138 Alan Sokobin
edged the necessity and legitimacy of Jews to obey the laws of the various lands in which they lived. This still authoritative principle is dina de-malkhuta dina;*'“the law of the government is the law.”?? This doctrine is applicable only if there is no violation of the principles of justice and equity that are the essentials of Jewish law.”
The purpose of this paper is to look at both some of the areas where Jewish law is compelled to accommodate to the law of the state? as well as at the few examples of the converse, when American law responds to Jewish law. The issues that will be dealt with are marriage and divorce, arbitration, open or closed adoption, post mortem examinations, and the determination of death. The order of the subject matter has been chosen arbitrarily on the basis of the chronology in which these questions touched the American Jewish community.
All religious groups within the United States are required to acquiesce to the supremacy of the civil government with regard to marriage and divorce. All movements within American Jew ish life accept the authority of the state to license marriages. Originally, the American law of marriage has its origin in English matrimonial law.” Until a little over a hundred years ago there was no system of licensing in most of the states or federal jurisdictions.” The various legislative or administrative bodies that instituted the licensing procedures? did so during the period that the vast number of eastern European Jews was entering this land. Consequently, it appears there was a general acceptance of the licensing?’ requirement.’ Nonetheless, there is a tension between Jewish law and the law of the land with regard to the appropriate and acceptable minimal age to enter into marriage. Legal capacity is a major consideration in all systems of law. For the purposes of this chapter the question of capacity will concern itself only with the age that the law requires for legal capacity to be considered sufficient. At what age can a person enter into a contract? Must a person have reached a specific age in order to act as a witness in a legal dispute or to act as a witness to a legal document? The first question, then, is when does a person move from the legal status of a minor to that of an adult?