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Jewish Courts
These courts existed within the structures of
Jewish self-government. The Kalisz privilege, issued in
1264, mentioned
an internal Jewish court system that heard disputes between
Jews. Each
Jewish Community had its own court�larger Communities
had three courts.
Every one had at least three judges, known as dayanim.
Each of the courts dealt with cases of varying severity.
The lowest
heard minor cases, in which the object of the dispute was
not more
valued at more than 10 zlotys. In large Communities, such as
Krakow,
they even convened daily.
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In addition to the dayanim, the rabbi also took
part in sessions of the highest court, which heard serious
financial
cases and those related to religious law, such as those
against morality
or religious regulations. Some of the cases were heard by
the
Community's governing body. Most often, the court met at the
synagogue,
or sometimes in another building belonging to the Community.
Disputes between individual Communities, and also
between Community
governments and offices, were decided by the land courts or
the Jewish
Sejm, which was also where the Sejm tribunal met.
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The Jewish courts based their decisions on
legal regulations contained in the Talmud and rabbinical
literature. In
more complex cases, they turned to the learned rabbis
(rabbinical
responses), who were also regarded as authorities in such
legal matters.
(H.W./CM)
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