Siman 8

Anyone who appoints a judge who is not fit in his deeds or who is not wise in the wisdom of the Torah, even though he is entirely desirable and possesses many virtues, behold, the one who appointed him violates a negative commandment regarding "You shall not recognize faces," meaning, do not recognize a face because of love or because of your desire to appoint a judge who is not worthy. And thus our sages, of blessed memory, said: Anyone who appoints a judge who is not fit over the community is as if he planted an asherah in Israel, as it is said, "Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourself etc. You shall not plant for yourself an asherah etc." And that which was explained in siman 3, that one who is learned and analytical is sufficient, that refers to an incidental case in a place where there is no permanent beit din; but in a permanent capacity, to appoint permanent judges, they must all be wise and God-fearing. And it is forbidden to appoint an am ha'aretz as a judge based on the assumption that he will ask a scholar every time, for perhaps he will not ask sometimes, and it will result in him perverting the judgment since he is an am ha'aretz. And towns that do not have scholars in them, and if they do not appoint judges for themselves there will be great corruption, and they do not have the means to receive a scholar from another city, they appoint the best and the wisest among them with the consent of the people of the city; and since the people of the city accepted them upon themselves, it is not possible to disqualify them. And any judge who was appointed through some trickery or scheme, and all the more so if he was appointed through a bribe, one is not to stand before him, and they treat his honor with contempt.

The judges must sit in awe, in fear, in wrapping, and with gravity. Now, it is not the custom to sit in wrapping, but one should place the hat upon his head, and this is for us in place of wrapping, in the manner that one places the hat during the Mincha and Maariv prayers when he is not wrapped in a tallit. Furthermore, during the time of judgment, there is the honor of the Shekhinah, as it is said: "God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of the judges He judges." This means that the Holy One, blessed be He, judges the judges who deviate from the path of judgment and gives reward to those who judge a true judgment. The second "God" refers to the judges, who are called by this name, as it is written: "You shall not curse God," and Onkelos translated: "You shall not curse a judge." Therefore, levity is forbidden during the time of judgment. A judge should see himself as if a sword is placed upon his neck and as if Gehenna is open beneath him if he deviates from the judgment. He should know whom he is judging and before whom he is judging—before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. Any judge who does not judge a true judgment causes the Shekhinah to depart from Israel. Any judge who takes money from this one and gives it to that one unlawfully, the Holy One, blessed be He, takes souls from him. Any judge who judges a true judgment to its truth, even for one hour, it is as if he repaired the entire world and causes the Shekhinah to dwell in Israel. "To its truth" is to exclude a fraudulent judgment, such as when the judge understands that the claim is a lie or the witnesses are liars, but he is unable to clarify this and is forced to find him innocent according to the claim or according to the witnesses, yet it is clear to the judge that it is a lie—this is a fraudulent judgment, and the judge must remove himself from it.

And nevertheless, the judge should not say, since the punishment is so great, why do I need this trouble? I will not attend to the judgment at all. Regarding this it is said, "and He is with you in the matter of judgment," which King Yehoshaphat said to the judges: you have no reason to fear the judgment. After you judge what is in your heart according to their claims, you will not be punished, for a judge has only what his eyes see, and the Torah was not given to angels, nor is it in heaven. Rather, you are obligated to understand the matter and to rule according to your reasoning in the law, and one who walks in truth in the path of the Torah is assisted from Heaven.

It was the way of the early sages that they would flee from being appointed and would exert themselves greatly not to sit in judgment until they knew that there was no one there as worthy as they, and that if they were to refrain, the order of justice would be corrupted. Even so, they would not sit in judgment until the people and the elders would press them and entreat them. This applies specifically when there are other expert judges, even if they are not equal to them; then it is proper to refuse. However, if there are no experts there at all, one is obligated to judge, and regarding this it is said, "And mighty are all her slain"—this refers to one who has reached the level of instruction and does not instruct [Urim VeTummim].

It is forbidden for a dayan to conduct himself with arrogance and haughtiness toward the community; rather, he should conduct himself with humility and awe. Anyone who casts excessive fear upon the community not for the sake of Heaven will never see a son who is a talmid chacham. It is forbidden to behave with lightheadedness toward the community, and their honor should not be light in his eyes even though they are amei ha'aretz, and he should not forget that they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the holy seed. He shall not step over the heads of the holy people, and he must bear the burden of the community and their load. It is a mitzvah for the community to treat the dayan with honor, and his fear should be upon them. Furthermore, he should not degrade himself nor behave with lightheadedness himself before them, such that he should not be accustomed to eating and drinking in the homes of others unless it is at a seudat mitzvah, and to become intoxicated even at a seudat mitzvah is forbidden. Once a person is appointed as a leader over the community, it is forbidden for him to perform labor in the presence of three people so that he will not be degraded before them. Any dayan who does not have someone to serve him should not accept being a dayan.

Also regarding a messenger of the beit din, it is forbidden to treat him with levity, and one who degrades him or causes him distress, the beit din has the authority to penalize him according to their assessment. The messenger is as credible as two witnesses to testify that they degraded him regarding the matter of placing him under a ban, but to strike him or to penalize him monetarily, he is not credible without witnesses. The messenger of the beit din may tell the beit din what the litigant answered, even if he answered with words of degradation, and there is no concern of lashon hara in this. Our sages, of blessed memory, learned this from the portion of Korach, as it is written: "Will you gouge out the eyes of those men? We will not go up." Presumably, the messenger of Moses our teacher told this to Moses our teacher, and if there were a prohibition in the matter, Moses our teacher would not have accepted these words and would not have written it in the Torah; for it is obvious that the Holy One, Blessed be He, would not command him to write something that is not according to the law. And one cannot say that the messenger did not tell him these things, but rather the Holy One, Blessed be He, revealed it to him like all the words of the Torah, for behold, the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not reveal gossip [Sanhedrin 11a]. Rather, it is certain that the messenger told him, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, commanded him to write this in the Torah, and we learn from this that there is no concern of lashon hara in this. Similarly, the messenger of the beit din may execute judgment against one who refuses him by striking him, and if he damaged his property, he is exempt, even if he could have saved the situation through another means [Sma]. And there are those who disagree, that if he could save the situation through another means, he has no authority to damage his property or to strike him [Shevut Yaakov], and so it appears primary; see siman 11.