Story of the week
(By Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
The wisdom of Torah solved a difficult Din Torah to the satisfaction of all parties.
It was a normal day at the Bais Din in Jerusalem where people came to settle disputes according to Torah judgment. Most cases were resolved quickly through the brilliant and sharp minds of the Dayanim, Torah judges. Their experience and knowledge of Shulchan Aruch expedited the disputes to the satisfaction of all. However one day a simple case turned into a suspense mystery: The Torah judgment seemed easy, as Reuven brought a Promissory note—a legal lending document that says the borrower promises to repay to the lender a certain amount of money in a certain time frame. Signed by Shimon that Shimon owes Reuven five thousand shekels, and Shimon adamantly denies it:
"such a thing never happened." The Dayan asks Shimon if the signature was his or not? And Shimon looks good and answers that this is his signature, but he never borrowed money from Reuven, and he does not know how Reuven got the note!
On the surface it seemed an easy decision for the Dayanim: There is a deed with a signature, but according to the Halacha the Dayanim have to make an investigation by interrogating each party separately and hear their arguments according to the law. Reuven was called to testify and state his arguments. Then Shimon was called to state his defense. After hearing both parties, Reuven's lawyer calls out that there is no way out for Shimon to have a claim against a note that he himself signed!
The Dayanim could not come to a decision, because they had the feeling that the words of Reuven were not true words, The Gemarra Sotah 9b states "Words of truth are recognizable"—you recognize when a person is telling the truth. But how can it be pointed out that Shimon does not owe the money to Reuven?
This case prompted the Dayanim to accelerate the verdict upon the great Dayan HaGaon Rav Yitzchak Ya'akov Weiss zt'l the author of Minchas Yitzchok — born in 1902 and died 11 Sivan 5749 — who was known to have a strong intuition and had the wisdom of the Torah.
Dayan Weiss entered the room of the Din Torah and the parties had to state their arguments again for Dayan Weiss who listened intently and watched their movements. Dayan Weiss asked Shimon if he knows Reuven at all? He answered yes. Dayan Weiss asked if he ever had any monetary dealings with Reuven at all? Shimon replied no. Dayan Weiss asked: if so where did Reuven get your signature? And Shimon replies that he really doesn't know, but it is certain that he never dealt with Reuven in monetary issues!
Dayan Weiss began to think and with Seyata Dishmia he had a solution. He asked Reuven to bring him the note with Shimon's signature. Dayan Weiss studies the note from all sides and gives it back to Reuven. Dayan Weiss told the court that he wanted to speak to Shimon privately in his room. The suspense grew! Dayan Weiss asked him if he had recently lent any Sefer to Reuven? Shimon remembered that he actually lent Reuven a Sefer, but Reuven brought it back. Dayan Weiss asked Shimon if he still had that Sefer at home? Shimon replied that he still had it. Dayan Weiss asked him how long will it take until he brings the Sefer here? He answered a half an hour. Dayan Weiss told Shimon to go as quick as he can and bring the Sefer.
Meanwhile, Dayan Weiss came out of his office and told the Dayanim that he will now take a break of half an hour. He now hopes with the help of Hashem that the truth will come out now! Reuven's lawyer was arrogant and demanded a swift verdict that Shimon must pay! But Dayan Weiss replied he would soon be able to prove who was telling the truth.
A half an hour passed and Shimon returned to the court with a Sefer and Dayan Weiss said that from this Sefer we will judge the truthful facts. Dayan Weiss asked Reuven bluntly: Did he ever borrow this Sefer from Shimon? He answered, yes. Dayan Weiss studied Reuven's face. Then Dayan Weiss opened the Sefer and flipped the pages back and forth very carefully, until he noticed that on the first page something has been cut out. Dayan Weiss asked Reuven for the deed, and he put it next to the page that was cut out, and that's exactly what was missing from the book!
Dayan Weiss then asked Shimon did he write his name in this Sefer? He answered yes! Dayan Weiss asked the bombshell question to Reuven: Did he cut the paper with the signature from the Sefer and wrote the deed? Reuven was trapped and confessed to the truth that he had indeed done so. He was amazed by the wisdom of the Dayan, and asked for forgiveness from Shimon, and he forgave him! The Dayan gave the note back to Shimon. The heilige Chafetz Chaim used to say, someone whose mind is the mind of the Torah can solve any problem in the world! This brought a Kiddush Hashem and the truth.
