Jewish Tort Law Remedies Not Based on Torah Law – An Approach Based on the Ran and the Rivash by Steven Friedell

This essay examines how two of the leading rabbis of fourteenth century Spain defined the roles of the rabbinic courts and the secular Jewish community in the governance of tort disputes that arose within the community. Recognizing the impracticalities of the Torah's legal system, the Ran developed a theory of Jewish self-government that gave much power to the secular Jewish leaders. His responses reveal that he applied this approach not just in criminal cases as some have suggested, but also in torts cases. He also limited the rabbinic court's power to punish even religious offenses. The Ran 's disciple, the Rivash, took a similar view, and recognized broad authority of the Jewish community to legislate without rabbinic oversight.