Beth Din - Antiquity and Historical Value

Antiquity and Historical Value

Commentators point out that the first suggestion in the Torah that the ruler divest his legal powers and delegate his power of judgment to lower courts was made by Jethro to Moses (Exodus 18:14–26). This situation was formalised later when God gave the explicit command to "establish judges and officers in your gates" (Deuteronomy 16:18).

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 in Jerusalem, numbering 71
• Smaller courts of 23, called a Sanhedrin Ketana ("small Sanhedrin"). These courts could pass the death verdict. These existed on two levels, the one higher in standing than the other:
  • The main cities 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 was found in villages with a population of less than 120 people. Any smaller court (including a court of three laymen) could not pass binding verdicts and only dealt with monetary matters.

Participation in these courts required the classical semicha, 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 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.

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 semicha, 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.

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