Beth din
rabbinic court
A beth din (Hebrew: בֵּית דִּין, romanized: Bēṯ Dīn, Beit Din, lit. 'house of judgment', [beːθ ˈdiːn], Ashkenazic: beis din, plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. A hearing held before a beth din is called a din Torah (Hebrew: דין תורה, romanized: din Torah, lit. 'Torah law', plural dinei Torah). A beth din can be found both in Israel and in many Jewish diaspora communities.
A ruling (Hebrew: פסק, romanized: psak) from a beth din is based upon Jewish law (Hebrew: הלכה, romanized: halakha), though other legal systems are occasionally incorporated. Because it is not part of secular legal systems, when a case overlaps with secular courts its judgment is not always recognized by such courts.
History
Rabbinical commentators point out that the first suggestion in the Torah that the ruler divest his legal powers and delegate his power of judgment to lower courts was made by Jethro to Moses (Exodus 18:14–26). This situation was formalised later when God gave the explicit command to "establish judges and officers in your gates" (Deuteronomy 16:18).
There were three types of courts (Mishnah, tractate Sanhedrin 1:1-4 and 1:6):
The Sanhedrin, the grand central court on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, numbering 71
Smaller courts of 23, called a Sanhedrin Ketana ("small Sanhedrin"). These courts could pass the death verdict. These existed on two levels, the one higher in standing than the other:
The main cities of the tribes, had a court of 23
All towns of a minimum size (either 120 or 230 people) had to have a court of 23, which was under the jurisdiction of the tribal court
The smallest court of three was found in villages with a population of fewer than 120 people.
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