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Abeth din (Hebrew:בית דין,romanized: Bet Din,lit. 'house of judgment',[betˈdin],Ashkenazic:beis din, plural:batei din) is arabbinicalcourt ofJudaism.[1] In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system. Today, it is invested with legal powers in a number of religious matters (din Torah, "matter of litigation", pluraldinei Torah) both inIsrael and in Jewish communities in thediaspora, where its judgments hold varying degrees of authority (depending upon the jurisdiction and subject matter) in matters specifically related to Jewish religious life.
Rabbinical commentators point out that the first suggestion in theTorah that the ruler divest his legal powers and delegate his power of judgment to lower courts was made byJethro toMoses (Exodus18:14–26). This situation was formalised later when God gave the explicit command to "establish judges and officers in your gates" (Deuteronomy16:18).
There were three types of courts (Mishnah,tractateSanhedrin 1:1-4 and 1:6):
Participation in these courts required the classicalsemikhah (rabbinic ordination), the transmission of judicial authority in an unbroken line down from Moses. Since the destruction of theTemple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, or at the latest the abolition of the position ofNasi in 425 CE, the transmission ofsemikhah has been suspended. Attempts in the 16th century to reinstate thesemikhah were unsuccessful;Rabbi Yosef Karo was one of the recipients of thissemikhah.
The Mishnah andTalmud distinguish between ritual or criminal matters and monetary matters (issurim andmamonoth), and impose different regulations for them, with criminal cases generally having much more stringent limitations. Courts ruled in both kinds of cases. 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 theUrim ve-Tumim (the parchment in the High Priest's breastplate, which was inscribed with theName of God and could give supernatural clues).
Given the suspension ofsemikhah, any beth din existing in medieval or modern times is in theory a court of laymen, acting as arbitrators. In practice, they are given greater powers than this by the localtakkanot ha-kahal (community regulations), and are generally composed of experienced rabbis. Modern training institutes, especially in Israel, confer a qualification ofdayan (religious judge), which is superior to the normal rabbinical qualification.
InOrthodox Judaism, the traditions state that abeth din consists of three observant Jewish men, at least one of whom is widely knowledgeable inhalakha, to be capable of instructing the other members in any matters ofhalakha relevant to the case being heard.[2] The rabbis on thebeth din do not have to be expert in all aspects of Jewish law, rather only the area in question. For example, abeth din for conversion need only have expertise in conversion, not necessarily in all areas of Jewish law.[3] There are also a number of opinions that permit women to serve on abeth din. One such opinion is RabbiBen Zion Uziel.[4] Despite this, there are no Orthodoxbatei din currently with a woman as a member.
In progressive communities, as well as in other non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, women do serve on thebeth din.[5]
In practice, a permanentbeth din will consist of three rabbis, while abeth din for an occasional matter (such as handling religious vows) need not consist of rabbis. Abeth din which handles cases involving complex monetary issues or large community organizations requires "judges" (dayanim, singular:dayan), who require an additionalsemikhah (yadin yadin) which enables them to participate in such abeth din and adjudicate complex cases involving highly technical points of law.[citation needed]
Abeth din is only required for conversions andgittin (divorce documents), although lay people are permitted to sit on thebeth din for conversions.[citation needed]
In addition to this there arebatei din around the world who supervise the following matters:[citation needed]
Abeth din is sometimes used within theOrthodox Jewish community to resolve civil disputes, with theShulkhan Arukh[6] calling for civil cases being resolved by religious, instead of secular, courts (arka'oth). Modern Western societies increasingly permit civil disputes to be resolved by privatearbitration, enabling religious Jews to enter into agreements providing for arbitration by a particularbeth din in the event of a dispute. By this device, the rules, procedures, and judgement of thebeth din are accepted and can be enforced by secular courts in the same manner as those of a secular arbitration association. For example, in a 2018 decision, the Court of Appeal in Ontario, Canada, enforced an arbitration decision by the New York rabbinical court tribunal Beth Din (or Bais Din) of Mechon L'Hoyroa, in Brooklyn.[7][8] However, the decisions of religious courts cannot be binding without the prior agreement of both parties, and will otherwise act only as mediation.[citation needed]
Abeth din may have the following officers:
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