Our Mission

The Beth Din of America has been recognized as one of the nation's pre-eminent rabbinic courts for nearly four decades. It serves the Jewish community in the United States as a forum for obtaining Jewish divorces, confirming personal status, and adjudicating commercial disputes stemming from divorce, business and community issues.

Firmly anchored in the principles of halakha (Jewish law), the Beth Din has earned a reputation for conducting its affairs with competence, integrity and fairness. It provides a modern forum that interfaces effectively with contemporary society in a professional, efficient and user-friendly manner. The Beth Din has thereby earned the confidence of Jews across the ideological spectrum.

Background & Affiliations

Since its inception in 1960, the Beth Din of America has focused primarily on areas of family law, Jewish divorce and personal status. With its recent reconstitution through the efforts of the Orthodox Caucus, the Beth Din broadened its scope to include adjudication of financial disputes. The Beth Din was founded by and is affiliated with the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and is sponsored by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

Principals

Rabbi Gedalia Schwartz, AV BETH DIN. Rabbi Schwartz has served the Beth Din of America for more than 20 years - as both dayan and Av Beth Din. He is also Av -Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and chairs the RCA Halakhic Commission.

Rabbi Mordechai Willig, SEGAN AV BETH DIN. Rabbi Willig is a noted rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS). He is also a community rabbi and posek with recognized expertise in beth din proceedings.

Rabbi Michael Broyde, CHAVER BETH DIN. Rabbi Broyde is a legal scholar, attorney, professor of law, author and seasoned dayan. He is a Yadin Yadin Musmakh of RIETS and a graduate of the New York University School of Law.

Rabbi Jonathan (Yona) Reiss, DIRECTOR, Rabbi Reiss is a musmakh of RIETS and an attorney who was an associate for six years at the international law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.  He is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he served as senior editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Sheldon Rudoff, PRESIDENT. Mr. Rudoff is a senior partner of the New York law firm of Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow. He is immediate past president of the Orthodox Union and a RIETS musmakh. He oversees the newly reconstituted Beth Din Board of Directors comprised of 12 rabbis and 18 laypersons.

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The Beth Din of America
Tel: (212) 807-9042 Fax: (212) 807-9183
Send mail to menahel@bethdin.org