About Us
The Beth Din of Austria
The Beth Din of Austria is an Orthodox Jewish religious court based in Vienna. It deals in particular with Gett, Giyur and Din Torah.
It also considers questions of Jewish personal status referred to it by rabbis and Jewish institutions, including matters referred by the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG Wien).
What is a Beth Din?
A Beth Din (בית דין) is a rabbinical institution that considers and handles matters which, according to Jewish tradition, must be conducted before a Beth Din or under its supervision, in accordance with the requirements of Halacha.
Our History
The present Beth Din was preceded by a Sephardic Beth Din in Vienna operated by Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli together with Rabbi Josef Pardess and with the participation of experienced dayanim from Israel. Beth Din activity therefore existed in Vienna well before the establishment of the present institution.
In 2017, Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli, Rabbi Josef Pardess and Rabbi Arie Folger founded the present Beth Din of Austria. Rabbi Hotoveli serves as its Av Beth Din.
Recognition and Standards
The Beth Din of Austria is recognized by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for Giyur and Gett.
For those who require a Giyur or Gett, it is important in the long term that the procedure be carried out meticulously, in accordance with the complex details of the relevant Halachic rules, and under the supervision and direction of a qualified Beth Din. This recognition demonstrates that the Beth Din meets the relevant standards.
Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli and Rabbi Arie Folger are also members of the Standing Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER).
Our Dayanim
Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli
Av Beth Din
Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli is Av Beth Din of the Beth Din of Austria and rabbi of Vienna's Georgian Jewish community.
Long before the establishment of the present Beth Din, he founded a Sephardic Beth Din in Vienna and gained extensive practical experience there together with other rabbis and experienced dayanim from Israel. In 2017 he founded the present Beth Din of Austria together with Rabbi Arie Folger and Rabbi Josef Pardess.
He also serves in other European batei din, including in the Czech Republic and the Balkans, and is a member of the Standing Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER).
Rabbi Josef Pardess
Dayan
Rabbi Josef Pardess is the long-serving rabbi of Vienna's Mizrachi community and a dayan of the Beth Din of Austria.
He already served in the Sephardic Beth Din that preceded the present institution and in 2017 founded the present Beth Din of Austria together with Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli and Rabbi Arie Folger.
Within the Beth Din he deals particularly with divorce cases and presides over arbitration proceedings.
Rabbi Arie Folger
Dayan
Rabbi Arie Folger is a dayan of the Beth Din of Austria and served as Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Vienna from 2016 to 2019. His practical work in batei din began during his rabbinate in Basel and therefore extends over more than two decades.
He also serves as a dayan in independent batei din in the Czech Republic and the Balkans. Since 2012 he has been a member of the Standing Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) and is editor of its rabbinical journal Seridim.
Rabbi Sender Garber
Dayan
Rabbi Sender Garber is a dayan of the Beth Din of Austria and founder and head of Beit Midrash Or Zarua in Vienna.
For many years he has been active in Torah study and rabbinical education, particularly within the Russian-speaking Jewish community. He teaches in several languages and brings his longstanding educational and communal work to the Beth Din.
Within the Austrian Legal System
The Beth Din of Austria understands its religious work as part of Jewish life in Austria, not as a substitute for Austrian law or the Austrian courts.
Where the Beth Din acts as an arbitral tribunal, it does so within Austrian arbitration law. Legally binding arbitration requires an appropriate arbitration agreement between the parties; only matters capable of arbitration under Austrian law can be the subject of such proceedings.
Religious and civil marriage and divorce must likewise be distinguished. A Gett terminates a marriage under Jewish law but does not replace a civil divorce where one is required. Conversely, a civil divorce does not terminate a Jewish marriage under Halacha.
The Beth Din therefore operates within the Austrian legal system while at the same time fulfilling the requirements of Halacha.