Saturday 31 March 2018

Introducing The Jewish Bet Din, Its Types, And Historical Value

By Kimberly Murray


Even many centuries ago, a legal system already came into an existence. This administered various rulings of governance and punishments as well. They served as the foundation of every judicial decisions made, even until today.

The greatest house of law was first known to be composed of a group of wise men who would gather together in a holy hill. This was known as the Jewish bet din or sometimes spelled out as beth din. It was known to be the supreme and highest authority in both religious and civil matters not just in the holy capital city but in a nation as a whole.

Three types of courts were identified. Although the third one has no name, its nature and structure are written in this literature. The two are called Sanhedrin and Sanhedrin Katana.

Sanhedrin is known as the highest form of court. As written earlier, it was composed of a large group of wise men called the sage who had meetings on a holy mount. The seventy one wise men took over the court until a religious leader and prophet wooed them to join him in governing the whole nation. Thus, he became their leader who is authorized to make a final judgment on specific legal matters. As years went by, a nasi was appointed to replace him and acted as a leader of a group.

The little version of Sanhedrin is the one next to the first type. Twenty judges are composing it. The largest cities have been the meeting place of these judges who would come from different courts. This was done to discuss on the important matters related to enforcement of rules and regulations and policies. Monetary and corporal penalties can be imposed. Just like the higher form, these courts can even impose death penalties, if ever there is a very grave violence.

While courts were present in big cities, small villages and tribal communities with exactly or less than one hundred and twenty adult men also had their own judicial courts. Three judges composed them. They cannot be added unless their remaining number is odd. Unlike the larger ones such as Sanhedrin and Sanhedrin Katana, they had no power on imposing death and corporal penalties. Only those that are monetary were vested.

Yes, they are many types of them. Regardless of this fact, this kind of judicial system is more on the religious practices of a population that it governs. These matters of litigations were better known for them as dine Torah. These are a basis for decision and judgment that have been applied in other communities. However, whatever decisions are made, these are also based on varying degrees of authority and a kind of jurisdiction they were having on that community.

This is still evident in the holy land because of the rabbi scholars who are taking good care of it. They do not just take a good care for it but also supervise, direct, and take control on every resolution that are being made. Questions on the laws and other issues are also tackled. Divorce is one classical example.

The bottom line here is that no matter how strict it is, this is still a known instrumentality on the regulations of matters like religious life, family disputes, marriage, and the like. This all just depends on the political, economic, and social conditions of its area of jurisdiction.




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