Israel Civil Courts and Rabbinical Courts Under One Roof

Abstract

There can be no quarrel with Prof. Pinhas Shifman's essential thesis. The attempt to have two kings rule the same kingdom at one and the same time has undoubtedly failed. The “mixed marriage” between two legal systems, having different — and at times contradictory — philosophies of law, world outlooks and social goals, has given birth to a child which neither parent is eager to acknowledge. As is usually the case in failed marriages, here too each side blames the other for the failure; the civil system points an accusing finger at the religious system, and the Rabbinical Courts blame the civil courts. Prof. Shifman is certainly correct in his claim that the complexity of this situation has given rise to a certain tendentiousness among both the civil and the Rabbinical Court judges, with each group zealously seeking to enlarge its own kingdom.Although I do not find fault with the general picture sketched by Prof. Shifman, I cannot agree with some of the finer details; in particular, with certain examples cited by Prof. Shifman in support of his conclusions, which are correct in and of themselves.