For understandable reasons, it has been very difficult for me to write on my subject matter over the past few months.
First and foremost, current events. The drama and heartache of the war in Israel certainly takes center stage. Along with that, were the US presidential elections, likewise, filled with drama. Then, there was Ellul and the chagim and, right after the chagim, I was blessed to make a wedding for one of my children.
The chagim, the wedding, and the presidential elections are now behind us, all of which with optimistic results, B”H. And even the war is now in a holding pattern with the frail ceasefire in Lebanon and the smoldering rubble in Gaza.
It is time to return to our regularly scheduled program, which is my series on Project Emesh. I want to pick up where I left off, but before I do so, I think it’s a good idea to briefly review the opening posts. It’s okay. I have only written two posts so far.
The initial post, going back three months to September 5, explains what inspired me to launch this project. In a nutshell, it is the problem that irresponsible dayanim are responsible for being irresponsible. And this problem is responsible for many of the other problems that the Jewish community faces.
One of the primary Talmudic sources that I referenced is the Mishna in Pirkei Avos 5:11.
חרב באה לעולם על עוות הדין ועל עינוי הדין ועל המורים בתורה שלא כהלכה.
Sword (i.e., violent death) comes to the world due to corrupting judgement, delaying judgement and issuing rulings that don’t conform with Halacha.
Them’s fightin’ words.
Whereupon, I announced the launch of Project EMeSh – Emess, Mishpat, V’Shalom.
Please see the entire post HERE.
In the second post, one week later, I elaborated on this further. I wrote:
When it comes to Batei Din for mammonos, the problems go way beyond mere ignorance of the players and not knowing the rules, i.e., problems that apply to the litigants. The problems also concern the dayanim of the Batei Din who take advantage of this universal ignorance to bypass the rules. This happens in Batei Din for gittin as well, but there is more hefkeirus (lawlessness) in the monetary courts.
There is absolutely no regulation or oversight for Batei Din, no organization that controls or “unionizes” the Batei Din to work within uniform guidelines. There are no ethics committees and no courts of appeal. There is no Vaad HaKashrut for Batei Din. Not in Israel, for the monetary Batei Din, and not in the diaspora for any Batei Din.
We need these things.
And so I wrote my Mission Statement:
The primary mission of Project Emesh, just like the mission of One Above and Seven Below, is to educate the consumerist public about how the system works and how to use it successfully.
The secondary objective is to serve as or to establish some kind of regulatory body which will oversee all affiliated Batei Din. Any Beis Din that won’t be affiliated with this umbrella agency will be considered a outcast. This is similar to the Vaad Mishmeres HaSTa”M here in Eretz Yisrael. At some point, I would like to create a database of specific Batei Din and rate their efficiency and compliance.
And I added:
As such, I encourage any and all readers who have firsthand accounts of the excesses of our Batei Din (i.e., “horror stories”) to share their stories with me. I only want the true objective facts but as much detail as possible. I am more interested in the monetary Batei Din, but stories of any Batei Din are valuable... all correspondence should be sent to my One Above email address: 1a7b.author@gmail.com.
Please see the entire post HERE.
So far, I haven’t received much correspondence; only one reader who had some sordid tales from Family court. But I’m sure it will come with time if I keep this up.
This wraps up our review. From here on in, it’s time to grab the bull_ _ _ _ by the horns. Let's do it.
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