Popa, you bring up siman 2 (I LOVE siman 2). Doing so raises a problem of jurisdiction. While a beis din in Israel may be able to exercise power under siman 2; and its legitimate authority over Israelis might even allow private Israelis to beat a m’sarev get after a beis din rules he must give one, its not clear why an Israeli beis din’s ruling should have any power in the U.S. A beis din has to have jurisdiction and power over parties and geographical locations. In the absence of true smichah, this can only be accomplished by kabbalah by individual litigants for a particular case, or by a beis din’s being generally appointed by a kehillah to exercise judicial authority over that population and locale. Undoubtedly, an Israeli rabanut beis din has this kind of authority – in its area of jurisdiction. But an Israeli beis din’s rulings would seem to not have binding authority in the U.S. unless confirmed by a beis din of competent jurisdiction (and according to R. Moshe Feinstien – I will try to find the exact citation – virtually no U.S. beis din has general jurisdiction over a given population or locale, and jurisdiction depends on parties accepting a particular beis din to adjudicate their particular case).
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