The Johannesburg Beth Din is the
Beth Din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei 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 ...
(Court of Jewish Law) of the
Union of Orthodox Synagogues
The Union of Orthodox Synagogues (UOS) is the coordinating body of Orthodox Synagogues in South Africa.
Activities
* The UOS maintains a Beth Din, The Johannesburg Beth Din
* The Office of the Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein
* The Kashrut Divi ...
of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. It serves Jews throughout South Africa and other countries on the continent.
The focus of the Beth Din is on areas of family law, divorce and conversion, as well as adjudication of financial disputes. Other areas supervised by the Beth Din are:
Circumcision
Circumcision is a surgical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin ...
,
Stam,
Mikvaot and
Eruv
An eruv (; he, עירוב, , also transliterated as eiruv or erub, plural: eruvin or eruvim) is a ritual halakhic enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally prohibited on Shabbat (due to the prohibition of ''ho ...
in.
In 2004, the High Court of South Africa upheld a
cherem (excommunication edict) against a Johannesburg businessman because he refused to pay his former wife alimony as ordered by The Johannesburg Beth Din. The case, because of its potential implications with regard to the interaction of religious and state law, elicited global interest.
Dayanim
Current members of the Beth Din are:
* Dayan Dovid Baddiel
* Dayan Yoel Smith
* Dayan Gidon Fox
Former Dayanim
Former members of the Beth Din include:
* Dayan Yitzchak Kossowsky
* Dayan Michel Kossowsky
* Dayan Yisrael Soloveitchik
* Dayan Shlomo Rosenzweig
* Dayan A H Lapin
* Dayan I Aloy
* Dayan Dr Dennis Isaacs
* Dayan Moshe Kurtstag (Rosh Beth Din)
* Dayan Baruch Rapoport
* Dayan Zadok Suchard
* Dayan Shlomo Glicksberg
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johannesburg Beth Din
Jewish courts and civil law
Jewish marital law
Jews and Judaism in Johannesburg
Orthodox Judaism in South Africa