Sunday, July 7, 2019

The Jewish Bet Din Court Explained

By Barbara Wright


Some religions have a religious court. In Judaism, this court is called the Bet Din. In Islam, it is the Shariah Court, which is governed by a set of Islamic laws. The Jewish Bet Din is governed by Judaism laws. This is a set of laws that apply to the Jews. A religious Jew is a person who follows Judaism to the letter. In some places even secular Jews have to be governed by the laws of Judaism. Law and religion go hand in hand. In some cases, religion has even inspired the formation of national and local laws.

The Bet Din just like any other court has a structure. There are senior officials of the court and there are the junior officials. A person can start on the lower levels and slowly climb up the ranks. To become an official of the court, one needs to be a person who has a very high level of integrity.

The most senior court official is the chief of court. The chief of a religious court does not necessarily have to be appointed by the president or the prime minister of Israel. He can as well be appointed by the rabbinical authorities through wide ranging consultations. The chief of the Jewish religious court must be a well respected rabbi.

The Bet Din is an ancient court that has been around for thousands of years. For as long as the Israeli people have existed, this court has always been in existence. Even when Israelis went to exile in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the rest of planet earth, this court was still alive and active in Israeli society of that time.

The ancient Bet Din was a very powerful court. It had a lot of say in everyday life in Israel. Its effects were felt all over the land. With its righteous judgments, the people of Israel flourished and they became the talk all over the world. It dealt with all kinds of judicial cases including criminal and civil cases.

Various Roman emperors either restricted the Israeli religious court or allowed it to thrive. In some cases, this court only had jurisdiction on Israeli people. Therefore, the Romans who lived in Jerusalem and the surrounding territories were subject to the laws of Rome. The Roman system of laws and the Judaism system of law were two different systems. One is religious and the other is not.

When the state of Israel was re-established in the 20th century, most aspects of Jewish history were restored. That includes the Hebrew language that had largely disappeared over the centuries. The Bet Din court was also restored but not as an independent entity but as a part of Israeli judiciary. However, its officials are top Israeli religious figures.

The present day Bet Din is largely concerned with civil matters. That means that it does not deal with criminal matters. These are left to the office of public prosecutor. The most common civil matter is divorce. The court will make the decision on the terms of annulling a marriage. Under the laws of Israel, two married people can divorce under certain conditions.




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