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Conference taveng::bagels

Title:BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest
Notice:1.0 policy, 280.0 directory, 32.0 registration
Moderator:SMURF::FENSTER
Created:Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1524
Total number of notes:18709

755.0. "Bet Din Questions" by ABE::STARIN (The Instructive Tongue) Thu Aug 10 1989 15:54

    I am curious about how a Bet Din is conducted and have the following
    questions:
    
    1. I presume it's an oral examination of some sort (correct me if
    I'm wrong). Is it conducted by a board of rabbis or by a rabbi and
    members of the rabbi's congregation?
    
    2. If it's an oral exam, no doubt there's a fair amount of memorization
    involved. Are the answers given in Hebrew or English or both?
    
    3. Is a person "graded" on their responses?
    
    Any other information related to a Bet Din is also appreciated.
    
    These are probably some dumb questions but I did want to ask them
    anyway.
    
    Thanks.
    
    Mark
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
755.1IRT::STEINBERGThu Aug 10 1989 17:4616
    A Bet Din (lit. court of law) is precisely what its name denotes. It
    consists of three Jews, each of whom meet certain minimal requirements.
    Usually, they are rabbis or scholars, but the requirements are
    different depending on the topic requiring adjudication. 
    For monetary matters, issues of marriage and divorce, and other
    complex situations, the members of the Bet Din should be expert in
    the subject matter in question.
    From your phrasing, it appears you're referring to a Bet Din convened
    to preside over a conversion. In that case, the Bet Din functions 
    essentially as witnesses to ensure that the required procedures are
    carried out (immersion in a kosher "mikveh", circumcision for a male).
    Study requirements should have been settled before the actual
    conversion, so it would not be a "final exam"-like situation.
    
    Jem
755.2Bet-Din not an 'exam'LDYBUG::PINCKAmy Pinck, Long Live the DuckThu Aug 10 1989 23:0715
    
    My fiance and I recently attended his Bet-Din when he
    converted.  It was not a technical exam.  It was more
    of a discussion to make sure that he was certain of
    what he wanted to do.  The Rabbis also made sure
    that the conversion rites were done correctly.
    
    If you have any specific questions, please feel free
    to ask me.  If I do not know, I am sure that Bill would
    be happy to answer your questions.
    
    Amy
    
    BTW: I found the Bet-Din to be very nice. It kind off reminded us
    how 'jewish' we really are.