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From
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/4yzd8zk" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/4yzd8zk<br><br>
</a><font size=3>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. <br><br>
Please see the above URL for the rest of this interesting article.
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