Q&A: Study and Halakhic Ruling
Study and Halakhic Ruling
Question
We said in class that Jewish law in matters of property acquisition is influenced by the property laws of civil law.
And I didn’t understand: in a situation where property law is distorted, are those still the laws that give validity to the halakha?
And if not, is common sense enough to say that the civil laws are not valid and do not create halakhic obligation? Or is rabbinic authority needed…
Thanks in advance
Answer
First of all, nothing requires rabbinic authority, if only because no such authority exists. Formal authority exists only for the Sanhedrin.
The laws of acquisition in Jewish law are not influenced by civil property law. The laws of acquisition in Jewish law are the civil property laws themselves.
Jurisprudence does not give validity to halakha; rather, it forms the basis for the prohibition of "do not steal." The prohibition does not derive its validity from people’s agreement. The property laws that determine ownership do receive their validity from agreement, and then the prohibition of "do not steal" applies to them.
If you have a distorted society, then it is indeed not as it should be. The question of whether its laws are therefore non-binding is a different question. If in practice in some place there are no property laws at all (as in the Holocaust, as we discussed in class), then in my opinion that does count, because that is the reality. But one distorted law will not necessarily be valid just because it was enacted. Like the distinction in dina de-malkhuta between the law of the kingdom and a law of extortion.