Q&A: The Permission to Serve as a Judge
The Permission to Serve as a Judge
Question
Hello Rabbi,
For some time now I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to find a source that summarizes the views on a fairly simple question: can an observant Jew serve as a judge in the secular legal system in Israel or abroad (for example, Rachel Freier)?
There seem, ostensibly, to be several problems here:
A) Taking money by force not according to Torah law.
B) Sending a person to prison (is that considered a situation of danger to life?) according to conventional law. Could we say that since he is a citizen of that country and that is its law, he accepted it upon himself and in effect waived his claims?
Could the Rabbi direct me to references on the subject, and perhaps also offer your own position?
Answer
I don’t deal in summaries of different approaches. If you want, see my article here: