Hgra"d Levin: "The High Court allowed issuing letters of refusal"

Order of the Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein that a Beis Din who will print a letter of refusal will be a criminal offense, aroused the ire of many Beis Dins and senior judges.

Rabbi Avraham Dov Levin, Av Beis Din in civil law and family tree inquiry in Jerusalem this week sent a letter to the office of Weinstein, "since I have served as a private Av Beis Din for many years," wrote the Rabbi. "A Beis Din which is not based on the state table or budget - and this law is unknown to me, I beg respectfully to inform me if the news is true, and if so, how and why."

He said, "This issue is often discussed in the High Court and the High Court 'allowed' the Beis Din to print letters of refusal."

In his letter, Rabbi Levin brought the quote as proof of the judgment given by Judge Zamir in the particular case, where he wrote: "Perhaps, but there is no need to decide that in this context that this Beis Din, arbiter in civil law by Torah law, may also, in certain circumstances, print letters of refusal."

Rabbi Levin also introduced a similar decision of Judge Rivlin in a conflict between 'Kv Itonut' and 'Mafteach Hair'.

Also Rab"d Eideh Charedi, Hgr"m Sternbuch, spoke against the decision of the attorney general. "Beis Dins will continue to operate under the laws of the Torah," he said recently. "The Attorney General should not intervene in the way of the Rabbis in Israel. We will not give up on conduct performed in accordance with Torah law, even if it means going to jail."

Instruction of the advisor came following complaints against private Beis Dins which issued 'letters of refusal', designed to avoid going to the courts. Warrants refusal included threat of boycott or ostracism, and sanctions or sanction threats, which often were not only against the object of written refusal, but also against his family, including his children.

The Attorney General has determined that issuing refusal letters containing social sanctions, condemnations and threats of boycott, may constitute a criminal offense of obstruction of justice, deposition testimony, impeachment investigation and harassing a witness, and, in more serious cases, may even be considered as a threat or extortion.

"Letters of refusal," said the counselor, "were originally intended to preserve the autonomy and the status of the judicial institutions of the Jewish communities in the Diaspora, but today Beis Dins operate in Israel, which is a Jewish and democratic state."

Due to the sensitivity of the issue, it was determined that the decision to open an investigation or prosecution requires the approval of the Deputy State.

Further clarified that the disciplinary level, issuing refusal letters may be grounds for filing a disciplinary complaint, whether the signer of the letter of refusal is a rabbinical court official, or whether it is a judge in private law, acting in parallel to a public function, such as the role of long serving part-governmental or any other public servant.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!