The Treatment of Jewish Law in American Decisions

Abstract

The application of foreign law in American courts forms the subject matter of much comparative law writing. Two alternative approaches are usually adopted by the comparative legal scholars. One studies pleading and proof of foreign law in American courts; the other studies the substantive use of foreign law by American courts. No studies of the actual use of Jewish law by American courts are to be found. In what follows an attempt will be made to fill the gap and to draw some conclusions concerning the relevance and advantages to the courts, the parties and society generally of such use of Jewish law.All reported cases which have expressly made some use of Jewish law are collected and analyzed in this article. In addition, the application of Jewish law to the resolution of conflicts presently handled by the courts is discussed.The reported judgments in which a party's appeal to Jewish law was considered relevant are classified according to American law classifications as opposed to Jewish law classifications. Finally, the actual relevance and the relevance in the eyes of the presiding judge of the Jewish law to the controversy before the court is examined.