesis: it must be possible for a "community" to vote for both conviction and exoneration (). The minimum size of a "community" is 10 men, thus 10 vs 10. One more is required to achieve a majority (11 vs. 10), but a simple majority cannot convict (), and so an additional judge is required (12 vs. 10). Finally, a court should have an odd number of judges to prevent deadlocks; thus 23 rather than 22.

History

Early Sanhedrin
The first historic mention of a Synedrion (Greek: ) occurs in the Psalms of Solomon (17:49), a Jewish religious book translated into Greek.

The Hasmonean court in Judea, presided over by Alexander Jannaeus, until 76 BCE, followed by his wife, Queen Salome Alexandra, was called  or Sanhedrin. The exact nature of this early Sanhedrin is not clear. It may have been a body of sages or priests, or a political, legislative and judicial institution. The first historical record of the body was during the administration of Aulus Gabinius, who, according to Josephus, organized five  in 57 BCE as Roman administration was not concerned with religious affairs unless sedition was suspected. Only after the destruction of the Second Temple was the Sanhedrin made up only of sages.

Josephus describes a synhedrion for the first time in connection with the decree of the Roman governor of Syria, Aulus Gabinius (57 BCE), who abolished the constitution and the then existing form of government of Palestine and divided the country into five provinces, at the head of each of which a synhedrion was placed; Jerusalem was the seat of one of these. Later, Josephus describes Herod (at the time governor of Galilee) as being summoned before the synhedrion, led by High Priest Hyrcanus II, due to having executed alleged criminals without permission from the synhedrion. Eventually, though, Herod would go on to kill many members of this synhedrion.

The Mishnah describes the Sanhedrin in this period further. The Great Sanhedrin met in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. It convened every day except festivals and Shabbat. Its members included priests, Levites, and ordinary Jews whose families had a pure lineage such that their daughters were allowed to marry priests.

The trial of Jesus, and early Christianity

A  is mentioned 22 times in the Greek New Testament, including in the Gospels in relation to the trial of Jesus, and in the Acts of the Apostles, which mentions a "Great " in chapter 5 where rabbi Gamaliel appeared, and also in chapter 7 in relation to the stoning death of Saint Stephen. This body is described as a court led by the High Priest or leading priests, as well as the "elders" and/or Pharisees.

During Jewish–Roman Wars
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sanhedrin was re-established in Yavneh, with reduced authority, by agreement between Yochanan ben Zakai and Roman Emperor Vespasian. Vespasian agreed in part due to the perception that the Pharisees had not participated in the first revolt to the extent that other groups had. Thus the Sanhedrin in Yavneh was comprised almost exclusively of pharisaic scholars. The imperial Roman government recognized the Sanhedrin. They regarded the head of the Sanhedrin as their own paid government official with the status of a prefect. Roman legislation severely reduced the scope of its authority, but confirmed the body's ultimate authority in religious matters. In an attempt to quash revolutionary elements, Rome in effect declared one form of Judaism to be the only recognized form of religion. This led to persecution of sectarian groups, and attempts by these groups to find fault with the Sanhedrin before the Roman government.

The seat of the Patriarchate moved to Usha under the presidency of Gamaliel II in 80 CE. In 116 it moved back to Yavneh, and then again back to Usha.

After Bar Kokhba Revolt

Rabbinic texts indicate that following the Bar Kokhba revolt, southern Galilee became the seat of rabbinic learning in the Land of Israel. This region was the location of the court of the Patriarch which was situated first at Usha, then at Bet Shearim, later at Sepphoris and finally at Tiberias.

The Great Sanhedrin moved in 140 to Shefaram under the presidency of Shimon ben Gamliel II, and subsequently to Beit She'arim and later to Sepphoris, under the presidency of Judah ha-Nasi (165–220). Finally, it moved to Tiberias in 220, under the presidency of Gamaliel III (220–230), a son of Judah ha-Nasi, where it became more of a consistory, but still retained, under the presidency of Judah II (230–270), the power of excommunication.

During the presidency of Gamaliel IV (270–290), due to Roman persecution, it dropped the name Sanhedrin; and its authoritative decisions were subsequently issued under the name of Beth HaMidrash.

In the year 363, the emperor Julian (r. 355–363 CE), an apostate from Christianity, ordered the Temple rebuilt. The project's failure has been ascribed to the Galilee earthquake of 363, and to the Jews' ambivalence about the project. Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time. As a reaction against Julian's pro-Jewish stance, the later emperor Theodosius I (r. 379–395 CE) forbade the Sanhedrin to assemble and declared ordination illegal. Capital punishment was prescribed for any Rabbi who received ordination, as well as complete destruction of the town where the ordination occurred.

However, since the Hebrew calendar was based on witnesses' testimony, which had become far too dangerous to collect, rabbi Hillel II recommended change to a mathematically based calendar that was adopted at a clandestine, and maybe final, meeting in 358 CE. This marked the last universal decision made by the Great Sanhedrin.

Gamaliel VI (400–425) was the Sanhedrin's last president. With his death in 425, Theodosius II outlawed the title of Nasi, the last remains of the ancient Sanhedrin. An imperial decree of 426 diverted the patriarchs' tax () into the imperial treasury. The exact reason for the abrogation of the patriarchate is not clear, though Gamaliel VI, the last holder of the office who had been for a time elevated by the emperor to the rank of prefect, may have fallen out with the imperial authorities. Thereafter, Jews were gradually excluded from holding public office.

Powers
The Talmud tractate Sanhedrin identifies two classes of rabbinical courts called Sanhedrin, a Great Sanhedrin () and a Lesser Sanhedrin (). Each city could have its own lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges, but there could be only one Great Sanhedrin of 71, which among other roles acted as the Supreme Court, taking appeals from cases decided by lesser courts. The uneven numbers of judges were predicated on eliminating the possibility of a tie, and the last to cast his vote was the head of the court.

Function and procedures
The Sanhedrin as a body claimed powers that lesser Jewish courts did not have. As such, they were the only ones who could try the king, extend the boundaries of the Temple and Jerusalem, and were the ones to whom all questions of law were finally put. Before 191 BCE the High Priest acted as the ex officio head of the Sanhedrin,  but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the office of Nasi was created. After the time of Hillel the Elder (late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE), the Nasi was almost invariably a descendant of Hillel. The second highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin was called the Av Beit Din, or 'Head of the Court' (literally,  means 'father of the house of judgment'), who presided over the Sanhedrin when it sat as a criminal court.

During the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin met in a building known as the Hall of Hewn Stones (), which has been placed by the Talmud and many scholars as built into the northern wall of the Temple Mount, half inside the sanctuary and half outside, with doors providing access variously to the Temple and to the outside. The name presumably arises to distinguish it from the buildings in the Temple complex used for ritual purposes, which could not be constructed of stones hewn by any iron implement.

In some cases, it was necessary only for a 23-member panel (functioning as a Lesser Sanhedrin) to convene. In general, the full panel of 71 judges was convened only on matters of national significance (e.g., a declaration of war) or when the 23-member panel failed to reach a conclusive verdict.

By the end of the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin reached its pinnacle of importance, legislating all aspects of Jewish religious and political life within parameters laid down by Biblical and Rabbinic tradition.

Summary of Patriarchal powers
The following is a summary of the powers and responsibilities of the Patriarchate from the onset of the third century, based on rabbinic sources as understood by L.I. Levine:
Representative to Imperial authorities;
Focus of leadership in the Jewish community:
Receiving daily visits from prominent families;
Declaration of public fast days;
Initiating or abrogating the ban (herem);
Appointment of judges to Jewish courts in the Land of Israel;
Regulation of the calendar;
Issuing enactments and decrees with respect to the applicability or release from legal requirements, e.g.:
Use of sabbatical year produce and applicability of sabbatical year injunctions;
Repurchase or redemption of formerly Jewish land from gentile owners;
Status of Hellenistic cities of the Land of Israel re: purity, tithing, sabbatical year;
Exemptions from tithing;
Conditions in divorce documents;
Use of oil produced by gentiles;
Dispatching emissaries to diaspora communities;
Taxation: both the power to tax and the authority to rule/intervene on the disposition of taxes raised for local purposes by local councils.

Up to the middle of the fourth century, the Patriarchate retained the prerogative of determining the Hebrew calendar and guarded the intricacies of the needed calculations, in an effort to constrain interference by the Babylonian community. Christian persecution obliged Hillel II to fix the calendar in permanent form in 359 CE. This institution symbolized the passing of authority from the Patriarchate to the Babylonian Talmudic academies.

Archaeological findings
In 2004, excavations in Tiberias conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a structure dating to the 3rd century CE that may have been the seat of the Sanhedrin when it convened in that city. At the time it was called .

Nasi (president)

Before 191 BCE the High Priest acted as the ex officio head of the Sanhedrin, but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the office of Nasi was created. The Sanhedrin was headed by the chief scholars of the great Talmudic Academies in the Land of Israel, and with the decline of the Sanhedrin, their spiritual and legal authority was generally accepted, the institution itself being supported by voluntary contributions by Jews throughout the ancient world. Being a member of the house of Hillel and thus a descendant of King David, the Patriarch, known in Hebrew as the Nasi (prince), enjoyed almost royal authority. Their functions were political rather than religious, though their influence was not limited to the secular realm. The Patriarchate attained its zenith under Judah ha-Nasi, who compiled the Mishnah.

Revival attempts

Since the dissolution of the Sanhedrin in or around 358 CE, there have been several attempts to re-establish it.

There are records of what may have been attempts to reform the Sanhedrin in Arabia, in Jerusalem under the Caliph Umar, and in Babylon (Iraq), but none of these attempts were given attention by later rabbinic authorities and little information is available about them.

Maimonides (1135–1204) proposed a rationalist solution for achieving the goal of re-establishing semikhah and the Sanhedrin. There have been several attempts to implement Maimonides' recommendations by Rabbi Jacob Berab in 1538, Rabbi Yisroel Shklover in 1830, Rabbi Aharon Mendel haCohen in 1901, Rabbi Zvi Kovsker in 1940, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon in 1949, and a group of Israeli rabbis in 2004.

Napoleon Bonaparte's "Grand Sanhedrin"

The "Grand Sanhedrin" was a Jewish high court convened by Napoleon I to give legal sanction to the principles expressed by the Assembly of Notables in answer to the twelve questions submitted to it by the government. It did not follow the halakhic procedures of the traditional Sanhedrin.

On 6 October 1806, the Assembly of Notables issued a proclamation to all the Jewish communities of Europe, inviting them to send delegates to the Sanhedrin, to convene on 20 October. This proclamation, written in Hebrew, French, German, and Italian, speaks in extravagant terms of the importance of this revived institution and of the greatness of its imperial protector. While the action of Napoleon aroused in many Jews of Germany the hope that, influenced by it, their governments also would grant them the rights of citizenship, others looked upon it as a political contrivance. When in the war against Prussia (1806–07) the emperor invaded Poland and the Jews rendered great services to his army, he remarked, laughing, "The sanhedrin is at least useful to me." David Friedländer and his friends in Berlin described it as a spectacle that Napoleon offered to the Parisians.

See also

 Council of Jamnia
 Beth din shel Kohanim
 Great Assembly – or  ('Men of the Great Assembly')
 Magnum Concilium, a similar body in medieval England
 Synedrion, a general term for judiciary organs of Greek and Hellenistic city states and treaty organisations.
 Tombs of the Sanhedrin

References

Bibliography
Chen, S.J.D., "Patriarchs and Scholarchs," PAAJR 48 (1981), 57–85.
Goodman, M., "The Roman State and the Jewish Patriarch in the Third Century," in L.I. Levnie (ed.), The Galilee in late Antiquity (New York, 1992), 127.39.
Habas (Rubin), E., "Rabban Gamaliel of Yavneh and his Sons: The Patriarchate before and after the Bar Kokhva Revolt," JJS 50 (1999), 21–37.
Levine, L.I., "The Patriarch (Nasi) in Third-Century Palestine," ANRW 2.19.2 (1979), 649–88.

External links

 Secular and religious history of the Jewish Sanhedrin
 English web site of the re-established Jewish Sanhedrin in Israel
 The Jewish Court System by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
 Jewish Encyclopedia: "Sanhedrin"

1st-century BC establishments in the Hasmonean Kingdom
420s disestablishments in the Roman Empire
Governing assemblies of religious organizations
Historical legislatures
Jewish courts and civil law
Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire
Jews and Judaism in the Byzantine Empire
Judaism-related controversies
Rabbinical organizations
Hasmonean Kingdom

Sanhedrin