Semicha Rivash

 Rivash (#271) First we must clarify what is the semichah which is practiced in France and Germany which the rabbis issue and those in turn give semicha to others. . It is clearly agreed that the semicha that existed in the time of our Sages of the Talmud was in order to judge cases involving capital punishment and fines which required experts. In other words people with semicha which was given by those others who had semicha and they gave semicha to others. The chain of semicha ultimately went back to Moshe. Those that had semicha were fit to serve on the Sanhedrin. That original semicha no longer exists as there are no longer anyone today that has semicha  that goes back to Moshe. In addition the original Semicha can not exist outside of Israel. Both the giver and recipient of the original semicha needed to be located in Israel. You can’t say that this original semicha wa simply getting permission to judge others against their will and if they erred to be exempt.  The gemorah Sanhedrin says one who got permission to judge from the Reish Galusa was exempt if he erred and this was true even outside of Israel since the Reish Galusa was the leader in Babylonia. .However this permission was not semicha and furthermore the permission did not give him the ability to judge fines which is permitted only with the original semicha.  Actually this is something totally different. The Reish Galusa is a substitute for a king. Thus he has the power to control the people. Therefore anyone who judges without his permission and errs must pay out of his own pocket unless the litigants had voluntarily agreed to accept whatever he decides. If he gets permission it is as if they agreed to what ever he decides and thus he is exempt if he errs. The same applies if the judge got permission the political leader in Israel. Thus perhaps the semicha that is done in France and Germany is simply getting permission to judge by force and to be exempt if he errs.  That can’t be because then he should be getting permission from the Reish Galusa or from the leader of Israel – both of those position no longer exist. Today the only way the judge can be exempt if he errs is to have the litigants or the community to agree to accept whatever he decides . The semicha today seems to simply mean that a student today needs to get permission from his teacher to make halachic rulings  This is true even if he is clearly an expert.  The gemorah explains that even an expert might not know how to communicate with the litigants properly and a Rabbinic decree was made that a student must always get permission from his teacher before making halachic rulings for others. In addition it seems to be a law involving showing proper respect to one’s teacher. Thus this permission is needed only as long as the teacher is alive.