Av Beit Din, Av Beis Din, or Av Beiyth Din (Hebrew: אב בית דין, "Chief of the Court"). was the second-highest ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Commonwealth period. He presided over the Sanhedrin in the absence of the Nasi, and was the chief of the Sanhedrin when it sat as a criminal court. He sat with seven other judges while hearing a case.
It is presently being used as an honorific title for the presiding rabbi of a beit/beis/beiyth din (rabbinical court), who is typically the salaried rabbi of the local Jewish community and not necessarily a renowned posek ("decisor" of Jewish law.) It is also abbreviated as ABD when it is appended after the name of the Chief Rabbi of a national Jewish community.
 |
This Judaism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
