Zugot

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The Zugot (/ˌzuːˈɡɒt/; Hebrew: הַזּוּגוֹת, romanized: hazZūgōṯ, lit. 'the Pairs'), also called Zugoth /ˈzuːɡɒθ/ or Zugos /ˌzuːˈɡɒs/ in the Ashkenazi pronunciation, refers both to the two hundred year period (c. 170 BCE – 30 CE, Hebrew: תְּקוּפַת הַזּוּגוֹת, romanized: Təqūfaṯ hazZūgōṯ, lit. 'Era of the Pairs') during the later Second Temple period, in which the spiritual leadership of the Jews was in the hands of five successions of "pairs" of religious teachers, and to each of these pairs themselves.^[1]