THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean Lesson #36 - Calendar Practice Before discussing the cognate knowledge of this lesson, I wish to take this opportunity to wish Phil & Toni Chernofsky a hearty mazal tov on the birth of their first grandchild. May Hashem bless the entire family with many, many more smachot, in good health and good fortune. L'gadlo, l'Torah u'l'chupah, u'l'masim tovim. The Chernofskys are for all intents and purposes, Torah Tidbits. And all of us gain so much from their marvelous efforts on behalf of Klal Yisroel.
In Talmudic times the system of justice was generally swift. A plaintiff would go to the clerk of the Beth Din and explain that he wanted to sue the defendant and give him an outline of the essence of the lawsuit. A summons would be prepared by the clerk of the Beth Din and signed by the chief judge or all of the judges. The Beth Din officer would serve the summons on the defendant and the trail would take place immediately, with the exceptions stated in lessons 23 and 24.
Nowadays justice does not move as rapidly. Sometimes it takes a long time for a case to be judged. Society has become more complex and the wheels of justice generally grind more slowly though not necessarily more effectively.
What if there are several cases that are all before the Beth Din? Which cases should be given priority in setting the trials?
When rules are established for prioritizing the cases to be judged by the Beth Din, the litigants will not feel that they are being shunted aside in favor of those who are more powerful or have more influence. The litigants' first contact with the Beth Din is on the day they arrive to have their case judged. If a litigant sees that another who arrived in the Beth Din room after he did is having his case judged first, he will feel uneasy about the entire Beth Din system. If he realizes, however, that there is an established, objective list of priorities, he will be less resentful that his case is not taken first. Such list should be published and be made available to all litigants. It will also alert the litigants' attorneys that they will have to spend time in Beth Din waiting for the trial to be reached. The attorneys will appear when their case is reached and thus save fees to be paid by the litigants while the attorneys sit in the Beth Din waiting for trial. I was not a litigation attorney, but I know how much client's pay for time wasted by their attorneys sitting in a courtroom waiting for their case to be reached for trial.
A reading of the various codes and responsa suggests a list of priorities as follows: (1) A matrimonial case in which there is hope of reconciling the parties. Successful reconciliation of matrimonial cases very often depends upon perfect timing. The husband and the wife must be in a receptive mood. The priority should extend to all aspects of the matrimonial case, including child custody, child support payments and alimony. The stability of society depends upon the stability of the home. (2) Cases involving minor orphans. The priority would be the same if the minor's parents abandoned him. (3) A case involving a widow. The Torah is replete with references to doing justice to the orphan and widow. One way to show them consideration is to avoid them having to sit in the Beth Din waiting for their case to be judged. (4) A case involving a Sage or his wife. There seems to be a wide divergence of opinion whether the priority for the Sages is applicable in this day and age. There was a time when Sages were involved in the study and teaching of Torah to the exclusion of all else. Thus their spending time in the Beth Din waiting for their cases to be tried would be a tremendous waste of time that could have been spent in the study of Torah, which of course is the ultimate goal of all. The difference of opinion seems to rest on whether today's sages are of sufficiently high caliber so that taking them away from their Torah study would have such a negative impact on the community's knowledge of Torah. There is also some question whether the respect for the sage in granting him priority also extends to his wife and other relatives. In my opinion, the Sage can set an example by waiving whatever priority might be granted to him and publicly stating that he will take his turn together with all other litigants. There is no reason why a Sage cannot bring a sefer to the Beth Din and study there. It would be the best if each Beth Din had a room where a scholar could study Torah while waiting for his case to be judged. (5) A case involving a woman. The reason for giving priority to a case involving a woman is that it is not proper to have a woman sitting for long periods in the Beth Din together with all of the men who are waiting to have their cases judged. (6) A short case before a lengthy case. (7) An uncomplicated case before a highly complicated case. The reason for these last two priorities is that Beth Din can show respect for the litigants by not forcing them to wait to have their relatively short and simple cases judged while long and complicated cases are being judged. (8) A case involving a poor worker who is losing time from work and his wages. In an ideal situation, Beth Din should have a department for poor persons with claims involving small amounts of money. This includes wage claims. (9) A case of a person who is ill or aged and who should be allowed to return home as quickly as possible. (10) Other cases as the Beth Din may give priority to, such as a case where the witnesses are about to leave the community, or justice demands a quick trial for the benefit of he community. The judges of the Beth Din should act in such a way that their actions are understood by the people in the Beth Din room and not think that the judges acted capriciously, or even worse, corruptly. A little thing as losing one's turn can result in a disdain for the entire system of justice.
Each Beth Din should be able to establish its own list of priorities according to the guidance provided by its own experience. A periodic examination of these priorities will show the community members that the Beth Din is making an effort to dispense justice with the convenience of the public in mind. Too often judges do that which suits their convenience without giving much thought to the needs of the public. While his is bad in secular courts, it may amount to a desecration of the Name of Heaven when this happens in a Beth Din. The entire thrust of Torah law litigation is to help the litigants obtain justice in a quick, dignified manner.
The most important thing that a judge of a Beth Din must remember when he is judging cases is that he will someday have to give an accounting to the Judge of all mankind. Therefore the judge should be circumspect in wielding his judicial powers.
The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in Vol. 1, Ch. 15, of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by E. Quint - on sale at local bookstores.
Address comments to quint@inter.net.il
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