Lesson # 334 • Recessing for Lunch Assume the following case: (Many of the facts did transpire.) In the midst of a Beth Din proceeding, one of the parties asked for an adjournment of about half an hour so that he could get a sandwich to eat, he was hungry. His lawyer made a motion to adjourn for half an hour. The other side did not object in principle, except the lawyer for the defendant said that he had an extremely important appointment that afternoon and every moment counted. I told the parties and their lawyers that the halacha took into account the lunch break for the Beth Din during the course of a trial. They were, of course, quite surprised and I told then I would send them an essay on the topic. The following is essentially the essay that I sent. The entire Torah court system was originally composed of judges who were scholars and who gave time from their 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 duly constituted regular appointed community Beth Din is required to hold sessions. In T. Shabbat (10a), the Talmud records a discussion concerning the minimum amount of time that the judges are required to sit in Beth Din. It appears that immediately after the morning prayers, the judges entered into the Beth Din to adjudicate cases and they did this without taking any time for eating. The question arose, until when must they sit in judgment? The answer give by the Talmud is that they must sit until the time of the midday meal. The Talmud points out that the scholars ate their first meal in the sixth hour of the day. In Jewish Law the hours are calculated by taking the amount of daylight hours and dividing by twelve. Thus assuming a day equally divided between night and day, 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 of the Beth Din is until 11:00am, until noon, or some time between. Alfasi (1013-1103) says that they must sit until the sixth hour and Asheri (1250-1327) following him, uses the exact language. The words “until the sixth hour” would seem to indicate until the beginning of the sixth hour which is about 11:00am. Rambam (1135-1204) however, states that the judges must sit until the end of the sixth hour, which would be until noon. He writes as follows: “During what hours do the judges hold session? The Small Sanhedrin and the Beth Din of three judges, from the time when the morning prayers are over until the end of the sixth hour of the day. The Great Sanhedrin meets from the time of the morning tamid [daily burnt offering] until the evening tamid is slaughtered, Sabbaths and festivals they spend in the house of study located in the Temple Mount.” Tur (1270-1340) holds that the law is in accordance with Rambam. R. Yosef Karo (1488-1575) in his Kesef Mishneh commentary on Rambam and in his Beth Yosef commentary on Tur, questions the holding of Rambam and Tur. He concludes that the halacha should be that the judges must sit until the beginning of the sixth hour rather than the end of the sixth hour. These comments serve as the basis for R. Karo’s statement in his code (Shulhan Aruch Hoshen haMishpat §5) that the Beth Din sits from dawn until the end of the fifth hour, that is, until 11:00am. Bach (1570-1641) in his commentary on Tur and R.. Joshua Falk (1555-1614) in his Prisha commentary on Tur write that Rambam and Tur certainly are aware of the Talmudic admonition that a scholar must commence his midday meal no late than before noon. Accordingly, they explain, Rambam and Tur do not literally mean until the end of the sixth hour (i.e. noon), rather they are referring to a time approximately a few minutes before noon. Schach (1622- 1663) in turn cites Falk with approval. Aruch haShulhan (1829-1908) attempts to reconcile all the proceeding views as follows: All agree that the Beth Din must be in session until 11:00am. In addition, if the judges desire, they may remain in session from 11:00am until just before noon. However, the judges must adjourn to eat at least a few minutes before noon, according to all authorities. Tur, after stating that the Beth Din is required to sit until noon, adds that after this time the Beth Din is no longer required to sit in session. This language is also used by Rama (1520-1572) in his emendations to R. Karo’s code. Bach comments that the judges should not think that they are prohibited for sitting in judgment in the afternoon because they would be neglecting the study of Torah. Therefore, judges should be told that their function is so important that they may resume sitting in judgment in the afternoon after they have eaten. Aruch haShulhan, after analyzing the various authorities, concludes that the preceding rules were followed during Talmudic times. At the present time, however, Beth Din always reconvenes after the midday meal. In discussing the topic, that Talmud and the codes also mention that provision should be made for recessing the afternoon Beth Din session to recite the Afternoon Prayers. All that which was said is according to the halacha if there is no agreement among the parties. They may stipulate that the trial or any part thereof, may commence and/or take place at night. A community may adopt rules regarding times for trials and so may an organization. These rules should be made known to the litigants who seek the aid of this particular Beth Din. The Beth Din of the Israel Center does not have the power to compel litigants to come before it. We only judge cases where both sides have entered into a stipulation to have their dispute adjudicated by us. To date we have not had any disputes by the litigant regarding our rules, which we deem to be fair to both sides. Oh yes, in the case of which I spoke at the outset, we sent down to the caterers in the lower floor who brought up sandwiches, and also the lawyer who had to leave called ahead and told them he would be late, and they were happy since they were not ready for their meeting. The important thing that all the people in the room learned is that the halacha does make provision for a recess for lunch. And oh, yes, again, the case was settled to everyone’s satisfaction after all the parties had a chance to make their points. The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in volume I chapter 5 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 Naso Homepage]
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