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Orders of Excommunication

B”H

What is the proper procedure to follow after a Hazmana has been issued and the Nitvim’s response is to decline? I understand that according to Sefer HaYashar (Chelek HaTeshuvot §24) is stated:

“Decree by force of oath on every Jewish man and woman under your jurisdiction that they not be allowed to speak to him, to host him in their homes, to feed him or give him to drink, to accompany him or to visit him when he is ill…..”

Is there a particular way in which a notice of Cherem is to be documented? Are there any resources in which I can be directed to? Thank you.

Shalom.

Answer:

The procedure is that the defendant is called to beis din three times (based on Mo’ed Katan 16a; see Bava Kama 113a).

It is true that according to the majority of early authorities, only a person who lives out of town is only called thrice to beis din, whereas others (people residing in town) are called only once. However, the Tumum (11:4) writes that today every person is called three times, and this is cited by the Nesivos (11:4) and other authorities. The normal custom today is for batei din to call the defendant to beis din three times.

If the person continues to refuse to come to beis din, a ketav siruv is published against him, which permits the plaintiff to take his case up in a secular court, and including an excommunication order. In Orthodox communities and neighborhoods this order can be a most effective way of deterring people from contempt of court. The orders are plastered up as broadsides (by the plaintiff), to the great shame of the defendant.

These orders are still in occasional use today.

For sources, see Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 14, and commentaries; Teshuvos Rema 73.

For some information on this, see here, paragraph beginning “Civil Law in the Rabbinical Courts and a Writ of Refusal,” for some more details and sources.

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