Apotropos (Heb. אפוטרופוס) is the term in

Halakha ''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 comm ...

(traditional Jewish law) for

legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, call ...

; it is derived from the Greek επίτροπος, 'guardian'. The need for an apotropos arises with persons who are unable to take care of their own affairs, such as minors and adults who are mentally defective or absentees. The term is carried over into contemporary

Israeli law Israeli law is based mostly on a common law legal system, though it also reflects the diverse history of the territory of the State of Israel throughout the last hundred years (which was at various times prior to independence under Ottoman, th ...

; see the Hebrew article.

External links

Apotropos
Jewish Virtual Library Greek words and phrases in Jewish law Jewish law Talmud concepts and terminology Law of Israel {{Israel-stub