The Jewish Bet Din Religious Court Explained

By Barbara Wright


A religion can have a court. This will be religious in nature. A religious court will be very different from a civilian court. A civilian court is secular in nature. The Jewish Bet Din is a religious court in every sense and respect. It conforms to Judaism. This is a very ancient religion that is relevant in the present day world. Not all Jews are religious. There are also secular Jews. In Israel, there is a freedom of religion. However, anyone who identifies as Jewish, whether or not he is secular, should accept the authority of the Bet Din on marriage issues.

The Bet Din is religious in nature. That means that it can only be applied in a religious context and in this case it is the religion of Judaism. Therefore, a Christian or an Islam who is living in the state of Israel will not be bound by the rules of this court. This court has a number of officials.

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.

The modern day Torah based court is not as active as it used to be in ancient times. Its powers have been severely limited even in Israel itself. In Israel, it is part and parcel of the Israeli judiciary. However, the Israeli rabbinical authorities have a large influence when it comes to appointing the various officials of this court.

In modern day times, a religious court complements the other courts. A country can have more than one religious court. Each religion can have its own religious court. This court is only restricted to civil matters. It does not have a say on criminal matters. These have to be handled by the office of public prosecutor of a country, which is a government institution.




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