beit din

Alternative Spellings

beth din, bet din, beis din, bes din, bezdn, beyt din

Definitions

• A rabbinical court of law that makes judgments on matters of Jewish religious life, especially conversion and divorce.

Example Sentences

• When Sydney wanted to convert to Judaism, she had to appear before the Beit Din.

Languages of Origin

Textual Hebrew

Etymology

בית דין 'House of Judgment'

Who Uses This

Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

Regions

North America

Dictionaries

The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
JPS: The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001)

Notes

plural battei din. Made up of three rabbis.