Order in the Court

“And these are the laws that you shall place before them….” (Shemos 21:1)

Rashi says that the words “before them” allude to the fact that legal matters should be presented before a Jewish court and not before the courts of the nations of the world. This is true even if the law legislated by the secular court is identical to the Jewish court. One who brings his legal matters before a secular judge causes a chillul Hashem. Why? (Rabbi Yosef Kalatzky, Beyond Pshat)

My first and only experience in a beis din was years ago. Several fellow staff members and I were trying to receive our salaries from a company that folded. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was dreading the encounter and the necessity of such unpleasant proceedings.

While in the waiting room, across the hall, I had a glimpse of the dayanim in their long frocks, sitting in a semi-circle on a raised dais. Their faces looked somber, yet kind, and I was filled with a sense of awe. I had a sudden urge to run in there to tell them all my problems and commit to doing whatever they told me. These judges clearly understood the import of justice.

The Alter of Slabodka ztz”l explains that when one observes Torah laws because they were given to Moshe at Sinai, his observance connects to the spiritual system of the Torah as a whole.

However, if one were to observe these same laws for humanitarian reasons, there is no spiritual accomplishment. Therefore, if a Jew goes to secular court, although the outcome may be identical to Torah law, it’s as if he’s denying Hashem and the spiritual component of the Torah’s laws.

Spoiler alert: I never got a chance to speak with the dayanim. I subsequently went two more times to beis din, but the other party never showed up. We were then told that we now had the halachic right to sue in a secular court.

I left, weighted down with this responsibility and disappointed that I hadn’t had a chance to present my case to those exalted talmidei chachamim sitting up on that dais.