A beth din (, , Ashkenazic: beis din, plural: batei din) is a Rabbinic Judaism court of Judaism. A hearing held before a beth din is called a din Torah ( , plural dinei Torah). A beth din can be found in both in Israel and in many Jewish Jewish diaspora communities.
A ruling () from a beth din is based upon Halakha (), though other legal systems are occasionally incorporated. Because it is not part of secular legal systems, when a case overlaps with secular courts its judgment is not always recognized by such courts.
There were three types of courts (Mishnah, Talmud Sanhedrin 1:1-4 and 1:6):
Participation in these courts required the classical semikhah (rabbinic ordination), the transmission of judicial authority in an unbroken line down from Moses. Since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, or at the latest the abolition of the position of Nasi in 425 CE, the transmission of semikhah has been suspended. Attempts in the 16th century to reinstate the semikhah were unsuccessful; Yosef Karo was one of the recipients of this semikhah.
The Mishnah and Talmud distinguish between ritual or criminal matters and monetary matters ( issurim and mamonoth), 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 the Urim ve-Tumim (the parchment in the High Priest's breastplate, which was inscribed with the Name of God and could give supernatural clues).
Given the suspension of semikhah, 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 local takkanot ha-kahal (community regulations), and are generally composed of experienced rabbis. Modern training institutes, especially in Israel, confer a qualification of dayan (religious judge), which is superior to the normal rabbinical qualification.
In progressive communities, as well as in other non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, women may serve on the beth din. Rabbinical Assembly Responsa on Testimony Retrieved 1-17-2012
In practice, a permanent beth din will consist of three rabbis, while a beth din for an occasional matter (such as handling religious vows) need not consist of rabbis. A beth din which handles cases involving complex monetary issues or large community organizations requires "judges" ( dayanim, singular: dayan), who require an additional semikhah ( yadin yadin) which enables them to participate in such a beth din and adjudicate complex cases involving highly technical points of law.
In Israel, a beth din is only required for conversions and gittin (divorce documents), though they may be called upon for other matters. In Reform Judaism, a beth din is used only for conversions.
In addition to this there are batei din around the world who supervise the following matters:
A beth din is sometimes used within the Orthodox Judaism Jewish community to resolve civil disputes, with the Shulkhan ArukhChoshen Mishpat 26. 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 private arbitration, enabling religious Jews to enter into agreements providing for arbitration by a particular beth din in the event of a dispute. By this device, the rules, procedures, and judgement of the beth 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. However, the decisions of religious courts cannot be binding without the prior agreement of both parties, and will otherwise act only as mediation.
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