In Parshat Yitro Moshe heeds Yitro’s advice to appoint judges and in Parshat Shoftim, we see the formal building blocks for batei din of today with the command to appoint judges in every city and a high court for each tribe. (During the time of the Beit HaMikdash, the 71-member Sanhedrin adjudicated civil and criminal cases.) The Torah teaches the judges must also judge with righteous judgment; as Rashi elucidates, with honesty and correctly. The Torah seems to have anticipated a modern caustic comment that “in the halls of justice, justice is made in the halls.” Having honest judges is a hallmark of a just society, and when that is absent, anarchy can rule.
We might think that today batei din just adjudicate cases of divorce and conversion. Yet, Jewish courts can resolve business disputes and damages. If the proceedings are conducted not only according to Jewish law but in a manner that meets the requirements of secular arbitration law, the decisions can be legally binding and enforceable in secular legal system. With secular courts so backed up and costs so high, this can be an alternative more should embrace.
