An Introduction to the Mitzva of Beit Din

1. הקדמה למצות בית דין An Introduction to the Mitzva of Beit Din

2. שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים, תִּתֶּן-לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ, לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ; וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת-הָעָם, מִשְׁפַּט-צֶדֶק. (דברים טז:יח) Judges and officers you shall make for yourself in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, tribe by tribe; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (א)  וְאֵלֶּה, הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים, אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים, לִפְנֵיהֶם. (ב) כִּי תִקְנֶה... (שמות כא:א-ב) Now these are the ordinances which thou shall set before them.

3. שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים, תִּתֶּן-לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ, לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ; וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת-הָעָם, מִשְׁפַּט-צֶדֶק. (דברים טז:יח) Judges and officers you shall make for yourselves in all your gates, which the LORD thy God gives you, tribe by tribe; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. רמב"ן צוה בתורה...שיהיו לישראל פלילים. וביאר בכאן שישימו השופטים בכל עריהם כאשר יתן להם השם את הארץ, כי בחוצה לארץ אינם חייבים למנות להם ב"ד, אבל כאשר יצעק המעוות יעמדו עליו הראויים לשפוט ובמשפטיהם ישפטוהו, או יעלה לארץ בזמנה ושם ישפטוהו במקום המשפט. ... ולפי זה אין ישראל שבחוצה לארץ מצווים למנות להם דיינין בעיירות, וכן כתב הרב ר' משה (הל' סנהדרין פ"א ה"ב): אבל במסכת מכות (ז א) שנו, "והיו אלה לכם לחוקת משפט לדורותיכם בכל מושבותיכם", מלמד שסנהדרין נוהגת בארץ ובחוצה לארץ, אם כן למה נאמר "שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך", אלא בארץ אתה מושיב בכל פלך ופלך ובכל עיר ועיר, בחוצה לארץ אתה מושיב בכל פלך ופלך ואי אתה מושיב בכל עיר ועיר. ונראה מזה שחייבין למנות סנהדרין בחוצה לארץ, ולא בכל עיר ועיר כארץ ישראל אלא פלכים פלכים... NEXT

4. Judges and officers you shall make for you in all of your gates, which the LORD thy God gives you, tribe by tribe; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים, תִּתֶּן-לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ, לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ; וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת-הָעָם, מִשְׁפַּט-צֶדֶק. (דברים טז:יח) Ramban: The Torah commands us to have judges, and here it specifies that there is a communal responsibility to establish courts in all of the cities, when God brings the Jewish people into Israel. But outside of Israel there is no responsibility to create courts. When a dispute will arise while in exile, the case should be heard when an appropriate court is found. The Rambam therefore codifies this law as one that is limited to the land of Israel. The Ramban challenges this position based on a passage in Masechet Makot, where it states, based on the verse, “They should be laws and justice in all of your generations, in all of your lands”, that there is a requirement to establish the Sanhedrin even in exile. Therefore, concludes the Ramaban, that this obligation applies everywhere, however there is one distinction – in Israel we must establish courts in every county and in every city, while in exile it is only required in the counties, but not in the cities….

5. On the Separation of Church and State…. And these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them. When you purchase…. • Even monetary law was given at Sinai; • The Sanhedrin (Supreme Court) • must be located • next to the Mikdash.

6. איסור "עֶרְכָאוֹת" וְאֵלֶּה, הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים, אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים, לִפְנֵיהֶם. כִּי תִקְנֶה... (שמות כא:א) Now these are the ordinances which you shall set beforethem. רש"י: "לפניהם", ולא לפני גויים (גיטין פח:). ואפילו ידעת בדין אחד שהם דנין אותו כדיני ישראל אַל תביאהו בערכאות שלהם, שהמביא דיני ישראל לפני גויים מחלל את השם ומייקר שם עבודה זרה להשביחם. Rashi: “Before them” – and not before the courts of pagans, because it is a “chilul Hashem” to give more honor to their courts than to ours.

7. שו"ת תשב"ץ[חלק ד טור ג (חוט המשולש) סימן ו] • וששאלת בענין דיני הערכאות מה הוא האסור והמותר בזה... • תשובה גודל איסור המביא דין ישראל לפני ערכאות של גויים הוא ידוע לכל ונזכר בכמה מקומות וגם רש"י ז"ל מביאו בפירושו על פסוק ואלה המשפטים ואותו לשון עצמו הוא במדרש ילמדנו פרשת משפטים. ומה שכתב ומייקר שם האלילים הוא כולל דת אומה זו אף על פי שאינם עובדים עבודת אלילים, הרי הם מכחישים משפטי תורתנו והמביא דין לפניהם ח"ו עושה עלוי לדתם על תורתנו וכן כתב א"ז הרשב"ץ ז"ל. ואיסור זה דאורייתא הוא... This prohibition applies also to this nation, even though they are not pagans, still their religion is distinctly different from ours, and anyone who goes to their courts, God forbid, is raising their religion above ours.

8. שו"ת יחווה דעת)חלק ד סימן סה( • ...שמעתי דיבת (words) רבים התועים מדרך השכל המתחכמים לומר שמכיון שכעת השופטים יהודים, והממשלה העניקה להם סמכות לדון ולשפוט בדיני ממונות וירושות, דינא דמלכותא דינא, וחושבים שהותרה הרצועה להתדיין בפניהם. • אולם הבל יפצה פיהם. ולו חכמו ישכילו זאת, שאדרבה היא הנותנת לחומרת הדבר, שהואיל והשופטים יהודים הם ומושבעים מהר סיני לשפוט על פי התורה, ואילו הם עזבו מקור מים חיים, התלמוד והפוסקים, לחצוב להם בורות נשברים אשר לא יכילו המים, ודנים על פי חוקות הגויים ושופטיהם וספרי החוקים שלהם, הרי המכשלה גדולה שבעתיים(x7) מאשר להתדיין בפני שופטים גויים אשר לא נצטוו מעולם לדון על פי התורה שלנו, שאף על פי שבני נח נצטוו על הדינים, מכל מקום יכולים לדון לפי שכל אנושי ולפי ראות עיניהם, ואינם חייבים לדון בדיני התורה לפרטיהם, What about going to Israeli, Jewish, secular courts? Is it better because they are Jewish? Rav Ovadia Yosef thinks that it is even worse than non-Jewish Secular court.

9. שולחן ערוך(חושן משפט סימן כו) • סעיף א אסור לדון בפני דייני עובדי כוכבים ובערכאות שלהם אפילו בדין שדנים בדיני ישראל, ואפילו נתרצו ב' בעלי דינים לדון בפניהם, אסור... • סעיף ב היתה יד עובדי כוכבים תקיפה, ובעל דינו אלם, ואינו יכול להציל ממנו בדייני ישראל, יתבענו לדייני ישראל תחלה; אם לא רצה לבא, נוטל רשות מבית דין ומציל בדייני עובד כוכבים מיד בעל דינו. If the non-Jewish government insists that all citizens go to their courts, and not to Beit Din or if the opposing litigant refuses to go to Beit Din, then it is permissible to go to “their courts”.

10. The Beth Din of America Guide to Rules and Procedures http://www.bethdin.org/rules.htm Section 3. Choice of Law (d) In situations where the parties to a dispute explicitly adopt a "choice of law" clause, either in the initial contract or in the arbitration agreement, the Beth Din will accept such a choice of law clause as providing the rules of decision governing the decision of the panel to the fullest extent permitted by Jewish Law. (e) In situations where the parties to a dispute explicitly or implicitly accept the common commercial practices of any particular trade, profession, or community -- whether it be by explicit incorporation of such standards into the initial contract or arbitration agreement or through the implicit adoption of such common commercial practices in this transaction -- the Beth Din will accept such common commercial practices as providing the rules of decision governing the decision of the panel to the fullest extent permitted by Jewish Law. Continue to Next Unit

11. Biographies

12. RAMBAN • Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides) was born in Gerona, Spain in 1194, and died in Israel, 1270. Ramban was the outstanding Torah authority of his generation. After he left Spain, his famous disciples, Rashba and Rabbi Aaron Halevi (to whom the Sefer Ha-Chinuch is often ascribed), took over as spiritual leaders of Spanish Jewry. Ramban's multifaceted literary activities included commentaries on the Bible and Talmud, halachic codes, responsa, works on mysticism and philosophy, and sermons. In 1267, in the aftermath of a public debate with the apostate Pablo Christiani, which was forced upon Ramban by the king and Christian clergy of Catalonia, and decided in favor of the Christians from the outset, Ramban was banished from Spain. At age 73, Ramban took the difficult and dangerous trip to Israel and fulfilled his life's dream of settling in the holy land. There Ramban restored the Jewish community in Jerusalem, which had previously been destroyed by invading Tartars. Accordingly, Ramban is considered the father of modern Jewish settlement in Jerusalem. Like Maimonides and many other Spanish rabbinic scholars, Ramban was a practicing physician. • Ramban's glosses on Rambam's Sefer Ha-Mitzvot were printed in the first edition of Sefer Ha-Mitzvot in Constantinople, 1510, and subsequently these works have generally been printed together. The text in the Responsa CD is based on the edition of R. David Hilman (published in the Shabse Frankel edition of Rambam, Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, 1995), which is based on manuscripts and earlier printed editions. Version 10 of the Responsa Project CD contains two small works of the Ramban, which have been written in the style of the Rif: Hilchot Bechorot, and (in the middle of the fourth chapter) Hilchot Challah; they serve as a primary source for halachic rulings on these subjects. These works were first published (Livorno 5554 - 1794) by the Maharit AlGazi, the rabbi of Jerusalem at the time, together with the Maharit's commentary Hilchot Yom Tov. With the passage of time, these works have been included together with the commentary of the Rif in the standard editions of the Talmud, at the end of masechet Bechorot. The Responsa Project CD contains the newly corrected edition published (Jerusalem 5753 - 1993) by Rabbi Baruch Auerbach ob"m, and Rabbi Aharon Mordechai Shadmi. • Also attributed to the Ramban, is the work Emunah and Bitachon - 26 chapters dealing with topics of ethics and belief in the Torah's description of the meeting of Yaakov and Esav. A number of Torah giants in the generation immediately after the Ramban already used the work, but the source of its attribution to the Ramban is unclear. It was first published Venice 5361 (1601), in an anthology entitled Arzei HaLevanon. R. Chaim Dov Chavel included it in the second volume of his Collected Writings of the Ramban, prepared from manuscript and accompanied by an introduction and notes; this was published by Mosad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem 5784 (1984), and this edition has been included in the Responsa Project collection. (biography is taken from the Bar Ilan Responsa CD) Return to Ramban חזרה לרמב"ן

13. TASHBETZ: Rabbi Simeon ben Tzemach Duran (Rashbatz) was born in Majorca in 1361, and died in Algiers in 1444. Like his colleague Rivash, R. Simeonwas forced to flee Majorca in 1391, in the wake of anti-Jewish riots. He settled in Algiers, where he served in the rabbinic court headed by Rivash until that scholar's demise, after which R. Simeon succeeded Rivash as chief rabbi and head of the rabbinical court of Algiers. R. Simeon's responsa, Tashbetz (Teshuvot Simeon ben Tzemach), deal with variegated subjects; most discuss halachah, although others deal with philosophy, biblical commentary, grammar, mathematics, etc. Rashbatz promulgated many important enactments, especially regarding marriage agreements, which often served as a cause of controversy, due to the different practices of the emigre communities. Rashbatz's descendants served as rabbis in North Africa for many generations. The fourth part of Tashbetz is called Chut Ha-Meshulash ("the three plied cord"; cf. Ecclesiastes 4:12), so-called because this work includes the responsa of three authors: Rabbi Solomon Duran, Rabbi Solomon Seror (Tzeror), and Rabbi Abraham Ibn Tawah (Tava), all of whom served as heads of the Jewish community in Algeria during the sixteenth century and were apparently descendants of Rashbatz. (biography is taken from the Bar Ilan Responsa CD) Return to Tashbetz

14. Rashi • Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, Isaacides) was born in Troyes, in northern France in 1040; and died in Worms in 1105. He studied in the academies (yeshivot) of Troyes, Mainz, and Worms. His teachers, Rabbi Jacob ben Yakar and Rabbi Isaac ben Judah, were students of Rabbenu Gershom, Me'or Ha-Golah. In 1070, Rashi returned to Troyes and founded a yeshiva there, which was attended by students from far and near. At the same time, Rashi began writing his life work: a commentary on the Bible as well as on the entire Talmud, for which he was nicknamed Parshandata. His knowledge of Hebrew language and grammar on the one hand, and of the sciences and handcrafts on the other, find clear expression in his commentary, which is both deceptively simple and unfathomably deep. • Rashi had three daughters, two of whom married prominent Torah scholars. His grandsons included such illustrious scholars as Rabbenu Jacob Tam and the Rabbi Samuel ben Rabbi Meir (Rashbam), both of whom were among the founders of the Franco-German Tosafist school of Talmud study. He passed away in 1105. Rashi's commentary is widely considered the most important commentary on the Babylonian Talmud. A comprehensive, running commentary on the Talmudic text, it is ideally suited both to beginners and advanced scholars. The commentary is based on German traditions that Rashi received from his teachers, although it also contains some of Rashi's own interpretations. Once Rashi's commentary had been disseminated, it became so prevalent as to eclipse all previous commentaries authored by Ashkenazic Talmud scholars, to the degree that almost none are extant. This commentary was published in every edition of the Talmud since the Soncino edition of 1484, and it has served as one of the foundations for all subsequent Talmud study. • In Rashi's commentary on both the Talmud and Tanach, there are thousands of Old French transliterated into Hebrew, which Rashi used when he wished to precisely express a shade of meaning to his students and contemporaries, who were familiar with Old French. Dr. Moshe Catane o.b.m., a Torah scholar and expert in Old French manuscripts, published a work entitled Otzar HaLa'azim (or La'azei Rashi), containing the Old French word Rashi used, and a Hebrew translation, accompanied by explanatory notes. La'azei Rashi on Rashi's commentary on the Talmud was first published in 5744 (1984); and on Tanach, in 5751 (1991). They were both republished in a new edition in 5760 (2000) in a single volume, by the Kest-Leibowitz Foundation for the Advancement of Torah Study. This edition has been included in the Responsa Project CD, such that the desired entry can be located by clicking on the Old French word in Rashi's commentary. • Rashi is also well-known as a posek (decider). A number of halachic anthologies, some published and some yet in manuscript, originated in Rashi's yeshiva. These works are known as Sifrei DeVei Rashi ("the works of Rashi's school"), and were taken from the collection of Rashi's writings and teachings prepared by R. Shemayah of Vitry (Rashi's secretary) and other students of Rashi; consequently, large portions of each of these works are similar. Also extant is a collection of Rashi's responsa from various sources, published by Israel Elfenbein in 1943; this has been included in the Responsa Project CD. • The Sefer Ha-Oreh, published by Shlomo Buber (Lemberg, 1905), belongs to this group of works, and includes not only the halachic decisions of Rashi's students, but also rulings from the Sefer Ha-`Ittim of Rabbi Judah of Barcelona and others. The publisher of Sefer Ha-Oreh included an anthology of halachic decisions entitled DeVei Rashi ("from Rashi's house"), which is very similar to Issur VeHeter LeRashi, published by Jacob Freiman (Berlin, 1938). Both of these only contain part of the whole (137 out of 329 paragraphs); the remainder is still in manuscript. Sefer Ha-Oreh and the published Issur VeHeter are both included in the Responsa Project CD. • Most of Issur VeHeter is also included in Machzor Vitry, by R. Simhah of Vitry (12th century), a student of Rashi. Machzor Vitry contains liturgical comments and decisions, as well as many piyyutim. The work cites earlier halakhic works on prayer, and makes extensive use of the writings of R. Shemayah. The first printed edition of Machzor Vitry contains many later additions, and was published in Berlin (1889-1897) by R. Simeon ha-Levi Hurvitz, who later published a corrected edition in Nurnberg in 1923, which is contained in the Responsa Project collection. • In 1912 Jacob Freiman published Siddur Rashi from the estates of Shlomo Buber. The publishers divided the work into 634 sections. It includes halachic decisions, commentary, and responsa from Rashi himself and other Torah scholars from his yeshiva. Like other Sifrei DeVei Rashi, large portions are also contained in Machzor Vitry. It has also been included in the Responsa Project. • An additional work by Rashi's disciples is Likutei HaPardes LeRashi, containing halachic decision and responsa, and first published in Venice in 1519. Most of it is contained in the expanded Sefer HaPardes, published some 200 years later. The prevalent edition of Likutei HaPardes was published in Munkács, 1897; this edition has been included in the Responsa Project. (This biography is from the BarIlan Responsa CD) Return to Rashi

15. YECHAVVEH DA`AT Rabbi Ovadia Yossef was born in Baghdad in 1920. He immigrated to Israel at age four and studied in yeshivot in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was ordained by former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ben Zion Uzziel. In 1947, Yossef became chief rabbi and head of the rabbinic court of Cairo. In 1950, he returned to Israel, where he served as rabbi of Tel Aviv, and later as the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. The phenomenal breadth of his knowledge and his total recall of relevant material from rabbinic and post-rabbinic literature endow his responsa with an encyclopedic quality. (biography is taken from the Bar Ilan Responsa CD) Return to Yechavveh Da’at

16. SCHULCHAN ARUCH Rabbi Joseph ben Ephraim Caro was born in Toledo, Spain in 1488, and died in Safed in 1575. He is also called Maran ("our master") or Ha-Mechaber ("the author," i.e. the halachic author par excellence). Caro left Spain in 1492 as a result of the Spanish expulsion of the Jews, and settled with his family in Turkey. In 1536, he emigrated to Israel and became the chief rabbi of Safed, an important center of Jewish learning and industry. His principal teacher in Safed was Rabbi Jacob Berab. Caro's magnum opus is his Beit Yosef ("House of Joseph"), an encyclopedic commentary on Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's Tur, a halachic code. Bet Yosef presents an extensive survey of relevant halachic literature, from the Talmud down to works of Caro's contemporaries. Caro's halachic decisions were codified in his Shulchan Aruch (which was actually a digest of Bet Yosef). This work quickly became accepted throughout the Jewish world as halachically authoritative. Likewise, Caro's commentary on Maimonides' code, the Kesef Mishneh, is one of the standard commentaries on Maimonides' work. Caro was also a mystic. He left two responsa collections, Avkat Rochel and Bet Yosef. (biography is taken from the Bar Ilan Responsa CD) Return to Shulchan Aruch