Beth din

This situation was formalised later when God gave the explicit command to "establish judges and officers in your gates" (Deuteronomy 16:18).

If the Sanhedrin was still uncertain, divine opinion was sought through the Urim ve-Tumim (the parchment in the High Priest's breastplate, which was inscribed with the Name of God and could give supernatural clues).

Given the suspension of semikhah, any beth din existing in medieval or modern times is in theory a court of laymen, acting as arbitrators.

In practice, they are given greater powers than this by the local takkanot ha-kahal (community regulations), and are generally composed of experienced rabbis.

A beth din which handles cases involving complex monetary issues or large community organizations requires "judges" (dayanim, singular: dayan), who require an additional semikhah (yadin yadin) which enables them to participate in such a beth din and adjudicate complex cases involving highly technical points of law.

[citation needed] In addition to this there are batei din around the world who supervise the following matters:[citation needed] A beth din is sometimes used within the Orthodox Jewish community to resolve civil disputes, with the Shulkhan Arukh[6] calling for civil cases being resolved by religious, instead of secular, courts (arka'oth).