After years of legal wrangling, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a woman who wanted the court to annul a siruv issued by Bais Din Hayosher Vehatzedek of Elad.
The story began after the woman built in a jointly owned area of her building and was summoned to a din Torah, but went to a civil court instead. After a few warnings, the bais din issued a kesav siruv against her, a proclamation that she was to be publicly censured for consistently ignoring the bais din’s summons.
The woman appealed to the Supreme Court to annul the siruv in accordance with a decision of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein that it was illegal for botei din to issue such proclamations.
Poskei hador including Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner, Rav Nissim Karelitz and Rav Chaim Kanievsky instructed the bais din to fight the appeal without compromise. It hired attorney Simcha Rotman of the Movement for Governability and Democracy, an organization that maintains that members of Israel’s Supreme Court and the judicial system are damaging public trust in the government through excessive legal manipulation of the country’s laws.
Rotman argued before the Supreme Court that it had no right to annul the kesav siruv as the siruv’s authority was derived not from governmental institutions but from the halacha as decided by a bais din. Furthermore, those who choose to obey botei din do so not out of any government authority but out of their respect and reliance on the dayonim and the halacha they represent.
The Supreme Court accepted his argument and rejected the woman’s appeal.
David Steger – Matzav.com Israel