Officers of A Beth Din
A large beth din may have the following officers:
- Av Beth Din (אב בית דין, literally "Father of the Court", abbreviated אב"ד / ABD) 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. Traditionally, the salaried rabbi of the local Jewish community served as the av beth din
- Rosh Beth Din (ראש בית דין, literally "Head of the Court", abbreviated רב"ד) is 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 (דיין, rabbinic judge, plural: dayanim) sits and adjudicates 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 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.
Read more about this topic: Beth Din
Famous quotes containing the words officers of a, officers of, officers, beth and/or din:
“In the weakness of one kind of authority, and in the fluctuation of all, the officers of an army will remain for some time mutinous and full of faction, until some popular general, who understands the art of conciliating the soldiery, and who possesses the true spirit of command, shall draw the eyes of all men upon himself. Armies will obey him on his personal account. There is no other way of securing military obedience in this state of things.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“In the weakness of one kind of authority, and in the fluctuation of all, the officers of an army will remain for some time mutinous and full of faction, until some popular general, who understands the art of conciliating the soldiery, and who possesses the true spirit of command, shall draw the eyes of all men upon himself. Armies will obey him on his personal account. There is no other way of securing military obedience in this state of things.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“In the weakness of one kind of authority, and in the fluctuation of all, the officers of an army will remain for some time mutinous and full of faction, until some popular general, who understands the art of conciliating the soldiery, and who possesses the true spirit of command, shall draw the eyes of all men upon himself. Armies will obey him on his personal account. There is no other way of securing military obedience in this state of things.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“Where beth they biforen us weren,”
—Unknown. Ubi Sunt Qui ante Nos Fuerunt? (L. 1)
“Through the din and desultoriness of noon, even in the most Oriental city, is seen the fresh and primitive and savage nature, in which Scythians and Ethiopians and Indians dwell. What is echo, what are light and shade, day and night, ocean and stars, earthquake and eclipse, there? The works of man are everywhere swallowed up in the immensity of nature. The AEgean Sea is but Lake Huron still to the Indian.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)