Checkmate, Forum-Shoppers: How Uniform Rules of Procedure Can End The Beit Din Selection Stalemate

Abstract

Jewish Law dispute resolution practice is built upon rabbinic traditions first described in the Mishnah – a compendium of religious and civil black letter law compiled at approximately 200 CE – and its voluminous commentary. Parties seeking to resolve disputes under Jewish law submit to the jurisdiction of a three-person panel tasked with mediating, arbitrating and adjudicating disputes in consonance with procedural and substantive Jewish Law. These panels typically operate under the auspices of institutions known as Batei Din, literally “houses of law,” or, singularly, as a Beit Din , literally a “house of law.”