Talk:London Beth Din

"This article does not cite any references or sources." This is unsurprising. There are virtually no sources. I've checked JSTOR, Dissertation Abstracts, and the files of the London Beth Din (through its Director, David Frei) as well as the Jewish Historical Society of England. The London Beth Din archives, or most of them, were destroyed in the 1940-41 Blitz. But even before that nobody seems to have addressed the issue.

The records of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue (the Sephardic Beth Din) may say something. I'm working on that.

So: one can discuss with authority, and based on actual cases and secondary sources the practice and jurisprudence of the Beth Dinem in modern times (conversion, family law, inheritance, commercial matters and, importantly "who is a Jew"). And one can assume there were ad hoc Beth Dinem with the Chief Rabbi presiding and two assistants whenever there was a substantial Jewish community in London. But before the late 19th Century there is no evidence of any full-time Jewish judicial institution.

And there is no written history: no PhD dissertations, no books. Except for a 20th Century dissertation on the Reform Beth Din in London and a lecture at the Leo Baek College or Institute in London. There may be something in the books of Cecil Roth and Charles Duschinsky, I have been told, but I suspect not much. Likewise for the Mocatta Library at UCL.

As Wikipedia disallows original material it may be some time before anything substantive can appear in this article.

Andygx (talk) 12:21, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Timeout re Aug. 2019 Neutrality Nomination
Nothing specific was stated in the Neutrality Nomination. Having "neutralized" the article's tagged items, and it being over a year since the nomination wasfollowed up, I've removing the HatNote. Pi314m (talk) 10:41, 20 November 2020 (UTC)