THE BAIS HAVAAD'S PARSHA PERSPECTIVES NASO:Oaths: Rolling and Shaking in the Jewish Courts By: Rabbi Yehonoson Dovid Hool

Beis Din serves the function of arbitrating monetary disputes between Jewish litigants according to Halachah. More often than not, there is no contradiction between the parties as to the circumstances of the case; rather the dispute is halachic in nature with each side bringing legal arguments to validate his claim. In other words the dispute is about who is right and who is wrong, and not about what happened. Occasionally, however, the two parties do make contradictory claims as to the facts of the case, and then it is the task of Beis Din to ascertain what really occurred, and to rule accordingly. Witnesses, documentation and other evidence all have their place in Halachah, but one of the most interesting tools by which to discover the truth that is at Beis Din’s disposal is the shvu’ah – the oath.