Lesson # 293 (part one) • Dina D’Malchuta Dina With this lesson we begin a series of lessons that is of halachic interest to every Jew in his everyday conduct, certainly to those who live outside the State of Israel and according to most authorities, also to those residing in the State of Israel. I have used the following example in a series of lectures I gave at the Israel Center on this topic. I shall also use halachic sources throughout these lessons so that the reader may study the sources on his own. I shall also give the dates and places where these halachic giants lived so that the reader will have an idea when and where these matters were dealt with. A Jewish man is driving along a highway in the United States and in the intersection in front of him there is a flashing red light that indicates a full stop; in addition there is a large red sign that says “STOP”. There is also written across the road in large white letters “FULL STOP”. The driver goes through the intersection without stopping. He is immediately stopped by a policeman who asks the driver: “Didn’t you see the blinking red light?” and the driver answers “Yes. I did“. The policeman asks “Didn’t you see the red stop sign?” and the driver answers “YES, I did”. The policeman again asks “Didn’t you see the large white letters in the road that said FULL STOP?” Again the driver answers “Yes, I did”. The policeman then asks, “If you saw the blinking red light and you saw the large red sop sign and you saw the large white letters in the road spelling “full stop” why didn’t you stop. The driver answered “I saw the blinking red light, and I saw the large stop sign, and I saw the large red letters in the road that said full stop. But I didn’t see you.” The question arises, did the Jew in addition to violating the laws of the state in which he was driving also violate Jewish law? Is there a religious doctrine of a Jew having to abide by the laws of the land in which he resides? The doctrine that a Jew must abide by the laws of the land in which he resides is an integral part of halacha. It appears in at least 25 places in Shulhan Aruch. In Hebrew (actually in Aramaic) it is known as Dina D’Malchuta Dina, abiding by the laws of the land where the Jew resides. As stated by R. Ganzfried (Hungary 1804-1866) in his Kitzur Shulhan Aruch 182:16, “The law of the temporal government must be recognized as law.” Torah Doctrine It is stated in Shulhan Aruch Eben haEzer 28:1, “If a man betroths a woman with the proceeds of robbery, theft, or violence, the rule is as follows: If the owners have abandoned hope of recovery, and it is known that the culprit has acquired title to the object because of their abandonment of hope, the betrothal is valid, if not it is not valid.” If there is an abandonment of hope by the owner of having the stolen object returned to him and the thief transfers possession of the object to a third party, who knows that the object was stolen, the current possessor must pay the owner for the object; if he does not know it was stolen only the thief must pay the owner for the object. R. Samuel ben Uri Shraga of Furth (Poland, second half of the 17th century, Beth Shmuel commentary on Shulhan Aruch Eben haEzer 28:3) in his commentary discusses the situation where the laws of the land require a thief or someone who is holding a stolen object to restore it to its owner. That being so, the betrothal should not be valid since there has not been a change in possession of the stolen object to accompany the abandonment of hope of recovery of the object by the owner. He discusses Dina D’Malchuta Dina and concludes that it is not a Torah doctrine but rather one enunciated by the Rabbis of antiquity. This question and all its ramifications under Dina D’Malchuta Dina is also discussed b R. Yoel Sirkis (Poland; 1561-1640, Bach response new, 7). However, R. Aryeh Leib Heller (Galicia, Poland; 1745-1813; Avnei Milu’im) in his commentary to Shulhan Aruch Eben haEzer writes that this is not correct, but a Torah Doctrine. This is also the view of R. Moshe Sofer (Hungary; 1762-1832; Chatam Sofer, Yoreh De’ah response 314), and R. Yaakov Ettlinger (Germany; 1798-1871; Binyanei Tzion 2:15). The former deals with the question of a cow that is pregnant for the first time; if its calf is a male it has certain holiness attached to it. As stated by Maimonides Book of Offerings, Laws of Firstlings 1:2, these laws apply today. (Stories are told of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik declaring a first born male calf being non-holy because of a blemish.) However, if the owner of the cow sells any interest in the cow or the unborn calf to a Gentile, it is not subject to these laws. Very often the question arises whether the sale of such an interest was a valid sale; it may not complied with the laws of sales of animals according to halacha, but it may be a valid sale under the laws of the land. In discussing this question, R. Sofer concludes that Dina D’Malchuta Dina is of Torah origin. This is also the view of R. Eliezer Waldenberg (Israel 1917-); Tzitz Eliezer 12:83.) We shall in this lesson begin to cite the sources for the Dina D’Malchuta Dina doctrine and IYH continue with the sources in the beginning of next week’s lesson.) Source #1. A Mishna in Nedarim 3:3 states: One may take a vow to murders and to robbers and to tax collectors that which they have belongs to a priest (tithe) though it is not the priest’s tithe. The Talmud asks how can he make such a vow since the tax collector is collecting taxes for the government and the taxpayer must pay it under Dina D’Malchuta Dina. The Talmud answers that in this case the tax collector was unauthorized to collect these taxes. The inference is that had he been authorized, the Jew could not make a false vow, since the Jew would have to abide by the law of the land to pay taxes. The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in volume IX chapter 369 of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by E. Quint. Copies of all volumes can be purchased via email: orders@gefenpublishing.com and via website: www.israelbooks.com and at local Judaica bookstores. Questions to quint@inter.net.il [The Parshat
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