Biblical Origins of Mediation

Today, I attended a Cardozo Legal Society lunch featuring Rabbi David Kay of Congregation Ohev Shalom which just celebrated its 100th anniversary in Orlando. The topic focused on secrecy in Jewish Law or Halaka. Keeping secrets is the stuff of modern common law and is specifically directed in our own oath of attorney in Florida as keeping the secrets of clients inviolate. Given the tendency of human nature to engage in conflict, it is not surprising that mediation is rooted in the history and tradition of many lands and cultures. We find in the Old Testament that Aaron, the first priest of ancient Israel, was the older brother of Moses. While Moses was mediator between God and Aaron, Aaron served as mediator between Moses and the people. Aaron believed in keeping shalom and caused peace to reign between man and his fellow man. While the details of Aaron’s approach are not revealed in Torah or Talmud, there is reference to Aaron which appears to signal biblical legitimacy for an alternative approach to the resolution of disputes outside of the judicial system. Law today still reflects Rabbinic and Talmudic views on dispute resolution. An aggrieved individual has access to the courts and a right to application of the law by a trier of fact. There is also the ability to have a professional neutral facilitate the resolution of those disputes through private caucuses that often reveal things the other side will never learn due to confidentiality which can be crucial to self-determined outcomes at mediation. We take solace in knowing questions we face every day in the field of dispute resolution were also faced by Rabbis and Hebrew sages thousands of years ago. See more here-- http://bit.ly/2CfGiYd