100 Selected Reform Responsa

is bound by the oath(Noam, Vol. 2). A rabbi, however, would be duty-bound to divulge the information he possesses.

In this specific instance, the rabbi must weigh the danger of the woman committing suicide against the problem of not pro­viding adequate information to the fiancé. The quotation“do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” here weighs heavily on the side of the woman(Lev. 19.16). If the rabbi is convinced that her threat of suicide is real, he may not divulge the information.

Testimony Against a Family Member

American Reform Responsa(New York , 1983),#170

Walter Jacob QUESTION

: Does a prisoner in a federal correction institution have the right to refuse testimony in a case which involves his father and other members of the family? What is the attitude of Jewish law in this matter?(Rabbi Stanley J. Garfein, Tallahassee , Florida )

the

ANSWER: The principle that governs all cases of the laws of land in which we live is, of course,“dina d’ malkhuta(“The il of the land is the law”). This talmudic principle has been applied

in all matters except those connected with Jewish family law(ie

marriage and divorce), and even in that area the decision of the Napoleonic Sanhedrin of 1806 gave civil law priority over Jewis! law. This principle has been attributed by the Talmud to Samuel the third century(Git . 10b; BK. 113a; Ned. 28a; B.B. 54b; Shulha! Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat 369.6). Of course, in the Middle Ages Jew ish communities were often autonomous and used the Jews legal systems to govern other communities. The question aro¥ only when there was a conflict between a Jew and a non-Jew ,”