page_title: Beth din
section_title: Present day
hierarchical_section_title: Beth din / Present day
caption_attribution_description: English: Kosher food approved by the Beth din of Johannesburg, served as airplane meal
context_page_description: A beth din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it is invested with legal powers in a number of religious matters both in Israel and in Jewish communities in the Diaspora, where its judgements hold varying degrees of authority in matters specifically related to Jewish religious life.
context_section_description: In Orthodox Judaism, the traditions state that a beth din consists of three observant Jewish men, at least one of whom is widely knowledgeable in halakha (Jewish law), to be capable of instructing the other members in any matters of halakha relevant to the case being heard. The rabbis on the beth din do not have to be expert in all aspects of Jewish law, rather only the area in question. For example, a beth din for conversion need only have expertise in conversion, not necessarily in all areas of Jewish law. There are also a number of opinions that permit women to serve on a beth din. One such opinion is Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel. Despite this, there are no Orthodox batei din currently with a woman as a member.
  In progressive communities, as well as in other non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, women do serve on the beth din.
  In practice, a permanent beth din will consist of three rabbis, while a beth din for an occasional matter (such as handling religious vows) need not consist of rabbis. A beth din which handles cases involving complex monetary issues or large community organizations requires "judges" (dayanim, singular: dayan), who require an additional semikhah (yadin yadin) which enables them to participate in such a beth din and adjudicate complex cases involving highly technical points of law.
  A beth din is only required for conversions and gittin (divorce documents), although lay people are permitted to sit on the beth din for conversions.
  In addition to this there are batei din around the world who supervise the following matters:
  Kosher certification of restaurants and food manufacturers (Hechsher).
  Examination of shochetim and the control of the shechita inspectors
  Supervising the building and maintenance of a mikvah.
  Determination of "personal status" (i. e., whether someone is a Jew according to halakha).
  The authorization and supervision of mohelim.
  Questions relating to burial practices and mourning.
  A beth din is sometimes used within the Orthodox Jewish community to resolve civil disputes, with the Shulkhan Arukh calling for civil cases being resolved by religious, instead of secular, courts (arka'oth). Modern Western societies increasingly permit civil disputes to be resolved by private arbitration, enabling religious Jews to enter into agreements providing for arbitration by a particular beth din in the event of a dispute. By this device, the rules, procedures, and judgement of the beth din are accepted and can be enforced by secular courts in the same manner as those of a secular arbitration association. For example, in a 2018 decision, the Court of Appeal in Ontario, Canada, enforced an arbitration decision by the New York rabbinical court tribunal Beth Din (or Bais Din) of Mechon L'Hoyroa, in Brooklyn. However, the decisions of religious courts cannot be binding without the prior agreement of both parties, and will otherwise act only as mediation.
caption: Kosher meal approved by the Beth din of Johannesburg
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