THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean Lesson #23 (part 1 of...) When Beth Din Sessions May Be Held The Talmud (Baba Kamma 82a) records that during the fifth century before the common era, Ezra haSofer enacted ten major decrees. One of these enactments provided that a Beth Din should hold its sessions on Mondays and Thursdays, the second and fifth days of the Jewish week. This enactment was intended to strengthen the judicial process. Over the centuries the practice has evolved that Beth Din sits in judgment on all days of the week, except as hereinafter specified. Many reasons are given as to the changes in days on which Beth Din meets. One of the reasons is that the requirements of various communities differ. To have a static situation would not be in harmony with the aspiration that the purpose of the judicial system is to make the system work more efficiently for all the citizens. As explained by Rabbi Yoel Sirkus (Bayit Chadash/Bach, Poland, 1570-1641, on Tur Hoshen haMishpat chapter 5), there is a sociological reason for the changeover. In the time of the Talmud, small communities were clustered around the larger cities. The inhabitants of those small communities came to the cities on Mondays and Thursdays to hear the reading of the Torah. This type of communal structure no longer existed in Rabbi Sirkus' times, so that inhabitants of smaller communities no longer had to come to the larger cities on Mondays and Thursdays. The Torah prohibits numerous activities on the Shabbat and Holy Days. In addition, the Sages proscribe certain other activities. The Sages proscribed the judging of cases on the Shabbat and Holy Days, (Bezah 36b) the reason given is that the judges may write down their decision on the Shabbat or Holy day, and writing on these days is prohibited according to Torah law. If, However, the Beth Din did meet on these days, their proceedings are valid. There may be emergency situations where the most qualified Beth Din in a city may judge on the Shabbat and Holy Days. Also if the plaintiff is not asking for immediate disposition of his lawsuit, but merely wants to acquaint the Beth Din of his claim, the Beth Din may meet on the Shabbat and Holy Days. Thus weddings may now take place on Fridays, since if there is any claim of fraud in the marriage, the husband may gather three persons on the Shabbat to constitute a Beth Din and present his claim to them. In this situation there is no danger of the claims being written down because the Beth Din merely sits to hear the allegations of the plaintiff-husband in order that he may preserve his rights by making timely claim. The Beth Din should not meet on the Shabbat and Holy Days in the same place where they meet on weekdays, unless meetings to discuss communal problems are also held there. Just as the Beth Din should not judge cases on the Shabbat and Holy Days, it should not sit on judgment on the days prior to these days, namely on Fridays and the eve of Holy Days. The reason given is that the judges will not give enough thought to their decisions since they will be in a rush to conclude and get home to prepare for the Shabbat or Holy Day. With this in mind, it has been held that the Beth Din may convene on Fridays and eves of Holy Days to hear the claims of the litigants, which is ordinarily not a time-consuming matter. This can only be done if all the parties consent to such procedure. The judges may not deliberate and render a decision on these days. The prohibition against rendering a decision may not be waived even if the litigants and the judges agree. Imagine a situation where all of the parties to the litigation, the plaintiff and his lawyer, the defendant and his lawyer, the three judges of the Beth Din, the officers of the Beth Din, witnesses, and the Beth Din stenographer are all present to make notes of the pleadings of the parties. The more time that they have invested there will be a unanimous type of agreement that this can be finished "in just a matter of a few more minutes". Those few minutes of course drag into an hour and the first hour into the second hour until someone finally says its is almost Shabbat. They may make it home on time without any preparation for Shabbat or perhaps not make it home on time. (When our family lived Flatbush we were close to a subway station. There were quite a few occasions when Rena had already lit the candles and I had left for the synagogue that friends came by to drop off their wallets, keys and other things in their pockets. Even after we had an eruv in Flatbush due to the Herculean efforts of Rav Solomon Sharfman, they still dropped off their muktzeh. I am sure each one felt certain that he had adequate time to be home before Shabbat and to prepare for welcoming the Shabbat.) Of even greater importance is the fact that the judges of the Beth Din might be tempted to decide the case and continually look at their watches and make a hasty decision, when the halachah calls for a deliberate decision. Needless to say in case of emergency situations, the Beth Din may also render a decision on Friday or the eve of Holy Days. Rabbi Moshe Isserles, the great Ashkenazik "later decisor", citing Terumath haDeshen writes, "There is an opinion that nowadays we may judge on Fridays and the day before a Holy day because of the neglect of teaching Torah which might be caused to teachers. [The teachers were usually off on Fridays and would not miss any school days if they went to Beth Din on Fridays.) This applies specifically to civil cases where the law is less rigid, since the Beth Din has the power of expropriation, but the law is not relaxed in matters regarding prohibited acts. It seems to me that this applies only if it chanced to happen on occasion, but there should not be any Beth Din appointed to sit on Fridays or the day before a Holy Day, and this is the way we are accustomed to act." (Ramo, Krackow, Poland, 1520-1572, Darkai Moshe on Tur Hoshen haMishpat, chapter 5). Rabbi Abraham Eisenstadt, commenting on the last phrase of Rabbi Isserles, cites sources who hold that the Beth Din are also not appointed to meet if a plague is raging in a city. (Piskei Teshuva, on Shulhan Aruch Hoshen haMishpat, chapter 5, comment 3, Poland, 1813-1868.) The topic of the times when Beth Din can function will be continued IYH next lesson. The topic is fully covered in A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law, Volume I, chapter 5 published by Jason Aronson, Inc. 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