Lesson #24 (part 2 of...) When Beth Din Sessions May Be Held

During which times of the day may a Beth Din hold its sessions? At first glance it does not seem to be an overwhelming question. What difference should it make? The difference is that the Torah, and halachah, are involved in setting the times for trials. It states "...on the day that he causes his sons to inherit..." (Deut.21.16). The Talmud (Sanhedrin 34b) explains that this verse does not literally refer to the father causing his sons to inherit but rather, to the court determining a person's right to the inheritance, which is a civil action. And since the verse states "on the day" it would appear that the case must be adjudicated during the daytime. But there is another verse that states "And they shall judge the people at all times" (Exodus 18.12) which indicates a trial can be held at all times. The Talmud reconciles both verses by showing that the trial must commence in the daytime, but the rendering of the decision can be at night. There is another opinion in the Talmud, that of Rabbi Meir, who holds that the entire trial including the rendering of the decision must be in the daytime. He basis his holding on the verse that states "According to their word shall be every controversy and every plague" (Deut. 21.5).

Just as the Torah says that a person who is afflicted with a plague must be judged by the priest only in the daytime to determine if he has the plague, similarly a lawsuit may be judged only in the daytime night. Thus we see that the Torah mandates certain laws regarding when a trial can take place. All of the great decisors such as Alfasi, Rambam, Or Zarua, Asheri, Yad Rama, Tur, Shulhan Aruch, Lebush, Sma, Schach, Beir Hetev, and Aruch haShulhan state that the commencement of the trial must take place during the day. However, if commenced during the day and all of the evidence was received that day or on subsequent days during daylight hours, then the judges may hold their deliberations at night and may render their decision at night.

The litigants can agree that a session of the Beth Din take place at night. I have participated on many a Beth Din that sat at night by agreement of the parties. Moreover, if the litigants have been summoned to appear at Beth Din at night and they appeared and participated it will be treated as if they have stipulated to have the trial take place at night.

It has been held that if the leadership of a community adopts regulations providing for trials at night, then this procedure becomes binding on all the inhabitants of the community. If the parties have failed to stipulate and there are no rules requiring nighttime trails, then a person cannot be punished for neglecting to come to Beth Din at night even if he was served with a summons requiring such attendance.

A summons may be served at night requiring attendance during the next day or on any future day.

The entire Beth Din system was originally composed of judges who were scholars and who had to give up time from their Torah studies in order to sit in judgment. Given their natural reluctance to relinquish study time, it became necessary to establish certain minimum amounts of time during which a Beth Din is required to hold sessions. The judges went in to judge cases immediately after the morning prayers and they did this without taking any time out for eating. They sat in judgment until the time of the midday meal. The Talmud (Shabbat 10a) points out that scholars ate their first meal in the sixth hour of the day. In Jewish law, the day's hours are calculated by taking the amount of daylight hours and dividing by twelve. Thus assuming a day equally divided between day and night, we would have twelve equal daylight hours from 6:00am to 6:00pm, and the scholars would eat between 11:00am and noon.

There is a difference of opinion among post-Talmudic authorities whether the mandatory meeting time of the Beth Din is until 11:00am, until noon, or sometime in between. Alfasi, followed by Asheri holds that the judges must sit until the sixth hour. This might indicate until the beginning of the sixth hour which is about11:00am. Rambam, however, states that the judges must sit in judgment until the end of the sixth hour, which would be until noon. Tur holds that the law is in accord with Rambam. But there is also an admonition that a scholar must commence his midday meal no later than before noon. The commentators reconcile these views by stating when Rambam and Tur hold that the judges sit until the end of the sixth hour, they are referring to a time approximately a few minutes before noon.

Tur goes on to say that after the morning session the judges are no longer required to sit in session. Bach comments that judges should not think that they are prohibited from sitting in judgment in the afternoon because they would be neglecting the study of Torah. The judges should be told that their function is so important that they may resume their legal sessions after lunch. Aruch haShulhan concludes that the preceding rules were followed during Talmudic times. At the present time, however, Beth Din reconvenes after the midday meal.

In discussing this topic, the Talmud and the codes also mention that provision should be made for recessing the afternoon session in order to afford the participants an opportunity to recite the afternoon prayers. The lawyers who are representing the litigants, should stop their clocks from running while dovening mincha. They should doven at their own expense, not at the client's expense. I was once at a meeting and my client went to doven mincha with the lawyers and he said that he thought it would be fair if we kept the time running.

This lesson and the next lesson dealing with the minimum monetary jurisdiction of the Beth Din evidence the fact that the halachah is all inclusive. There are too many people who think that the Jewish religion is very exacting when it comes to laws of kashruth and Shabbat. They should know that the halachah covers all contingencies in all situations in civil law as well as it does in matters of ritual.