Agunah – (ah-goo-NAH); Lit., “chained”. A person who has divorced for the wrong reasons is considered “agunah” or “chained”. They are not permitted to remarry with the blessing of the church. Of course they may seek a civil marriage and they will be loved and allowed to attend church and even have certain forms of ministry. However, they are considered to be living in adultery and are thus barred from leadership or teaching positions.

Ain shaliach’ le-dvar aveierah – (ighn shah-LEE-akh lay-duh-VAHR ah-vay-RAH); Lit., “there is no messenger in a case of sin. Normally a messenger is not responsible for the content of the message he delivers; responsibility is borne by the one who sent it. But if a messenger is sent to perform an evil act (a hired assassin, for example), he cannot defend himself with the claim that he was acting at someone else’s command. The messenger bears responsibility for the evil he does. (insight by Rabbi J. Telushkin)

Argumentum ad hominem – Latin. It is an irrelevant attack upon a person to deflect the argument from the facts and reasons.

Argumentum ad judicium -  Latin. This is an argument where appeal is made to common sense and the judgment of people as validating a point.

Argumentum ad populum – Latin. This is an argument where appeal is made to emotions: loyalties, patriotism, prejudices, etc.

Argumentum ad verecundiam – Latin. This is an argument using respect for great men, customs, institutions, and authority in an attempt to strengthen one's argument and provide an illusion of proof.

Aseret ha Devarim – The Decalogue; the Ten Commandments that were written on two stone tablets (luch’ot). This is the scriptural term. The rabbinical term is “aseret ha diberot”.

Aseret ha Diberot – The Decalogue; the Ten Commandments that were written on two stone tablets (luch’ot). In the Scriptures these are called the “aseret ha devarim”, the “ten words” or “ten utterances”. Aseret ha Diberot is a rabbinical term.

Assur -(Heb. forbidden) Term used to denote something prohibited by Jewish law. (E.g. "It's assur to east milk with meat").

Av Beit Din - The supervisor of the Beit Din and all of its functions. In Adonaic Christianity the senior teaching elder of the church is appointed the Av Beit Din or his designee as the administrator in any Beit Din proceeding or hearing.

Baalei din - litigants

Beit Din – (BAYT-DEEN); A group of elders gathered together in order to render a ruling or judgment on a matter. A Beit Din should be composed of at least three adult believers, at least one of whom needs to be widely knowledgeable in Halakha, and must be sufficiently knowledgeable to instruct the other two members in any matters of Halakha relevant to the case being heard. A Beit Din may be called to rule on such religious matters as the granting of a gett or to determine a persons’ fitness to lead in ministry. The first known Messianic Beit Din was led by James in city of Jerusalem. Its purpose was to resolve the issue of relations between Jewish Talmidim and Goyish Talmidim especially viz a vis the requirement of circumcision for salvation.

Batei Din – Plural of Beit Din. 

Bin or Binah – (bee-NAH); Lit., “reasoned understanding.” A Hebrew word for discernment that appears 247 times in the OT. It is etymologically related to the word “discrimination” as in the ability to tell the difference between truth and falsehood and so may be defined as the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood or the ability to decipher the hidden meaning of profound statements. In this second meaning, binah entails the process of drawing out, expanding, analyzing or synthesizing the initial insights gained from ch’ach’mah. It is either inextricably linked to “tevunah” (discernment) or almost interchangeable with it. It also can be used to infer intuition or conceptualization or analysis. For further treatment see “tevunah”.

Casuistic – Case law presented in conditional form.

Ch’oshen Mishpat  - The Torah’s rules of property laws.

Ch’ukkim – Commands whose reasons aren’t fully explained in the Scriptures. We simply obey them without understanding their purpose as an act of faith because God told us to.

Dan lekaf zech’ut - To judge on the scale of merit

Darkei shalom – “The ways of peace”. The principle or doctrine based on Proverbs 3:17 that takes into account that the point of all laws is the promotion of peace and equity. This principle is used by elders who are seeking a more peaceful if somewhat less literal interpretation of black letter law. The more gracious ruling will be rendered with the notation “mipnei darkei shalom” which can be literally interpreted “because of the ways of peace.”

Dayan – (dah-YAHN); Judge or arbitrator. An elder who is acting as a judge in matters of interpersonal conflict or theological debate is called a dayan (dayanim being the plural form). A group of such dayanim are referred to as a Beit Din. See also Moreh Tzedek, Zaquen. Dayan is related to the word “din” which is “judgment, law”.

Deduction - A system of logic, inference and conclusion drawn from examination of facts. Conclusions drawn from the general down to the specific.

Defamation of character – Telling lies in order to cause harm to another. Motzi shem ra in Hebrew. Say a disgruntled customer of a restaurant tells numerous people that the head chef has AIDS. Sales for that restaurant could fall and the chef could lose his job or find it difficult to find work. Because the customer’s slanderous statements concern a specific person, an unproven accusation and a clear intent to commit harm, the chef can accuse the customer of defamation of character. However, if a local paper referred to a local criminal as a thug, because the criminal has no character to assassinate, defamation of character cannot be ascribed to the newspaper. They are simply telling the truth and warning others away from potential harm.

Devar Mishnah - Clear settled law. Black letter law. Compare to shikul ha da’at. Sometimes also spelled d’var mishnah. (Sometimes spelled d’var)

Dialectic - The practice of examining ideas and beliefs using reason and logic. It is often accomplished by question and answer.

Din -(Heb.) Law, judgment. Biblical law, sometimes “Din” is used to imply the application of the exact law as opposed to a Pshara (compromise)

Din Torah – An arbitration hearing; arbitration in a religious court. A more formal presentation before a Dayan or before a panel of Dayanim. A din torah is the Adonaic substitute for going to court. Biblical law does not allow one to be a plaintiff in a secular court without first obtaining permission from his or her church’s Beit Din. In a din torah, people who have a dispute present their cases before a panel of three judges, at least one of which is a rabbi. At the end, the judges issue a decision which is binding on the parties, both as a matter of secular and biblical law. Unless Scriptural law has been clearly violated, there is no appeal to the ruling of a Din Torah.

The elders who are serving as dayanim in the din torah make decisions based on what each party is obligated, as a matter of law, to do. Sometimes a person may have done something that hurts a claimant, but they are not necessarily liable to pay damages to that claimant, because as a matter of law they were not obligated to perform that act. For example, an employer may fire an employee who has been working for that employer for twenty years because the employee’s performance is no longer satisfactory. Even though the employee may very well be hurt, the employer may not be liable to pay damages to that employee, because an employer is not obligated to continue to employ someone who is not doing their job. On the other hand, if it can be demonstrated that the employer fired the employee, not due to incompetence on the employee’s part, but due to a policy that would save the employer money by keeping low-salaried employees or refusing to pay retirement, then a case may be made.

Dina d’malch’uta dina – (dee-NAH duh-mahl-koo-TAH dee-NAH); Lit., “the law of the land is law.” This phrase is a guide to elders as they try to apply Scripture to day to day ethical, spiritual, and legal conundrums. For instance, OT law states that witches should be killed. However, we are told to “render to Caesar what is due Caesar” and to “honor the magistrate.” In this society in which we temporarily reside, it is against the law to stone witches. Therefore dina d’malch’uta dina applies. The law of the land in which we live rules us as long as it does not ask us to deny God. (Genesis 21:23; Matthew 21:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25; Acts 25:8)

Dinei Torah – Plural of Din Torah 

Edim - Witnesses

Excommunication - The act of discipline where the Church breaks fellowship with a member who has refused to repent of sins. Matthew 18 is generally used as the model of procedures leading up to excommunication. Those excommunicated are not to partake in the Lord’s Supper (See Pesach’ or Passover). In the Bible, serious offenders of God’s law, who claimed to be Christian, were "delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh" (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20). However, upon repentance, the person is welcomed back into fellowship within the body of Christ. See also herem.

Eytsa -(Heb/Yid.) Advice.

Gett – (GEHT); (Heb. Divorce) A decree granted by a beit din that a person was rightfully divorced and is now free to remarry. A gett can only be granted if a person’s previous spouse was sexually unfaithful, abandoned them or (in some cases) was abusive. The first two are devar mishnah. The last exception is shikul hadaat. It is customary to keep all Gett documents on file and to issue a certificate, called a "Ptur", to the parties who participated in the Gett process.

Experience has shown that civil judges will enforce agreements concerning the writing of a Gett. Thus, though the Gett cannot replace a “legal” divorce, it can carry legal weight, acting as a type of witness. It is therefore desirable to include language about a Gett agreement in divorce settlement documents.

Also known as a sefer kritut.

Gonif -(Heb./Yid. Thief) A dishonest person.

Halakha (also spelled Halachah or Halach'a) - law, regulation; the legal ruling on a particular issue; the body of Jewish law, especially the legal part of rabbinic literature, thus often the opposite of aggadah. Halakha is the collective corpus of biblical law that governs the behavior of tzaddikim. It is sometimes referred to as Adonaic law and intends to mean all the scriptural tenets as to behavior and conduct whether directly and explicitly stated or implied by various combinations of biblical principles. Halakha comes from the Hebrew word halach’ which means “to walk” or “to go”. It is therefore probably better understood as “the right way to go.”  Criminal cases are referred to as issurim. Civil cases are referred to as mamonoth. Each impose different regulations, with criminal cases generally having much more stringent limitations. Halakha is not considered a means to achieving redemption but is instead understood to be God’s teaching on responsible behavior. Because Halakha is regularly used by elders (zaquenim) and judges (dayanim) to render decisions on matters of interpersonal conflict, it is largely restricted to the devar mishnah (clear settled law) as opposed to shikul hadaat (matters not settled and left to the understanding of the individual elder) or minhag (useful customs or practices not directly commanded by God). Where Halakha commands “behave justly toward your neighbor,” Mussar discusses what that entails and what personal traits are necessary to obey Yahweh’s command. Halakha is also used in the sense of a discussion of legal matters. So a Believer may ask his or her rabbi “What is the Halakha in this case?” (plural: halachot) Halachic (also Halakhic) — pertaining to halachah

Halacha l'maaseh -(Heb. Practical Halachah) Practical (rather than theoretical) matters of Jewish law.

Hanhagoth yesharoth - Rules of right conduct.

Hazmanah – A summons or invitation to appear before a Beit Din. If someone wishes to bring a case to a Beit Din, he or she may request that the Beit Din send a summons to inform the person being summoned. A Beit Din will send up to three hazmanos.  The hazmanah makes clear that the person being summoned, should they refuse to come, is actually refusing to seek arbitration or reconciliation and is not merely being negligent. Someone receiving a hazmanah is required to respond within a set amount of time and should not wait for additional hazmanos. If a proper response is not received then the Beit Din will issue a contempt decree and it will likely go against the nitvah in the court’s mind.

A person who receives a summons is generally not obligated to agree to go to the specific Beit Din that summoned them, although he or she is required to respond in some way to that Beit Din. If they have a legitimate reason to not want to appear before the summoning Beit Din, they must propose an alternative Beit Din or immediately take action to resolve the complaint without further delay.

If the parties cannot find a mutually acceptable Beit Din, a “joint beit din” is formed by a procedure called “zebla” or “zabla”, in which each side picks one judge. The two judges then select a third judge together, and the three judges together then form the Beit Din that will decide the case.

Herem -Religious excommunication; social boycott; shunning. See also excommunication.

Heter - (Heb.) Permission (usually a rabbinic ruling that permits something).

Hotza’at dibah – (Hoe-tza-AHT dee-BAH); Derogatory, slanderous or defamatory speech. This is considered lashon hara and muktzeh.

Induction - A system of logic where specific facts are used to draw a general conclusion.

Issurim - Criminal cases

Jonah’s Box – A term I use to indicate a limiting self-perception based on pride and self-love rather than a balanced biblical view.

Kabalah – (kah-bah-LAH) A Hebrew word that means tradition as received from our teachers. This is not Kabbalah which is the Jewish mystical belief embraced by Madonna among others. See also “Masoret.”

Ke yotzei bo mimakom acher - "Like it says elsewhere"; An argument style where the explanation of a word in one text is clarified by use of same word in an unrelated text.

Kinyan – An action that makes a transaction take effect, somewhat like signing a contract makes the contract take effect. The most common type of Kinyan is a Kinyan Sudar.

Kinyan Sudar – a Kinyan made by accepting an object of at least some minimal value, such as a handkerchief, as a symbolic agreement to be bound in a transaction. For example, parties usually are handed a handkerchief or a pen at the beginning of a din torah, which they then raise to demonstrate acceptance of the jurisdiction of the beth din.

Klal -A general principle.

Klal Ufrat  - An argument where a general summary statement is followed by an explanatory, more specific statement.

L’a met - To bring out the truth; to verify; to confirm

Lashon hara – (lah-SHONE hah-RAH); Lit., “bad tongue.” Hurtful words like slander, gossip or even truth spoken maliciously. For example, one should generally not repeat negative comments or rumors about another person, even if they are true. Though usually associated with gossip, lashon hara deals with any true statements that relate negative information. Lies, whether blatantly false or exaggerations, fall into a worse category called hotzaat diba, which is derogatory, slanderous or defamatory speech. It is irrelevant whether the lashon hara is true, written or spoken. All lashone hara is prohibited, but untrue gossip is even more strictly prohibited. The claim “what I said was true” may be a valid defense against the accusation of slander or libel, but it is inadequate against the accusation of lashon hara. It is lashon hara even when you incriminate yourself in the telling. So lashon hara is hurtful speech, the making of damaging or derogatory remarks that might cause a person physical, psychological or financial harm.

Rules to remember:

1. It is lashon hara (evil speech) to convey a derogatory image of someone even if that image is true and deserved but unnecessary. (Proverbs 24:17-18)

2. It is motzi shem ra (slanderous) to do so when the image is false. (Exodus 23:1; Leviticus 19:16; Psalm 15:1-3; Proverbs 10:18; 25:18)

3. It is lashon hara to convey information about people that can cause them physical, psychological or financial harm. (Proverbs 30:10)

4. It is lashon hara to embarrass people, even in jest, or to tell embarrassing things
about them when they are not present. (Proverbs 26:18; Ephesians 5:4)

5. Lashon hara is not limited to verbal communication; the written word, body language, innuendo, and the like can also be hurtful. (Proverbs 6:12-15)

6. It is lashon hara to speak against a community, race, ethnic group, gender, or age group as a whole. (Exodus 12:48-49; 20:10; 23:9; Leviticus 19:33-34; Numbers 9:14; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11)

7. Do not relate lashon hara even to your spouse, close friends or relatives. (Numbers 12:1-2)

8. Do not repeat lashon hara even when it is common knowledge. (Exodus 23:2; Proverbs 11:13; 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12)

9. Avoid r'ch’ilut: Do not relate to people negative things others may say about them, for this may cause needless conflict. (Proverbs 16:27-28)

10. Do not listen to lashon hara or r'ch’ilut. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt. (Proverbs 1:10; 1 Corinthians 13:7)

The Exception to the Rules of Shmirat ha lashon - Pikuach’ nefesh

Adonaists hold to a principle referred to as “pikuach’ nefesh). This literally means the “preservation of life.” This is the obligation of Adonaists to protect and save life at all costs. This code demands, among other things, the suspension of all other laws to save a life, with the exception of murder, idolatry and incest. The exception to these rules of shmirat ha lashon or lashon hara is thus saving a life or warning someone of impending trouble. For instance, it is not lashon hara to warn a person about potential dangers resulting from not-as-yet finalized business or personal relationships. However, when you must share negative information heed the following principles:

a. Be careful to tell only what you know to be factually true.

b. Do not exaggerate.

c. Do not pass on hearsay.

d. Be clear that your intent is to help the other and not to further your own ends.

Lex talionis -Latin for “law of retaliation;” the biblical provision of “an eye for an eye,” “a tooth for a tooth.”

Libel – Slander involves verbal derogatory statements whereas libel involves written ones.

Mamonoth - Civil cases

Mediation - In some cases people with a dispute may attempt mediation. Under biblical law, people who cannot resolve their disputes may insist on a din torah. Mediation occurs when the two sides having a dispute bring in a third party, called the mediator, to help them come to a resolution that everyone can agree to. It is not necessarily important in mediation who is right in the dispute, just what resolution everyone can accept. In mediation the mediator cannot force everyone to accept a resolution. Mediation is often more friendly than a din torah, because both parties are working to find a resolution they can live with, while in a din torah, each side is defending their own position.

Menahel Beit Din: In the absence of the Segan Av Beit Din, the Menahel (Director) of the Beit Din shall function as the Av Beit Din.

Mesarev lavo ledin – one who declines to appear in front of the Beit Din according to biblical law (Deuteronomy 17:9-12); one who has refused the summons of a hazmanah from the Beit Din.

Moreh Tzedek - Rabbinical judge. See also Dayan, Zaquen

Nitvah – respondent / defendant 

Patur -Something or someone who is exempt (from an obligation or a law).
P'sak -Decision, verdict.Halakhic judicial ruling on a contested matter. Also spelled psak.

Pshara – Compromise or Settlement. The Hebrew word for compromise p’sharah comes from the same root as the Hebrew word pashor which means to melt. Thus when we accept p’sharah it’s as if we melded our wishes with another to form a new thing. This does not mean the court may enforce any compromise it wishes on the parties. In pshara, the judges hold a hearing, consider the evidence according to biblical legal principles and then order a settlement based on the equities of the case.  As such, sometimes the judges rule entirely in favor of one side, even though they are judging according to the rules of pshara. The primary distinction between din and pshara is that the judges in din are more limited by the technicalities of biblical law.
Pshara krova l’din – A decision based on a stricter interpretation of Adonaic law. A compromise or settlement considering the technicalities and the potential outcome based on strict interpretation of biblical law, as opposed to the merits/equities of the case. This form of pshara may not deviate freely from what the outcome would have been if the case were to be judged according to the rules of din.

Ptur – (Ptoor) A certificate given by a Beit Din declaring that a gett has been granted. A copy is usually kept on file by the Beit Din.

Sefer Kritut - Means 'cutting off the book/writing' -- a divorce decree given to the wife, aka a 'gett.'

Segan Av Beit Din - Assistant to the Av Beit Din. In the absence of the Av Beit Din or at his direction, the Segan (Assistant) Av Beit Din shall function as the Av Beit Din.

Shikul ha da’at – (shee-KOOL hah-dah-AHT); Matters not settled and left to the understanding of the individual. Compare to devar mishnah.

Shtar berurin – a binding arbitration agreement. This ensures that the rulings of the Beit Din are legally binding and enforceable in the secular court system. The arbitration agreement also serves a role under biblical law, by clarifying precisely which dispute the Beit Din is deciding.

Shtar seruv - a document noting that a person refuses to participate in the proceedings of the Beit Din, and permitting, according to Adonaic law, the claimant to seek relief in secular court.

Toen or Toen Rabbani – Similar to a lawyer in secular court, a toen acts a representative of one of the parties. Our court system does not require the parties to have such representation.

Toveah – claimant / plaintiff 

Zaquen (pl. Zaquenim) - Elders. See also Dayan, Moreh TzedekZebla - Sometimes two parties may choose to resolve their dispute through the procedure by which each side chooses an arbitrator, and the two chosen arbitrators agree on a third party to round out the Beit Din. This third person is referred to as the zebla.