Invalidity of gentile courts (he:ערכאות של גויים) is a

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

ic rule regarding

gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...

courts in

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

. The rule states that gentile courts are invalid for ruling over

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Jewish law requires disputes to be settled by a Jewish court (''

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 ...

'') under the laws of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

. It is forbidden to settle disputes in a court ruled by gentile laws. Jewish law permits settling disputes in gentile courts in exceptional cases and these cases usually require approval from Jewish religious authority. There is ongoing ''

halachic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...

'' dispute regarding the status of the courts in modern state of Israel and whether the courts are religiously binding.

Source of the ban

The prohibition comes from the tractate ''

Gittin Gittin (Hebrew: ) is a tractate of the Mishnah and the Talmud, and is part of the order of Nashim. The content of the tractate primarily deals with the legal provisions related to halakhic divorce, in particular, the laws relating to the ''Get'' ...

'' of the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cent ...

which states: The punishment for breaking this rule is '' herem'' or excommunication. This rule was instated so that Jews would not be subjected to the courts of the gentile nations which were idolatrous.

Exceptions

If a Jew is robbed or cheated by a gentile and the only option to get the money back is to be present in the gentile courts the Jew is allowed to settle the dispute in the court.Gittin, 44a

Sefaria Sefaria is an online open source, free content, digital library of Jewish texts. It was founded in 2011 by former Google project manager Brett Lockspeiser and journalist-author Joshua Foer. Calling itself "a living library of Jewish texts", Sefa ...

In modern Israel

The courts in modern day nation of Israel do not rule according to the laws of the Torah. However most of the judges are Jews with sufficient knowledge in Judaism. Some Jewish scholars believe that in the absence of religious courts these courts can be binding. However the majority believe that since these courts do not rule according to the Torah, they are not religiously binding.

References

{{reflist Jewish law

Source of the ban

Exceptions

In modern Israel

See also

References