From: Micha Berger Shemaya veAvtalyon were both geirim. Yet, as one of the zugos, they were in a leadership position. The question is how they could serve in Sanhedrin. ========= See the Tosfos Yom Tov (Avos 1:10) where he writes beshem the Maharal that they were not actually Gerim - but "mikehal geirim" and that their mother was Jewish. SBA .