Q&A: Courts in Syria
Courts in Syria
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I heard your lecture on conservatism, where you brought up the issue of gentile courts, and from there the discussion moved to the courts in Syria, where there were no expert judges and nevertheless they were permitted to maintain a judicial system.
You said that this has no source and that it just “fits”.
Isn’t the commandment incumbent on the descendants of Noah to establish a legal system the source? In other words, it’s understandable that the source was not explicitly mentioned in the case of Syria, but even before saying that it just “fits,” isn’t this a “Genesis-era” commandment for human beings as such?
Answer
That’s why I added there that it “fits” in a different sense. The value in whose name this is done is internal, not external. Either it is a matter of reasoning, or it is learned from the gentiles.