ושפטו את העם משפט צדק. (שופטים טז:יח)

And they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

Harav Reb Yaakov Leib from Kovla zt’’l, the son of Harav Rebbe Mordchei of Neshchiz zt’’l, once had a Yid come to him with a Din Torah. The Yid came with his ‘borer’ – arbitrator and the other party came with his borer.  The Yid wanted Reb Yaakov Leib to serve as the dayan.

After hearing the arguments and testimonials from both sides, it appeared that the Yid was guilty of charges that would cause him a significant monetary loss.  Reb Yaakov Leib saw how upset the Yid was with the verdict and appeased him with the following explanation:

Hashem has mercy on His children, yet it seems you were destined to lose money.  It’s a chesed from Hashem that He caused you to lose money by having to give to another. Sometimes, it’s decreed that one should spend money on doctors and medication, which isn’t good since a person is sick and has to take bitter pills, etc.

At other times, Hashem can cause one to lose money through a robbery, which causes great agony – agmas nefesh – the pain of losing money overnight, especially since he knows another person is enjoying his money. In other instances, Hashem can cause a fire to destroy all his possessions, which may be easier to accept since a person didn’t cause it.

However, in this instance, Hashem caused you to have a Din Torah with another person, but it doesn’t cause that much pain since he understands that the p’sak – the ruling is from the Torah. So the Torah complained to Hashem that through him, people lose money. Hashem calmed the Torah and said that if a person accepts the p’sak halacha from the Beis Din, Hashem will have mercy on him, and the person will recoup his loss, plus more.

When Reb Yaakov Leib concluded his explanation, he turned to the Yid and said, “You should know that according to the p’sak halacha of the Torah, you lost all your money so I won’t charge you for the Din Torah. But if you earn back your profits, I’ll accept payment.”

Soon after, the Yid earned back his lost money, plus some more, and paid Reb Yaakov Leib, as promised.

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