Minority religious elites absorb the institutional forms of the dominant culture around them

Evidence

If Jewish religious law can be determined in a matter as central as marriage by the dominant culture, on the very sound principle of dina de-malkhuta dina, the law of the state is (religious) law, then we shall not be surprised to find other resemblances. The rabbis, who in the Christian world, particularly in western Christendom, tend to become clergymen, in the Islamic world tend to become ulema. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 328

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the Talmudic principle dina de-malkhuta dina — the law of the state is religious law — a precise legal term worth defining.
• XREF: Parallels the general claim about acculturation and institutional isomorphism; connects to MIlgrom’s point about institutions arising to fill knowledge gaps, and to broad discussions of how minorities adapt to host societies.