ABSTRACT
The Talmud records that, during the fifth century before the common era, Ezra haSofer enacted ten major decrees. One of these enactments provided that a Beth Din, a court of three, should hold its sessions on Mondays and Thursdays, the second and fifth days of the Jewish week. This enactment clearly was intended to strengthen the judicial process. Ezra’s enactment would thus seem to have reduced accessibility to the courts and apparently to have weakened the judicial process. Commencing some fifteen centuries after Ezra’s enactment, the Tosafists and successor commentaries offered several suggestions to reconcile these apparently disparate sources. The Talmud, in seeking a Torah reference for this law, cites R. Hiya b. Pappa who quotes the following verse: And they shall judge the people at all times. The use of the term at all times indicates that trials may be held even at night.
