Beth din

A beth din (בית דין, Hebrew: "house of judgment", plural battei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Land of Israel. Today, it is invested with legal powers in a number of religious matters, both in Israel and in Jewish communities throughout the world, where their judgments hold varying degrees of authority (depending upon the jurisdiction and subject matter) in matters specifically germane to Jewish religious life.

Antiquity

Torah commentators point out that Jethro was the first to suggest to Moses that he divest his legal powers and delegate his power of judgment to lower courts. This situation was formalised later when God gave the explicit command (Deuteronomy 16:18) to "establish judges and officers in your gates".

There were three types of courts (Mishnah, tractate Sanhedrin 1:1-4 and 1:6):

• The Sanhedrin, the grand central court on the Temple Mount, numbering 71
• Smaller courts of 23, called a Sanhedrin Ketanaa, a "small Sanhedrin". These courts could pass the death verdict. These existed on two levels, the one higher in standing than the other:
  • Capitals of the tribes had a court of 23
  • All towns of a minimum size (either 120 or 230 people) had to have a court of 23, which was under the jurisdiction of the tribal court
• The smallest court of three; any smaller court could not pass binding verdicts and only dealt with monetary matters.

Even though normally an Orthodox beit din requires a minimum of three Jews knowledgeable and observant of Jewish Law, in new communities and exigencies, providing a thorough search has proved unfruitful, Halakhah requires that even one Orthodox Jew can establish a beit din, since every Orthodox community is required to establish its own beit din. Urim

Participation in these courts required the classical semicha, the transmission of judicial authority in a straight line down from Moses. Since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, the transmission of semicha has been suspended. Attempts in the 16th century to reinstate the semicha were unsuccessful; Rabbi Yosef Karo was one of the recipients of this semicha. Semicha was declared reinstated by the controversially reëstablished Sanhedrin in October, 2004.

Courts ruled in both ritual and monetary matters (issurim and mamonoth). Any question that could not be resolved by a smaller court was passed up to a higher court. If the Sanhedrin was still uncertain, Divine opinion was sought through the Urim ve-Tumim (the parchment in the High Priest's breastplate, which was inscribed with the Name of God and could give metaphysical clues).

The Mishnah and Talmud distinguish between criminal (issurim) and civil (mamonoth) cases, and impose different regulations for each, with criminal cases generally having much more stringent limitations.

Present situation

Presently, a beth din needs to be made up of three adult Jewish males, at least one of whom needs to be widely knowledgeable in halakha (Jewish law), and must be sufficiently knowledgeable to instruct the other two members in any matters of halakha relevant to the case being heard.

In practice, permanent battei din consist of three rabbis, while battei din for an occasional matter (e.g. handling religious vows) need not consist of rabbis. For courts that handle complex monetary cases or large community organisations, dayanim ("judges", singular: dayan) are required. A dayan has an additional semicha (yadin yadin) which enables him to participate in such a court and adjudicate complex cases involving highly technical points of law.

Battei din are required or preferred for the following matters:

• Validation of religious bills of divorce (get, pl. gittim);
• Hechsher: kosher certification of restaurants and food manufacturers;
• Examination of Shochetim and the control of theShechita Inspectors
• Monetary cases: Jews are exhorted (Shulkhan Arukh, Choshen Mishpat 26) to have their civil cases judged by religious courts instead of taking their cases to secular judges (arka'oth); In modern practice, the litigating parties will sign an arbitration agreement agreeing to accept the judgment of the Beth Din as binding. In the event of non-compliance, the agreement may be taken to secular courts for enforcement with the permission of the Beth Din.
• Religious conversion: a ger tzedek ("convert" or "proselyte") requires a beth din to be accepted into Judaism; it is convened to determine whether or not a prospective convert is sufficiently prepared to enter the "Covenant of Abraham" and to join the Jewish people. At least one member of the court must be a rabbi who is an expert on the laws of conversion.
• Supervising the building and maintenance of a mikvah;
• Determination of "personal status" (i.e. whether someone is a Jew according to halakha) - some battei din hold local records of marriages and deaths within the community.
• the authorisation and supervision of mohelim.
• Questions relating to burial practices and mourning.

Officers of a Beth Din

A large beth din may have the following officers

• Av Beth Din (אב בית דין Father of the Court) is the most senior jurist who may join in the adjudication of cases or advise the presiding dayanim. The av beth din will usually be a highly respected rabbi and posek, who can give responsa.
• Rosh Beth Din (ראש בית דין Leader of the Court) equivalent to a chief justice, he will be the senior member of a three judge panel. In smaller courts the av beth din, also serves as the rosh.
• Dayan (דין Rabbinic Judge) who sit and adjudicate cases. A rabbinic judge may directly question and cross-examine witnesses.
• Chaver Beth Din (חבר בית דין Friend of the Court, Amicus curiae) is an internal adviser to the court. He may bring specialised expertise to the beth din. Often the a chaver will be a dayan with training in secular law or science, who can share his experience and perspectives with the court. For example some battei din that deal with issues of shechiṭṭah, may have a chaver who is knowledgeable about veterinary medicine or meat science to assist the court, as an expert witness.

See also

• Beth midrash
• Vaad

External links

• The London Beth Din
• Beth Din of America
• Beth Din of South Africa
• Beth Din - Rabbinical Council of California