Beth din

A beth din [bet ˈdin], bet din, beit din or beis din (Hebrew: בית דין‎, "house of judgment"; plural battei 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 (din Torah, "matter of litigation", plural dinei Torah) both in Israel and in Jewish communities in the Diaspora, where its judgments hold varying degrees of authority (depending upon the jurisdiction and subject matter) in matters specifically related to Jewish religious life.

Antiquity and historical value

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):