By Rabbinical Law

Pulling his derby far down on his spreading ears--for it would be disrespectful to stand uncovered--Frank Fink stepped panting before the bench of the Jewish Court of Arbitration, a court for New York's ghetto disputes. "Weh zu mir!" he wailed; "Woe is me." Swaying from side to side he pleaded in stricken Yiddish his complaint against the Abertiner Burying Society, of which he is a member.

Ancient rabbinical law declares that men and women should be buried in different parts of the cemetery. And yet ... tsooris! ... the Society had just sold a plot, for $1,000, to a man who said he would be buried there side by side with his wife! It was a scandal, and the Society should be compelled to take back the plot, restore the tainted money!

Now, pulling their derbies likewise down more firmly on their heads, the officers of the Society approached the tribunal. How did they know the purchaser really would be buried beside his wife? What is more, $1,000 is no money to be thrown away. The Society needed it to build a wall around the cemetery. The sale was quite orthodox and should be allowed to stand.

Solemnly the three judges of the Court, a rabbi and two laymen, pondered. True it was that men and women should not be buried together. But this man in question was not already getting into his grave, accompanied by his wife! No. The sale of the plot was proper enough, and $1,000 was a good price. Fink was a troublemaker. The sale stood.

The Jewish Court of Arbitration meets once every two weeks in a municipal courtroom convenient to the ghetto. It is patronized chiefly by orthodox Polish Jews, who voluntarily seek its help in settling quarrels, almost always on religious matters. Each applicant for justice signs an agreement to abide by the court's decision, tells his own story informally without the aid of a lawyer, pays 50-c- toward administration costs.