Jerusalem, Israel - Oct. 15, 2018 - President Reuven Rivlin hosted at Beti Hanasi, in Jerusalem, Israel, a swearing-in ceremony for regional rabbinical court dayanim, on Monday morning, October 15/ 6 Cheshvan. Twenty-four judges were sworn in at the ceremony before the president of the higher rabbinical court, Chief Rabbi David Lau, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Rishon Letzion Rav Yitzhak Yosef, Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked, and Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water, Yuval Steinitz, who headed the judicial appointment committee.
In the audience were family members and other dignitaries including, Jerusalem Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar, and Rav Chaim Druckman, who received special mention from Rav Lau during his remarks.
Each new dayan was called up, recited the oath and signed, before shaking hands with the President, Chief Rabbis and Steinitz who were seated on the stage. President Rivlin presented each judge with a letter of appointment and was first speaker of the event.
In his remarks, Rivlin emphasized the important role of the judges, “Dear judges, your role is to render true judgement, fairly and according to halakha. This is no easy task, but there is an additional requirement that is even more demanding – that your judgments do not desecrate either G-d or man. It is not enough that your judgment be correct, it must also sanctify the Lord. This makes the responsibility on you even greater, and even more perilous. With such a weight of responsibility, the price of failure is also likely to be higher. In every ruling, desecration and sanctification are in the balance. Your responsibility and your duty is to judge fairly and to be free of any influence. Justice must be done and be seen to be done, as lawyers say.”
“It can be difficult to satisfy the public, but the judge is required not only to be free from influence, but to appear to be free from influence,” said the president and added, “behaving in a way that is beyond reproach, even when searching for misdeeds. We need to be clear. I tell you this as a Jew who tries to adhere to the 613 mitzvot, but does not always succeed. Your role and duty, to go out to the people, are particularly hard when large parts of Israeli society are secular.”
The president wished the judges well and said, “you face challenges different from judges in the past, but I am sure that you will meet them and bring people closer to God.”
Rav Lau instructed the new dayanim, “Judges must render true judgment, but also to think of each person before you as if they were your own son, according to halakha and the traditions handed down the generations. More than once I have felt when sitting in a rabbinical court that I am helping people save themselves from themselves. People sometimes hurt those dearest to them and the role of the judge is to see beyond this and to help people get what is right and good for them from the court. That is our responsibility. I hope that the assignments to courts is resolved soon; any delay is a miscarriage of justice.”
Rav Yosef added, “Every judge who renders true judgment becomes a partner in the holy work of creation. You have a great duty and a great responsibility to render true judgment. If judges deal with a case where a woman has been prevented from divorcing for many years and her husband refuses to give her a gett, the judge must look on her as if she were his daughter. Just as he would protect his daughter, so must he look out for her. We read “I saw the tears of the oppressed, and no-one to comfort them.” What are the “tears of the oppressed?” Those women who are led on for years and not granted a gett. I come across cases that have not been resolved for 15 or 20 years. I tell you, gentlemen, if you see a case like that, the judges must have the courage to render judgment. Do whatever is necessary to make sure a gett is granted.”
As chair of the judicial appointment committee, MK Steinitz gave the final remarks, “I welcome the swearing-in of a record number of new dayanim who we appointed a month or so ago, thus filling the open seats on the courts. I am glad that the members of the committee have worked over the past two years to reach consensus that allowed us to make appointments to the rabbinical courts and to relieve the pressure on the courts to the benefit of the public. This list and its predecessors are diverse and include various streams of Judaism.” Steinitz also added, he hoped female judges would be appointed in the future.
A group photo was taken with the President and Chief Rabbis at the of the ceremony.
New dayan, Rav Bezalel Vogel is married to daughter of Baltimore native Dr. Heshy Jacob, who serves as a Senior Gastroenterologist at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
