Sydney Beth Din: contempt of court rulings stand
THE contempt of court finding against the rabbis of the Sydney Beth Din (SBD) will stand, a court ruled today.
THE contempt of court finding against the rabbis of the Sydney Beth Din (SBD) will stand, a court ruled today.
The rabbis’ special leave application to appear before the High Court was dismissed on Friday afternoon in Sydney.
In December 2017 the rabbis of the SBD, Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, Rabbi Michael Chriqui and Rabbi Eli Schlanger, were found in contempt of court by the NSW Supreme Court.
They appealed the case and in December 2018 that appeal was dismissed in a 2-1 decision by the NSW Court of Appeal against the rabbis.
They reduced the combined fines from $50,000 to $25,000, however legal fees are expected to surpass $500,000 in the case.
The issue began in 2017 when Reuven Barukh was called to front the SBD to resolve a business dispute, but he refused to attend and instead offered to have the case heard “in a civil court”.
Rabbi Schlanger wrote to Barukh that “all members of the Jewish faith are obliged to have their disputes heard in accordance with Jewish Law at a Beth Din” and that Jews are “not permitted to seek adjudication at a civil court without the express permission of a Beth Din”.
When Barukh still refused to attend the SBD, and asked again for the case to be brought to a secular court, Rabbi Schlanger wrote that if he didn’t comply, among other sanctions, “Synagogue/s where he prays will be informed accordingly.
He will not be counted to a minyan. He will not be able to receive an aliyah to the Torah. He will not be offered any honour in the synagogue.”
NSW Supreme Court’s Justice John Robertson Sackar found the rabbis in contempt of court.
In March this year, following the previous court’s rulings, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBOD) said the Sydney Beth Din needs reform.
JBOD expressed deep concern “about the defects in the ownership structure, governance, mechanisms of accountability and dispute-resolution processes of the SBD”, which were outlined in the findings of the Supreme Court’s Justice John Robertson Sackar in December 2017.
JBOD will establish a committee of lay leaders and Orthodox rabbis to conduct the review. The members of the committee and terms of reference are to be decided at a future plenum.
Rabbi Gutnick remains the president of the Rabbinic Council of Australia and New Zealand.
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