Adapted from a Shiur by Rav Daniel Dombroff The case of the overstuffed chair Several Yeshiva boys sat recently in their Yeshiva’s dorm room. One was on an old upholstered chair that another boy had rescued from the trash a couple of years earlier. The chair felt uncomfortable, so he rose, flipped it over, and began to fiddle with it, inadvertently breaking open the … [Read more...]
State of the Union, Revisited
Adapted from a Shiur by Rav Shmuel Honigwachs A follow-up on credit unions and cooperatives. Our recent article following the Kol Kore (rabbinic proclamation) on credit unions (“State of the Union: May One Join PenFed or First Atlantic?”) prompted many questions from readers about other entities with similar structures to credit unions, particularly mutual whole life … [Read more...]
Mob Rules: Does the Torah Sanction Vigilante Justice? Part III
Adapted from a shiur by Rav Yosef Greenwald Going alone Bet Din has a side job in addition to Mishpat (justice): to serve as Shotrim – officers (Devarim 16:18). This function requires Bet Din, in certain circumstances, to intervene to protect society from those that would menace it. If a troublemaker were to make a practice of causing damage via Gerama (indirectly), Bet … [Read more...]
Mob Rules: Does the Torah Sanction Vigilante Justice? Part II
Adapted from a Shiur by Rav Yosef Greenwald Justice as Divine representation Bet Din is called in the Torah by the Divine name: “Elokim” (Shemot 22:7). A monetary Bet Din of three judges is G-dlike in that it brings justice to this world. A minor Sanhedrin of twenty-three carries the additional Divine mantle of the power over life and death. For this reason, Bet Din … [Read more...]
‘Order in the Court!’: Is There?
By: Dayan David Englander The Din Torah process in contemporary times It is not uncommon for people to question the Bet Din’s procedures, action, and motives, especially when they are first exposed to a Bet Din as a party to a case. The first step toward understanding how and why a Bet Din acts is to attempt to see things from the perspective of a neutral party. As … [Read more...]