Dayan

A dayan (Hebrew for "judge"; plural dayanim) serves as a judge of a Beit Din, the rabbinical court of Jewish religious law. Dayanim decide cases according to halacha, the body of Jewish law, and their work ranges from marriage, divorce and conversion to commercial disputes between business partners, landlords and tenants, lenders and borrowers.

The role is distinct from that of a congregational rabbi. Many rabbis answer questions of religious practice, but a dayan is specifically trained and appointed to hear evidence, weigh the claims of opposing parties and issue binding judgments.

A Beit Din traditionally sits as a panel of three dayanim for monetary cases. Proceedings are less formal than in a secular court, but the dayanim hear testimony, examine documents and apply the principles of Jewish civil law, known as dinei mamonot. The judgment is called a psak din. Dayanim may also encourage a compromise (pesharah), which Jewish legal tradition regards favorably when both sides consent.

Where the parties cannot agree on a standing court, a traditional procedure known as zabla lets each party choose one judge, with those two choosing the third. The arrangement is designed to give both sides confidence in the panel's impartiality.

Rabbinic ordination comes in levels. The more common ordination authorizes a rabbi to rule on questions of ritual law, while ordination as a judge, often called yadin yadin, requires further years of study in civil law, damages and court procedure. Senior courts appoint dayanim from scholars with this training and experience.

A dayan differs from a posek. A posek issues rulings on questions of law, often in answer to a specific inquiry, while a dayan adjudicates a dispute between parties. The same scholar may act in both capacities. A broadly similar distinction exists in Islamic law between a mufti, who issues a fatwa, and a judge who decides cases.

Jewish law contains detailed rules on commerce, and dayanim are often called on to apply them. Common matters include partnership disputes, unpaid wages, real estate and inheritance. Several financial institutions of Jewish law involve a Beit Din directly:

• Prozbul — the prozbul is a declaration made before a Beit Din that transfers private debts to the court so they are not cancelled in the shmita (sabbatical) year.
• Interest-bearing loans — the prohibition of ribbit (interest between Jews) is commonly addressed with a heter iska, which restructures a loan as an iska investment partnership. Disputes over such arrangements may come before dayanim.
• Charitable funds — questions about free-loan societies such as a gemach or about the distribution of tzedakah may also be brought to a rabbinical court or a halachic authority.

The authority of a dayan depends on the jurisdiction. In Israel, dayanim of the state rabbinical courts are appointed under national legislation and the courts have exclusive jurisdiction over marriage and divorce of Jews, while civil disputes may be heard by them only with the consent of the parties. In most other countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, a Beit Din has no state power of its own. It can act as an arbitration tribunal when the parties sign a binding arbitration agreement, and its award may then be enforced by the civil courts under the general law of arbitration, subject to the usual grounds for challenge such as lack of due process.

Well-known permanent courts include the London Beth Din, the Beth Din of America and the rabbinical courts of major communities in Europe, Israel and North America. Individual communities may also convene an ad hoc panel for a particular dispute.

Readers familiar with Islamic finance may compare the dayan with the scholars who sit on a Sharia supervisory board. The comparison is partial. A Sharia board reviews and certifies financial products in advance so that they conform to Sharia, whereas a dayan typically decides a concrete dispute after it arises. Both traditions, however, rely on scholars trained in a religious legal system to apply ancient principles to modern commercial practice.