[Avodah] Guest post: The Chief Rabbinate and the composition of the London Beth Din, 1840-1984 by Dr Benjamin Elton

[Prof. Levine]

>From  http://tinyurl.com/4yzd8zk

Although the British Chief Rabbinate has been officially a 
free-standing institution over its history, it has necessarily 
developed very strong connections with other Anglo-Jewish 
institutions, notably the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the 
United Synagogue, Jews' College and the London Beth Din. In 1840 the 
London Beth Din consisted of the Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, 
already known as 'Chief Rabbi' as the Av Beth Din, and a number of 
rabbinical colleagues. It was axiomatic that the Chief Rabbi would be 
the head of the court because he had been appointed to his position 
precisely because of his learning and expertise in Jewish law. His 
duties as rov required him to answer halachic questions, which he was 
able to do as a single individual. However some vital functions, such 
as the granting of a divorce, a conversion or the judgement of a 
civil legal dispute required the presence of a beth din of three 
dayanim. In such cases the Chief Rabbi would assemble two colleagues 
to join him to convene a formal court. As the need for such a court 
arose frequently a number of men were appointed dayanim, even if the 
payment was irregular. The Chief Rabbi was therefore Av Beth Din in 
name, in function and in ability. Today the London Beth Din retains 
the Chief Rabbi as Av Beth Din but he rarely takes part in its 
proceedings, and its de facto head is the Rosh Beth Din, the senior 
dayan of the court. Moreover, the Chief Rabbi is not expected to be a 
great expert in Jewish law. He is appointed to be a spiritual leader 
and other men are sought to involve themselves in the complex legal 
decisions required by a court of Jewish law. But far from being a 
recent development, this has long been the arrangement, indeed it is 
one of the defining characteristics of the emergence of a new type of 
Jewish religious leader in the office of British Chief Rabbi.

Please see the above URL for the rest of this interesting article. YL
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