Q&A: You’re supposed to accept the authority of a rabbinical court, not of a civil court
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
You’re supposed to accept the authority of a rabbinical court, not of a civil court
Question
For two reasons:
A. You argue regarding morality that it has no validity without a divine lawgiver. According to that, a civil court too, which decided to invent laws of its own (even if they are reasonable, they are still a human creation), is not something you should regard as having any validity. Rather, only a religious court that received divine authorization should count.
B. From a halakhic standpoint, is there no problem with going to non-Jewish courts?
Answer
A. Doesn’t your Jewish law say, “the law of the kingdom is law”? Doesn’t your Jewish law also recognize communal enactments?
B. There definitely is a problem. See the Tur, section 448.