smaller court was passed up to a higher court. If the Sanhedrin was still uncertain, divine opinion was sought through the Urim ve-Tumim (the parchment in the High Priest's breastplate, which was inscribed with the Name of God and could give supernatural clues). Given the suspension of semikhah, any beth din existing in medieval or modern times is in theory a court of laymen, acting as arbitrators. In practice, they are given greater powers than this by the local takkanot ha-kahal (community regulations), and are generally composed of experienced rabbis. Modern training institutes, especially in Israel, confer a qualification of dayan (religious judge), which is superior to the normal rabbinical qualification. Even though, normally, an Orthodox beth din requires a minimum of three Jews knowledgeable and observant of halakha (Jewish law), in new communities and exigencies, providing a thorough search has proved unfruitful, halakha provides that even one Orthodox Jew can establish a beth din, since every Orthodox community is required to establish its own beth din. Present day In Orthodox Judaism, the traditions state that a beth din consists of three observant Jewish men, at least one of whom is widely knowledgeable in halakha, to be capable of instructing the other members in any matters of halakha relevant to the case being heard. The rabbis on the beth din do not have to be expert in all aspects of Jewish law, rather only the area in question. For example, a beth din for conversion need only have expertise in conversion, not necessarily in all areas of Jewish law. There are also a number of opinions that permit women to serve on a beth din. One such opinion is Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel. Despite this, there are no Orthodox batei din currently with a woman as a member. In progressive communities, as well as in other non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, women do serve on the beth din. In practice, a permanent beth din will consist of three rabbis, while a beth din for an occasional matter (such as handling religious vows) need not consist of rabbis. A beth din which handles cases involving complex monetary issues or large community organizations requires "judges" (dayanim, singular: dayan), who require an additional semikhah (yadin yadin) which enables them to participate in such a beth din and adjudicate complex cases involving highly technical points of law. A beth din is only required for conversions